Stakeholder Management

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
– George Bernard Shaw

Understanding and addressing the needs of your customers (which includes both internal and external stakeholders) is the most effective way to gain support for the projects and programs within the portfolio. Seeing as it’s the customer that will ultimately be receiving the benefits of the projects and programs being implemented, their voice counts! Once you have an understanding of who your customers are, and how they fit in the broader context of the portfolio, you will be able to determine the best way to reach them. This not only helps staff to understand and engage with stakeholders, but it also assists to make sure that your stakeholders are on board with where you are going, why you are going there and what it means for them.

Benefit Management has significant experience in navigating through complex stakeholder situations. We enabled one of our clients, a large utilities organisation, to understand how the various stakeholders involved in delivering the portfolio interrelate. By mapping the stakeholder mix, we were also able to assist in identifying stakeholder interests and influence over the portfolio, as well as the dependencies between them. This involved taking a step back from the apparent complexity of the stakeholder mix, applying best practice tools and techniques, and tailoring them for the organisation to create the most practical solution given the context.