In project management, and business generally, logic and facts steer projects toward successful outcomes. Although customer experience is now often considered, stakeholder experience is usually overlooked along with the resounding influence this experience has on minimising risk and maximising opportunity.
Stakeholders are more than the spreadsheet categorisation and prioritisation used in traditional stakeholder management. Our stakeholders are individuals with their own emotional beliefs, aspirations, and past experiences. Understanding and respecting these nuances profoundly influences how stakeholders engage and respond to a project or organisational communication.
Considering the emotional response through planning for and analysing stakeholder experience enables improved trust building, support and understanding and potentially collaboration towards better outcomes.
To support improved stakeholder experience, consider:
Past experiences and influence on emotions and trust: Emotions are often a reflection of past experiences of a situation or an organisation. These experiences form the cornerstone of building trust. By considering stakeholders’ experiences from project initiation to completion, acknowledging their concerns, empathising with their perspectives, and addressing their needs, we can lay an improved foundation of trust that strengthens relationships.
Emotionally intelligent communication: Stakeholder management often focuses on the messages we believe stakeholders ‘need to hear’ with little consideration of how these messages might be influenced by our stakeholders’ emotional states. Crafting communications with emotional intelligence and empathy bridges gaps and resolves conflicts more effectively, fostering clearer understanding and cooperation.
Emotional contagion and influence: Emotional contagion can bring stakeholders together or drive them apart. Understanding the web of these connections and influencers among stakeholders helps identify and address these influences early, preventing potential issues and fostering collaboration.
Balancing logic and empathy: Prioritizing emotions doesn’t dismiss logic; it harmonizes rationality with empathy. Embracing emotions in stakeholder management leads to a more inclusive, collaborative, and ultimately successful project journey.
Harnessing engagement: Any emotional response from stakeholders indicates their engagement and care about the situation. Harnessing this engagement is possible through active listening, empathy, and kindness, and establishing a common ground for a fruitful working relationship. When stakeholders feel appreciated and recognized for their contributions, they become emotionally invested, fostering a sense of ownership and dedication to a successful outcome.
Acknowledging and embracing emotions in stakeholder management is not just about understanding stakeholders better—it's about leveraging emotions as a powerful tool for fostering trust, effective communication, and stakeholder commitment. As Robert Kiyosaki implied, emotion is energy + motion. By recognizing the energy of the emotional fabric of stakeholders, we can build stronger, more resilient outcomes.
Does your organisation map stakeholder experience?
Yes
No
Sometimes
I don't know
.