The Ultimate Guide to Stakeholder Management

Effective stakeholder management is integral to successful projects. That’s because stakeholders can have a significant impact on business outcomes. Organizations that maintain positive relationships with stakeholders can better identify and address stakeholder concerns, thus building trust and improving their reputation. Creating a detailed stakeholder management plan and putting it into practice will help you align with the varied priorities of stakeholders, enhancing your likelihood of success.

In this guide, we will outline everything you need to know about effective stakeholder management, from understanding what stakeholder management is, to creating a successful stakeholder management plan and best practices. We’ll also outline why organizations trust our software to manage stakeholders efficiently, ensuring project success and securing a social license.

What is stakeholder management?

When talking about stakeholder management, we refer to identifying, analyzing, and engaging with individuals or groups with an interest or concern in a project, organization, or decision. The primary objective of stakeholder management is to consider and address the needs of all stakeholders fairly and transparently. This approach helps to build trust and minimize any potential negative impacts that may arise.

Effective stakeholder management is essential for your organization to secure necessary project permits, handle complaints and grievances, gain stakeholder support, and stay updated with legislative developments that could impact your organization’s financial performance.

The three questions to ask when kicking off
the stakeholder management process
Who are your internal and external stakeholders?
What are the interests and needs of your stakeholders? 
What are the best ways to effectively manage these interests, needs, and influences?

Why is stakeholder management critical?

Successful projects depend on effective stakeholder management. There is no way around it. We no longer live in a company-centric culture where organizations take a reactive approach. Instead, the stakeholder capitalism era we have entered encourages proactive stakeholder management that takes into account the diverse interests of stakeholders and helps businesses navigate challenges, mitigate risks, and foster innovation. Ultimately, it drives businesses towards prosperous outcomes. Here are some critical benefits of stakeholder management:

Improved stakeholder relationships

Improving stakeholder relationships is essential in today’s interconnected world. Engaging with stakeholders and gaining a deep understanding of their needs and concerns can lead to increased stakeholder trust, loyalty, and support. This engagement, in turn, can help businesses navigate challenges, mitigate risks, and foster innovation, ultimately driving them toward prosperous outcomes.

Reduced risk

Organizations that effectively engage stakeholders can better anticipate potential issues and address them proactively before they escalate into significant grievances or work stoppages, which can jeopardize project success.

Increased innovation

Organizations that build effective stakeholder relationships can tap into their valuable insights and ideas to drive innovation and improve products, services, and processes.

Better reputation

A well-managed stakeholder engagement process based on effective stakeholder engagement techniques can significantly improve an organization’s reputation. Businesses can enjoy more positive media coverage, word-of-mouth recommendations, and brand equity by respecting stakeholders. Investing in stakeholder engagement is a wise business decision that can have long-lasting positive effects on a company’s reputation and bottom line.

Better decision-making

Organizations with a strong stakeholder management strategy tend to make better decisions by considering all stakeholders’ perspectives and interests. This approach to decision-making leads to more informed and balanced outcomes. By valuing the input of stakeholders, businesses can build stronger relationships with them, leading to increased trust, loyalty, and support. Ultimately, this can contribute to a more positive reputation and a thriving business.

Regulatory compliance

Stakeholder management is critical for many vital external stakeholders. Many regulatory agencies and government bodies require companies to demonstrate that they have engaged with stakeholders and addressed their concerns as part of the permit application process. By implementing effective stakeholder management practices, businesses can comply with these requirements and gain valuable insights into stakeholder needs and concerns. This forward-thinking approach can help companies navigate complex regulatory environments and build positive relationships with stakeholders that can contribute to long-term success.

Social responsibility

As businesses strive to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into their operations, effective stakeholder management plays an increasingly crucial role. Engaging with stakeholders not only enables companies to identify their ESG priorities but also helps them address concerns related to these factors. Companies can enhance their ESG performance and build positive stakeholder relationships by integrating feedback into their business strategies. This emphasis on stakeholder management can help businesses navigate complex regulatory environments and contribute to long-term success.
Use Case - Transportation - V2

Real-world stakeholder management  

Learn how a U.S.-based community involvement team managed their stakeholders in the loop during a major highway redevelopment project – using best practices in stakeholder management.
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How to identify your stakeholders in a stakeholder management process

The first step to managing stakeholders effectively involves identifying all the individuals and groups involved. This process includes internal and external stakeholders, such as employees, customers, suppliers, regulators, shareholders, community members, government officials, and industry, environmental and indigenous groups.

