Stakeholder Engagement

In this phase we begin to identify how to engage with our stakeholders effectively. Obviously this means we need to recognise the previous phases in which we have identified potential issues in our communication appraoches and who exactly our stakeholders are.

Strategic Communicatio Assessment

How are we currently doing? Complete or review your strategic communication assessment. Remember that any low scores here may need to be resolved before we continue to engage with our stakeholders.

You have not yet completed a Strategic Communication Scorecard.

Complete Assessment

Power-Interest Chart

Bubble size represents stakeholder impact (1–5)

Stakeholders by Influence Quadrant

This table summarizes stakeholders by their position in the interest-influence matrix. ✔ indicates high impact (score 4 or 5).

Quadrant	Stakeholders	Engagement Approach
High Influence, High Interest		Actively involve in strategy and decision-making.
High Influence, Low Interest		Keep satisfied and monitor engagement level.
Low Influence, High Interest		Keep informed and ensure transparent communication.
Low Influence, Low Interest		Minimal effort required, monitor occasionally.

Interactive Stakeholder Engagement Matrix

Use this interactive matrix to classify stakeholders based on their support and your current engagement approach. Drag and drop each stakeholder into one of the quadrants:

Maintain – Proactively engage supporters to keep them aligned.
Shape – Proactively influence neutral or undecided stakeholders.
Regain – Reactively re-engage stakeholders whose support has faded.
Defend – Reactively address opponents or risks to your project.

Please note that you need to add stakeholders in the stakeholder identification step for them to appear here.

Drag and drop stakeholders into engagement quadrants based on support and approach.

Unassigned Stakeholders

Stakeholder Engagement Matrix

Maintain

Shape

Regain

Defend

Stakeholders by Engagement Quadrant

The following table summarises the engagement matix above, it should be used to add additional context and refine the appraoch we take to key stakeholders.

Engagement Quadrant	Stakeholders	Recommended Strategy
Maintain		Keep satisfied and continue periodic engagement.
Shape		Proactively involve in shaping direction and decisions.
Regain		Understand concerns and rebuild trust and interest.
Defend		Manage closely — high risk of opposition or resistance.

Back to Stakeholder Index

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