Communication and Stakeholder Engagement
Stakeholder engagement is scored on planning and evidence, not on how many meetings were held.
Core rules
- Identify stakeholders and record them in a register: role, interest, influence, expectations, current engagement level, preferred channel.
- Power and interest grid: high power with high interest means manage closely; high power with low interest means keep satisfied; low power with high interest means keep informed; low power with low interest means monitor.
- Engagement levels run unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive, leading. Plan the movement you need and the message that produces it.
- The communication plan defines who needs what, when, in what format, through which channel, and who owns it.
- Communication model: sender, encoding, medium, decoding, receiver, feedback, with noise at every step. Interactive channels suit complex or sensitive messages, push suits broadcast, pull suits reference material.
- RACI assigns Responsible (does the work), Accountable (exactly one, owns the outcome), Consulted (two-way input), Informed (one-way update).
Worked example
A regulator has high power and low interest; end users have high interest and low power. Reasoning: give the regulator concise compliance evidence at agreed intervals, satisfying without overloading; give users regular jargon-free updates plus a feedback route, informing and consulting. One accountable owner per deliverable prevents the classic two-accountable failure.
Traps
- Assigning two accountable parties to one task.
- Assuming a sent email equals a received message; without feedback there is no confirmation.
- Relying only on formal reports and ignoring informal networks.
- Tailoring every message to the sponsor and none to the delivery team.