It is essential to create a comprehensive list of these stakeholders who may be interested in, affected by or hold influence over your project or activities. When identifying stakeholders, it is essential to take a broad approach and recognize all entities that can influence or be influenced by the organization’s decisions and actions.

Identifying internal stakeholders Identifying external stakeholders
  • Review the organizational chart to identify critical departments, teams, and individuals.
  • Conduct employee surveys to understand their perspectives and identify those with a stake in specific projects or decisions.
  • Study job descriptions to identify those who might be impacted by or have an impact on specific projects or decisions.
  • Question managers and supervisors to get insights into who within the organization will be most affected by or influential in a particular decision or project.
  • Research the business sector to conduct a thorough industry analysis and identify key players such as competitors, suppliers, and industry regulators.
  • Review client and customer lists to identify those who may have a vested interest in the organization’s activities.
  • Conduct surveys with external entities such as customers, suppliers, partners, and community leaders to gauge their perspectives.
  • Identify influencers, activists, and the media as essential stakeholders and monitor media coverage and public discussions related to your organization to identify untapped stakeholders.
  • Review laws and regulations related to your organization’s operations to identify regulatory bodies and other official entities as stakeholders.
  • Conduct a financial analysis to identify crucial stakeholders such as investors, shareholders, and financial institutions.
  • Examine your supply chain to identify vendors, suppliers, distributors, and other key partners.
  • Look at similar organizations or competitors and their stakeholder engagement practices for insights.
Identifying internal stakeholders
  • Review the organizational chart to identify critical departments, teams, and individuals.
  • Conduct employee surveys to understand their perspectives and identify those with a stake in specific projects or decisions.
  • Study job descriptions to identify those who might be impacted by or have an impact on specific projects or decisions.
  • Question managers and supervisors to get insights into who within the organization will be most affected by or influential in a particular decision or project.
Identifying external stakeholders
  • Research the business sector to conduct a thorough industry analysis and identify key players such as competitors, suppliers, and industry regulators.
  • Review client and customer lists to identify those who may have a vested interest in the organization’s activities.
  • Conduct surveys with external entities such as customers, suppliers, partners, and community leaders to gauge their perspectives.
  • Identify influencers, activists, and the media as essential stakeholders and monitor media coverage and public discussions related to your organization to identify untapped stakeholders.
  • Review laws and regulations related to your organization’s operations to identify regulatory bodies and other official entities as stakeholders.
  • Conduct a financial analysis to identify crucial stakeholders such as investors, shareholders, and financial institutions.
  • Examine your supply chain to identify vendors, suppliers, distributors, and other key partners.
  • Look at similar organizations or competitors and their stakeholder engagement practices for insights.

Once you have identified your stakeholders, it is time to consider stakeholder mapping.

Stakeholder mapping enables you to visualize your relationships with stakeholders. By helping you identify those with power or influence over your project, you can better engage with them.

A stakeholder map captures a specific moment in time. It is a snapshot. This makes it essential to periodically remap your stakeholders so you can see how their positions change over the life of your project.

Graphic representing the stakeholder map.

A stakeholder map is often depicted as a graph with two axes divided into four quadrants. The x-axis represents a stakeholder’s level of power or influence, while the y-axis indicates their level of interest in your project. Each quadrant on the map requires a different engagement strategy. A stakeholder’s position will determine how you engage with them, including the intensity and frequency of engagement.

By mapping out the level of power and influence and the level of interest of each stakeholder, you can determine the most appropriate engagement strategy, including the intensity and frequency of engagement. However, stakeholder mapping is not just about illustrating relationships; it also helps you identify key stakeholders and prioritize them accordingly.

Without engaging in stakeholder mapping, you may allocate valuable resources in the wrong places. At best, this can increase project costs and create unnecessary delays. In more extreme cases, it can lead to work stoppages and even damage your corporate image.

Become a stakeholder mapping expert
Learn everything you need to know about stakeholder mapping, from identifying and assessing influential people in your project to tracking their position over time in our simple, step-by-step playbook.
Get the playbook

Conducting a stakeholder analysis

Stakeholder analysis is a crucial process used to identify and assess the significance, influence, interests, or impact of various stakeholders in relation to a project or business decision. The primary objective of stakeholder analysis is to ensure that the needs and opinions of stakeholders are considered, thereby enabling better decision-making and the effective management of potential conflicts or issues.

