Imagine a situation where the cart is put before the horse, what picture comes to mind?
"That's pretty awkward," you think.
In our daily lives, we put first things first, don’t we? Whether it be organizing family activities, setting workout or meal plans, or even scheduling vacations. We plan for the month, the week, or daily. We prioritize the important stuff and this guides our daily actions. First things first…
The truth in this statement also comes into play in any organization.
Putting a proper stakeholder management plan in place is an important first step that will help a project or organization become successful in the long run.
And the long run is always what matters because we succeed in the short term managing without a defined plan. However, we are likely to overlook critical aspects that further down, could come pointing back at us.
To deal effectively with stakeholders, we need to have a structured plan in place, there are no mincing words to this.
Oftentimes, stakeholder management plans vary based on the project at hand or organization, but then there are basic approaches we can always incorporate into our stakeholder management plan.
Here are 5 basic steps that will help in developing an effective stakeholder management plan.
📍Know Your Stakeholders: This is the first basic step to developing a good stakeholder management plan. You should be able to pinpoint who your stakeholders are, whether individuals or groups. This will help you determine the extent to which your stakeholders are going to be affected by your decision, project, or organization.
📍Stakeholder Prioritization: This is where you classify your stakeholders based on their influence on a project, and determine what point their influence becomes pronounced or less pronounced. Note that maintaining relationships with your key stakeholders is vital as they influence your project or organization greatly.
📍Stakeholder Interview: Interviewing your stakeholders is important as it will help you identify many things; from their expectations, to how they feel about the project, to uncovering the worries they may have, to how soon they'll want the project to be executed and to the results they want to see from the project.
📍Set up a Power Interest Grid: This is a helpful chart that you can use to identify the level of importance your stakeholders have in your project. To categorize your stakeholders by the level of influence they have, you list them under four groups namely;
High power, low-interest stakeholders
High power, high-interest stakeholders
Low power, low-interest stakeholders
Low power, high-interest stakeholders
This categorization will help you effectively manage your stakeholders.
📍 Manage Expectations: You must predefine how each stakeholder will be involved in your project or organization, most importantly getting feedback from them to help you in developing a realistic and workable stakeholder management plan. Also, this is where you set plans to manage your stakeholder relations for each identified category, as the project unfolds.
Supply chain management just got easier. To learn more about supply chain management and procurement processes, visit academy.efemini.com
Comments