I’m teaching a stakeholder engagement class and each week we list the primary stakeholders and the issues they most value. When combined in a grid, it’s easy to see that what is important to some is not important to others, but there is also usually an issue or two that matters to multiple parties. That is where to focus!
Many times, we start meetings or conversations discussing what is wrong or where people disagree but things could be more productive if the common goal was identified before highlighting the gaps. Asking stakeholders to identify their issues and prioritize them or taking that extra few moments to consider shared values can lead to constructive solutions and shared understanding.
I doubt any of my students will actually sit down and draw a stakeholder engagement grid in their workplace or at home but hopefully, the concepts will be embedded and they will mentally compile one before crafting their messages. So much of our work involves balancing competing priorities. Articulating those tensions beforehand can go a long way toward crafting strategies to relieve them.
(In this example, Safety has the greatest concern for all parties — with very different perspectives on how safe riding on the streets is — but you could get agreement that doing something safe is the common goal)