The four steps of stakeholder analysis

Step 1:
Identify your stakeholders

Draw up a comprehensive list of all individuals and groups who may impact or be impacted by your project. Ensure all relevant stakeholders are recognized and considered for better decision-making and conflict management.

Step 2: Understand your stakeholders

Identify the issues that matter to your stakeholders and their expectations and needs.

Step 3:
Group your stakeholders

Classify stakeholders based on their levels of interest and influence to strategically target your engagements. Identify how different groups interact and how those interactions may help or harm your interests.

Step 4: Evaluate your key stakeholders

Identify stakeholders with the most interest and influence in your project and potential risks that could disrupt the project. Proactively address concerns to secure social acceptance and improve outcomes.

Perform stakeholder analysis early in the project and repeat regularly to track stakeholder evolution and changing needs, expectations, and relationships. This ongoing exercise will provide insights to develop engagement strategies and show how stakeholders are evolving proactively. Each analysis is a snapshot of a certain point in the project timeline and will reveal key stakeholders, shifting needs and expectations, and relationship changes.

Ready to dig deeper into stakeholder analysis? This blog has everything you want to know.

How to create an effective stakeholder management plan

Effective communication is critical for successful on-site and remote project management. Though planning is daunting, it can determine your project’s success and failure.

A stakeholder engagement plan must consider every individual, organization, business, family, governmental institution, indigenous group, piece of land, tree, crop, or animal affected by the project. That may sound like many stakeholders, but some projects involve that level of detail.

What is a stakeholder management plan?

A plan for engaging stakeholders is primarily focused on strategic communication. A Stakeholder Management Plan is a step-by-step guide that lays out how your organization will communicate with stakeholders to increase the chances of achieving positive outcomes for your project.

It’s a written document that identifies the main stakeholders and explains how you interact and communicate with them. This document enables your project manager to create a strategy for managing expectations and delivering the correct information to the right people at the right time.

A stakeholder management plan is closely connected to stakeholder analysis. These elements are designed to help you determine the best ways to communicate and convey messages effectively. This can assist in reducing negative perceptions, amplifying positive effects, and resolving conflicts before they become more serious.

Preparing a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP)

Our experience has proven that a good stakeholder engagement plan consists of 12 sections. A detailed analysis can be found in this article.

  • 1. Areas of influence
    This first section provides a geospatial understanding of the areas impacted by the project. It also determines the level of engagement according to each zone (based on a scale from negligible to significant).
  • 2. Regulations and requirements
    Most development projects must respect many regulations and requirements. Organizations must ensure compliance and conformity throughout the project.
  • 3. Methodology
    Choosing a practical methodology is vital as it forms the foundation of your plan, outlining stakeholder identification and categorization criteria.
  • 4. Project stakeholders
    In this section of your Stakeholder Engagement Plan, you’ll develop an all-inclusive directory of each group and sub-group you previously identified in your methodology. This list encompasses various details, including traditional and customary authorities, villages, and much more.
  • 5. Stakeholder engagement activities
    The “activities section” of your stakeholder engagement plan is a crucial component that outlines your communication strategies for each group you identified during the stakeholder analysis process. This section ensures you comprehensively understand the unique needs and preferences, allowing you to tailor your communication strategies accordingly.
  • 6. Stakeholder engagement plan template
    Now that we’ve identified your stakeholders and how you’ll reach them, this section of your stakeholder engagement plan will cover how to implement your strategy. We can help. Download our Stakeholder Engagement Plan Template.
  • 7. Timetable
    This section will provide an overview of your communication strategy for each project phase over time. You don’t need to go into too much detail. We recommend monthly intervals.
  • 8. Resources and responsibilities
    When coordinating activities, clearly outline each team member’s responsibilities and hierarchy for grievance escalation. Create job descriptions with names and an organizational chart for a visual overview of responsibilities. Indicate external contractors’ roles and positions.
  • 9. Grievance management
    Stakeholders should be able to request and receive a clear definition of what constitutes a grievance and how it is managed, including an estimated resolution time.
  • 10. Monitoring and reporting
    Using a stakeholder relationship management system (SRM) is more efficient and secure than patchwork tools like email, spreadsheets, and shared documents. With an SRM, all data is centralized, saving time when looking for specific information from past interactions.
  • 11. Budget
    You’ll also need to monitor the financial aspects of your stakeholder engagement activities. Make sure to enter as much detail into your budget as you can. Also, remember to review your budget often.
  • 12. Appendix
    In the Appendix, you’ll incorporate documents like your PAP list, templates for grievance forms, and attendance sheets for public consultations. Including links to other relevant documents related to your stakeholder engagement plan could be beneficial.

