Effective Stakeholder Management

Individual progress especially in business is enhanced by a robust Stakeholder Network. 

Some may argue a stakeholder network is critical for those who aspire to reach the upper echelons of their organisation, this is not  necessarily the case !

 The truth is everyone needs a robust network, in business or socially. Without networking, interaction disappears, social and interpersonal skills decline and ultimately you will begin to lack functional impact within your environment and end up as a peripheral rather than central figure.

In building any stakeholder network you must consider what you wish to gain from that network. If you reflect you will realise you will have been practising stakeholder management for some time; consciously or otherwise. Children are adept at this, they will choose friends to be in with the “crowd”, be included in the team. As you progress into teenage years you develop social circles, get involved with the best teams, invited to the best parties and so it goes on.

 Who knows, perhaps you reached the dizzy heights of being the kid in the playground everyone wanted to be friends with ?!!

At the time you knew with whom you wanted to align ; why and no doubt recognised what you gained from such relationship.

This is stakeholder management, albeit you may not have been conscious of this at the time. The only difference being in the less political environment of youth, and the fact you were more than likely operating in a smaller social environment with greater parity to you peers. You didn’t have to work as hard at it.

Of course in business there are constantly rewards, positions to be gained and maintained and a lot more at stake than being picked to play on the football team during morning break in the playground.

As such you have to now consciously work on developing your stakeholder network.

At first this will be demanding, perhaps slightly daunting and you will find you have in some cases you have not optimised your alignment. However in time you will develop stakeholder skills and almost instinctively position yourself in a network you will derive the best results.

The greatest mark of success is that people want to be in your network...your team and you (perhaps again) become the kid in the playground everyone wants to be friends with !!

Within business you must create a stakeholder mapping at every level, not only  across the breadth of your company but also with those you do business with.  Building a stakeholder engagement which only includes those in your department or direct line management will stifle wider progress and delay gaining the high and wide profile. If you have the capability and aspirations of upward progression do not limit the boundary.

If in doubt consider this ;  when you’re doing a really effective job in your present role what is the impact on your manager of them of  promoting you within the organisation. If it is not beneficial to your manager, will they do it ?

To build effective stakeholder mapping you must first of all identify those who can influence your aspiration paths. Once established consider the following

(i)  What are their key objectives

(ii) What do they think about in the wee small hours

What can you offer to them from which will meet (i) and overcome (ii) ?

How do you achieve a mutually beneficial outcome ?

Let’s look at the following example.

You are an Account Manager for a major manufacturer. Your Head of Products (an influential individual in the organisation) is looking to promote a new product. This product is seen as the vanguard to the company’s strategic growth initiative. You at the same time are looking to move to Sales Manager.

 The key sponsors of the product launch are as follows :

Chef Executive (who has backed this as the strategic enabler to growth)

Product Manager ( who convinced the board this would make the company great)

Head of Marketing (who needs to get the product out there and recognised)

Head of Finance (who authorised the £1m development spend).

There is a fourth and more immediate stakeholder- your Head of Sales who has a volume and financial target against the new product.

You must now consider how you help each of these against the objectives. You may go about this in various ways, one suggestion being outlined below :-

You recognise/or stimulate an opportunity for the product within your client base

You discuss with the client(s) and establish a firm opportunity

You ensure senior sponsorship from your client

Once established.....

• You ask for a meeting with key stakeholders to present the opportunity
• You outline how you have opened this up and have taken forward
• Assuming a head start amongst your peers you are leading the channel to market
• You offer to lead product sale across a wider client base
• Assuming creation of a pipeline you will have realised your Executive’s objectives
• Leading the success and maintaining a lead you request further resources be put under your direction to excel in the company objectives. (The veiled request for a lead role)
• Your continued success has now established you firmly in the role.
• Retaining ownership you do the direct updates to the stakeholders
• Whilst the above may not automatically enable immediate promotion it has put you in the lead position. You have established a brand, a value and now elevated your engagement. Focus at this level and continued progress will present the best chances for promotion. Significant success in a situation as illustrated above may even enable you to establish a new senior role even greater than your initial aspirations.

This format can be used in a number of situations, sales, cost restructuring, programme delivery etc. The key thing however as shown above is to align to the objectives of the stakeholders and gain recognition for you having helped achieve these !!

Be absolutely sure however that before you put forward the asks that you have a robust foundation and can tangibly demonstrate success.

In the situation outlined you have achieved success in a particular area and have satisfied the needs of the key stakeholders within the organisation. The likelihood is your peer group will have changed and you have to establish additions to your network. (It is important that you do not diminish your existing network!!).

As you add to you network you must look for new “wins” to ensure a strategic approach. To do this actively get involved in emerging activities at each stage continually extending your network. Do not limit the network to within your own organisation, it is also important you gain external recognition and hook in to external sponsors. As you build your network out look at ways it benefits others to be in your network, this further elevates your position towards the centre and away from being peripheral in your own and other networks.

It is just as important that as you build your network and elevate, allow others in the position you were in to be part of that network and be elevated just as you have. Stakeholder management works in all directions not just upwards. An employee one day could be your manager the next, if you and your network has got them there they will likely recognise and reward that.

Like everything, your network has to be regularly fed and watered to remain functional. Throughout the course of your career and life your networks will change either through choice or necessity. In some cases you may not have control of the changes.

As such it is always useful to maintain a Stakeholder Map and review on a regular basis to ensure its continued effectiveness. In doing so you must review what you have gained/are gaining from your network. This will help determine whether or not your network is right for where you and if it needs to change. Within this you must also look at your future aspirations and ascertain what enablers lie within your current stakeholder network and what new links need established. Every individual within your network will similarly have their own network ,where in some cases you may be peripheral. Wherever possible facilitate new relationships through using these networks. The more central you become in each of the stakeholder networks the more central you  become within the overall extended community.

 Not only does this give expansion and greater opportunity it strengthens your existing group and overall transforms the wider community into a basis of influence. In any changes however, relationships with  key stakeholders who are central to your aspirations must be maintained on a reciprocal basis. Do not just use them when it suits, that will be apparent , no one likes being “used” and will likely turn the relationship off ! This is especially important as a stakeholder network is reliant on several interconnected constituent parts.

 If you as an individual have reached a position of authority you must exercise that authority wherever possible to help others in your network and in turn become more central to influencing that network.

Stakeholder  mapping is not just an influencer in business, it is in effect the basis of social networking. Whilst it will not carry the same political ends, stakeholder mapping is just as important in your social life.

Through the creation of a network your horizons will be opened up to new friendships, you will in turn meet friends of friends. This will give access to new groups, interests and enable you to help others as well as providing personal fulfilment.