How do you map stakeholders to plan for sustainability?
Mapping stakeholders is a crucial step in operational planning, especially when you want to ensure the sustainability of your project, program, or organization. Stakeholders are the people or groups that have an interest, influence, or impact on your work, and they can be internal or external, positive or negative, active or passive. By identifying and analyzing your stakeholders, you can plan for their needs, expectations, and potential risks, and engage them effectively throughout your project lifecycle. In this article, you will learn how to map stakeholders to plan for sustainability using four simple steps.
The first step is to brainstorm a list of all the possible stakeholders that are relevant to your project or organization. You can use various sources of information, such as your project charter, your organizational chart, your network analysis, your market research, or your previous experience. You can also ask for input from your team members, your sponsors, your clients, or your partners. Try to be as comprehensive as possible, and include both internal and external stakeholders, such as employees, managers, customers, suppliers, investors, regulators, competitors, media, community, etc.
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Start with the intended target audience to benefit from your project and then branch out to the departments or other organizations that have a vested interest in the success of the project (if applicable). If not applicable move on to list out the individual steps it will take to achieve your project and take stock of all the different internal departments that will be part of the process from IT, to marketing, to sales. Once all these components are brainstormed focus on further defining external stakeholders, once you have this list in place then narrow and define the scope and impact of each team on the project or organization.
The next step is to group your stakeholders into different categories based on their characteristics, such as their level of interest, influence, power, or involvement in your project or organization. You can use various tools or frameworks to help you with this, such as the power-interest matrix, the salience model, the stakeholder onion, or the Venn diagram. The purpose of categorizing your stakeholders is to prioritize them and determine how to communicate and engage with them. For example, you may want to focus more on the stakeholders that have high power and high interest in your project, and less on the ones that have low power and low interest.
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Using power interest matrix would be a matter of prespective. What is your goal in sustainability? Do you want to reduce the negative impact of your company on marginalized communities? Or do you want to do what interests stakeholders with more power on the company. If you use the power interest matrix the second will be your answer. But in sustainability you really should pay special interest in stakeholders with no power over your company but impacted greatly by the companies activities.
The third step is to dig deeper into the needs, expectations, perspectives, and potential risks of each stakeholder group. You can use various methods or techniques to help you with this, such as interviews, surveys, focus groups, SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, or stakeholder mapping. The purpose of analyzing your stakeholders is to understand their motivations, goals, challenges, opportunities, and threats, and how they relate to your project or organization. For example, you may want to know what benefits or value they expect from your project, what issues or concerns they have, what influence or impact they have on your project, and how they can affect or be affected by the sustainability of your project.
The final step is to develop a strategy and a plan for engaging your stakeholders throughout your project lifecycle. You can use various tools or templates to help you with this, such as the stakeholder engagement matrix, the stakeholder communication plan, the stakeholder register, or the RACI matrix. The purpose of planning your stakeholder engagement is to define the objectives, methods, frequency, and responsibilities of communicating and collaborating with your stakeholders. For example, you may want to inform some stakeholders about your project progress, consult some stakeholders about your project decisions, involve some stakeholders in your project activities, or empower some stakeholders to lead your project initiatives.
By following these four steps, you can map your stakeholders to plan for sustainability in your operational planning. Mapping stakeholders can help you to identify and manage the expectations, interests, and risks of the people or groups that are essential for the success and longevity of your project or organization.
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