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Stakeholder management best practices

Cultivating solid relationships with stakeholders is crucial for successful engagement. However, it’s important to note that fostering a ‘good relationship’ doesn’t guarantee constant satisfaction among all stakeholders.

Ultimately, positive stakeholder relationships are grounded in trust. Effective communication plays a central role; thus, establishing transparent and accessible communication avenues where individuals feel valued and heard is essential. Let’s explore strategies to enhance stakeholder relationships.

Start engaging early.
By controlling the narrative and ensuring stakeholders hear about the project from you instead of speculation on social media or the news, you can demonstrate transparency and build trust.

Conduct a thorough stakeholder analysis. 

To engage effectively, identify stakeholders and conduct research to understand their motivations and impact. Customize engagement strategies based on what each group needs to know and when. Analyze stakeholder priorities and areas of disagreement to find acceptable compromises.

Be as accessible as possible. 

To increase engagement, offer information and resources in various formats (text, audio, video), languages, and in-person and online. This will broaden your audience and ensure your message is heard and understood. Additionally, provide multiple channels for feedback and questions, such as a call center, in-person office, email address, online portal, one-on-one meetings, and door-to-door outreach.

Communicate clearly and honestly. 

To build good relationships with stakeholders, treat them how you want to be treated. Always be honest and direct in your communication, and don’t make commitments you’re unsure of. It’s essential to be realistic and manage expectations by being clear about which decisions have been made and what’s still uncertain. Share information as it becomes available and continue to communicate throughout the project. 

Show stakeholders that you’re listening. 

Listen respectfully and without judgment, striving to understand their point of view, even when you disagree. Follow up on commitments and take notes, repeating key points back to them to ensure understanding. Stay curious, focus on areas of agreement, and collaborate to find mutually beneficial solutions.
stakeholder-management-best-practices-checklist

SRM vs. CRM software: What’s the difference?

We’ve detailed the stakeholder management plan and explored the best practices. It’s time to talk about managing all the data and information produced during your stakeholder engagements.

There are many ways to do this. Common strategies often entail utilizing a mix of Excel spreadsheets, emails, shared documents, and more. However, this amalgamation of tools often undermines data security and traceability, making it inefficient for monitoring and reporting.

One of our clients, Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC), faced a significant challenge; overseeing the compensation process for the eight communities requiring resettlement. The predominantly manual process that relied on spreadsheets was inefficient and created timing bottlenecks. Learn how our SRM helped them use their time and money more effectively.

That case study exemplifies why adept stakeholder engagement teams leverage a digital solution that unifies data in a single space. There are two options: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) software.

In reality, SRM and CRM software are not interchangeable; they serve very different objectives. But what’s the difference between SRM and CRM systems… and which one is right for you

What is SRM software?

SRM, or Stakeholder Relationship Management software, is a tool companies can use to manage all information related to their stakeholder engagement efforts throughout a project’s lifespan. It aims to help organizations manage stakeholder relationships and monitor their evolution over time, ensuring project social acceptance.
Stakeholder relationships tend to be more intricate and less foreseeable than customer relationships. SRM software is specifically designed to consider these factors while promoting transparency and open communication.

Benefits of Stakeholder Relationship Management Software

SRM software is developed for stakeholder engagement specifically. CRM software is sometimes tweaked to include stakeholders other than customers, but that approach often fails.

SRM Software is most useful for organizations concerned with the following:

  • Community engagement
  • Public affairs and government relations
  • Asset and land management
  • Environmental and social performance

What is CRM software?

CRM software, also known as Customer Relationship Management software, is a tool that stores and manages customer-related information, such as leads, contacts, opportunities, and purchase history. Its purpose is to help businesses manage and improve customer relationships and move them through the sales funnel.

The differences between SRM and CRM software

PLATFORM 
CRM SOFTWARE 
SRM SOFTWARE
Designed to manage  
Sales process – a standardized process that doesn’t change much from one customer (or product) to the next. 
Stakeholder engagement – a flexible process that must continually adapt to meet the changing needs of a wide variety of stakeholders. 
Purpose 
To move customers through the sales funnel 
To build and maintain stakeholder relationships 

Goal 

To maximize profits 
To identify and implement mutually beneficial solutions 
Type of cycle
Linear 
Cyclical 
Timeline 
Relatively short 
Long-term, often lasting years 
Used to track 
Revenue 
Interactions 
Approach 
Reactive – responds to issues as they arise 
Long-term – prepares for potential issues before they emerge 
Intended for 
Businesses that need to manage a large number of customers who have a fairly stable, predictable relationship with the company as part of the sales or support process 
Organizations that need to manage complex relationships with many different stakeholders or have a large team working on stakeholder engagement activities 
Use as a stakeholder management tool 
Can be customized (to some extent) for stakeholder relationship management, though not without significant risk. 
Designed specifically for stakeholder relationship management, so it’s ready to use right out of the box 

The risks of using spreadsheets to manage stakeholders

Are you managing vast amounts of stakeholder data using spreadsheets? You’re taking a considerable risk.

