Let’s not forget about the original way of engaging with people - in real life!

Public consultation operations are no different to the way we see modern day political campaigns being run, doing work on the ground is what gets you results. For some, it will mean extra training to reintroduce your workers to face to face conversation (we’re not even kidding). We need to not only pound the pavements, but we need to be enthusiastic about it. So, best smile forward guys and knock.

Before we even talk about the benefits of stakeholder engagement software, we need to talk about your stakeholder engagement strategy.

Public consultations usually follow a very strict paper trail of rules and regulations - objectives are set early so the questions and format of questioning are laid out.

It is important therefore to have a conversation template in place so as to not influence the person you're 'consulting'.

Conversation Template

Learn from past and ongoing engagement:

Look at your organization’s existing engagement activities. What are the objectives of these activities? What stakeholders communicate regularly with your company? What groups do they cover well? Where can you reach beyond this existing comfort zone to engage with lesser-known stakeholders?

Be forward thinking:

Consider potential stakeholders from new markets, new technologies, new customers, and new impending regulations. Depending on your objectives, the relevant stakeholders you need to engage with may not play the usual sustainability roles but may instead serve other functions relevant to your business.

Be diverse:

Make sure to include a rich diversity of stakeholder expertise, geography, and tactics from across the spectrum. This is an opportunity to reach out and mix the old with the new, including individuals from each of the following stakeholder categories: influencers, collaborators, advocators, and implementation partners.

Be social:

Social media provides an unparalleled opportunity to identify and reach lesser-known stakeholder groups. Canvas blogs, forums, networking, reviews, and news sites to discover stakeholders relevant to your business and to learn about their interest in your activities.

Be aware:

People have a tendency to focus on formal authorities in the mapping process, but the loudest voices or heaviest campaigners are not necessarily your key stakeholders. Step back and add silent members to your list because they may have a hidden wealth of expertise.

Data Capture

• Is your list focused on relevant stakeholders who are important to our current and future efforts?

• Do you have a good understanding of where stakeholders are coming from, what they may want, whether they would be interested in engaging with our organization, and why?

• How can we further understand and qualify these stakeholders?

• Based on our prioritized stakeholders, can you define a granular level of engagement?

• Will this list inform tactics, formats, and investment considerations?

• Have we given thought to what type of resources (expertise, people, and budget) we need to support our engagement strategy and follow-up activities?

What Can Voxcitio Do For You?

We can help you with:

• A way to segment stakeholders into your chosen categories like the one above. This can be done through stakeholder tagging.

• A way to map out the specific location of stakeholders for face-to-face engagement if necessary. This is particularly useful when doing public consultation work.

• Open communication channels to keep all stakeholders informed, eg email blasts, social media updates, press releases, public canvassing.

• A method of tracking specific issues, suggestions or requests that come in from stakeholders and a way to assign this casework to the relevant person on your project team.

• The ability to conduct surveys

• The organizational ability around your team members and what tasks they need to undertake to maintain stakeholder relationships.

Talk to us more about Voxcitio