Who are stakeholders? Why are they so important for the success of a project and organizational goals? Why does the top management need to invest so much in the management of stakeholders? We understand each question that comes to your mind whenever somebody mentions about ensuring effective stakeholder management and we will help you get all the answers.
Who are stakeholders?
Anybody who either performs or is affected by the actions taken in an organization to achieve project goals is termed as its ‘stakeholder’. These are the human resources without whom an organization or project will not even be in existence.
Now, it is imperative for the growth and success of any business that your stakeholders are effectively managed and community relationship management software can really help you in engaging the stakeholders who are present outside your organization.
Stakeholders can be categorized into two major heads:
· Internal Stakeholders
Internal or primary stakeholders are the people who directly affect the transactions and activities of a project. This category includes employees, investors, customers, suppliers and creditors.
· External Stakeholders
Though not engaged directly in the activities of a project, external stakeholders are impacted by the outcomes and can affect the actions of the company too. This category includes media, communities, business support groups, activist groups and government.
Why manage stakeholders?
Each and every stakeholder in an organization is really critical to its success as they affect the operations of the company directly and as a project manager, one of the key responsibilities includes engaging and managing all the stakeholders. Here are first three steps that you can adapt to help you get started so that you can ensure that all of your stakeholders are satisfied with the engagement and are happily contributing in the success of a project:
1. Identify your stakeholders and acknowledge them
Before you begin to manage your stakeholders, you need to know who all they are and what role they play in the project or organization. Whether internal or external, you should map out all of your stakeholders at the beginning of a project. Subsequently, prioritize all the stakeholders according to the interest they will have in the information related to every step of the project process and the amount of power they have to affect the major organizational decisions.
2. Pick the right communication tool
Now that you know who your key stakeholders are and how much information about the project and organization you need to share with each of the categories in order to keep them contented and invested in your interest, it is important that you choose the right communication medium for their engagement. For instance, you can get a community relationship management software for all the primary stakeholders who are not present inside the premises of the organization to ensure that they are timely informed about the proceedings of the project.
3. Create an action plan and monitor it
Once you have identified all your stakeholders and the communication channel you will use to keep them informed and get their feedback, it is important that you create a proper plan so that each stakeholder is passed on the information important to them within the required time. This would not just make them feel happy, hence increasing their involvement and productivity but would also help you maintain a long term business relationship.
It is convenient to manage the communication with stakeholders present inside your organization, but when it comes to engaging the stakeholders that might be present in some other part of the country or continent, it gets a bit tricky to maintain the communication with them on regular basis. The community relationship management software by Engagement Hub provides you with the tools to ensure that your stakeholders are connected with you even if they are in a different time zone.
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