Sure, spreadsheets are still the most widely used tool for managing stakeholder data. But, they are certainly not the recommended best practice.

What makes spreadsheets so risky? Put simply: time and money. Spreadsheets are time-consuming and prone to errors. Nor do they follow data security best practices. And they’re certainly not designed to track stakeholder engagement.

Stakeholder engagement software, like Borealis, is a more efficient way to manage stakeholder data. It is especially pivotal if you manage many stakeholders, projects, and team members.

If you worry about transferring all those spreadsheets into your stakeholder engagement software, you’re in luck. Importing data from spreadsheets to these specialized systems is quite straightforward. In fact, we even handle data migration for you.

Learn more about the risks of relying on spreadsheets and the real difference that stakeholder engagement software can make.

How to choose the right stakeholder management software

Using an SRM to manage stakeholder engagement has many advantages. Firstly, it saves you a lot of time since all data is centralized in one place. You can easily retrieve specific information from interactions that took place years ago.

Some systems even provide advanced analytical tools to help you compile quick reports and extract valuable insights from your data. You can access detailed information about areas, subjects, and resolution times with just a few clicks. Additionally, you can effortlessly generate monthly reports of your team’s engagements with trends.

Borealis stakeholder management software offers all this and more. It goes beyond planning by providing software that breaks down your engagement plan into actionable activities and assigns tasks to your team. The Stakeholder Engagement Plan feature gives you a real-time view of your progress as the project unfolds, allowing you to adjust course quickly as needed. Proper planning helps minimize oversights, eliminate duplicate efforts, and simplify the reporting proce

Why choose Borealis as your SRM?

For almost 20 years, Borealis and its dedicated team of customer support specialists have helped hundreds of organizations worldwide take stakeholder engagement to the next level. We strive to be partners our clients can depend on to constantly improve their stakeholder engagement processes and results. We’re committed to providing top-quality, ongoing support to ensure our customers succeed. Here’s what our stakeholder management software can do for you:
Onboarding
Borealis is prepared immediately. As a component of our established delivery approach, Borealis will tailor the software to match your requirements, transfer your current data, and offer training during the onboarding phase.
Stakeholder management specialists
Borealis has supported over 400 teams in adopting our software. Our dedication lies in aiding clients to manage change adeptly, guaranteeing the success of the implementation process.
Intuitive user experience

The user-friendly interface is designed for simplicity, accommodating even those less familiar with technology. Borealis streamlines data entry and searches, fostering user acceptance and enabling teams to concentrate on cultivating reliable stakeholder relationships rather than data management.

Ready for global teams
Borealis provides practical onboarding and training in multiple languages. Each client is matched with a dedicated Customer Success Advisor, offering tailored assistance and support.
Ready-to-use dashboards
Ready-to-use dashboards empower users to track the status of stakeholder relationships, re-engage individuals who might have been overlooked, and pinpoint focal points for critical matters.
Continuous improvement
Our software undergoes quarterly updates influenced by evolving global best practices and client feedback. Borealis upholds top-tier security measures and adheres to GDPR and other data privacy regulations.
Centralized information
Every module is seamlessly integrated, enabling various teams and departments to oversee activities, communications, issues, community investments, and more, all within a centralized database. Employing a singular application to oversee stakeholder engagement activities across business units enhances efficiency and promotes collaboration.
Best-in-class reporting
Borealis incorporates in-built reporting tools that simplify the generation of comprehensive reports for internal management, regulators, and lenders with just a few clicks. Data analysis is facilitated by sorting information based on stakeholder type, date, location, or strategy
Grows with your organization
The platform is instantly scalable; additional modules can be added as your needs evolve.

Transform your stakeholder
management with Borealis

If you’d like to know more about our system and how it facilitates the monitoring and reporting of your stakeholder engagement activities, contact us. We’ll be happy to discuss how Borealis software can support your project.
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