In software consulting, effective stakeholder engagement is just as important for project success as the excellent technology we deliver. As consultants, we want alignment, clarity, and support from our client stakeholders who oversee and ultimately champion our work. Our client stakeholders, in turn, want progress and value, but not all stakeholders are the same. When we better understand our stakeholders and tailor our communication approaches accordingly, we’re better equipped to build trust, provide a great experience, and deliver our projects successfully. Here are some stakeholder communication strategies to try out.
Know Your Stakeholders’ Motivations
A simple first step is knowing who you’re working with and what drives them. Often, we focus on the stakeholders listed in a project plan and what their titles are. That’s a great starting point! This doesn’t always paint the full picture though, and it can be helpful to jot down more information about who your stakeholders really are in practice.
- Identify key players early. Who attends key meetings? What topics spark their engagement? What are they asking questions about?
- Understand motivations. Executives may be more focused on ROI and strategy, while operational users may care more about the details and usability. Domain or departmental stakeholders may have very different pressures and priorities. Some stakeholders may prefer to communicate with technical rigor while others may want outcomes framed in business terms.
- Listen closely. A stakeholder’s casual remark about workload, stressors, or goals might reveal more about what really shapes their priorities.
Frameworks like a stakeholder register or needs analysis can help keep track of these insights, but even a quick sketch of “who cares most about what” can help you proactively craft communications at the right level of detail with the right content and tone that will resonate.
Understand Types of Power
It can be tempting to assume that the stakeholder with the highest title on the org chart should be prioritized. Formal authority does matter, but it’s only one kind of power. To engage effectively with stakeholders, it helps to recognize three distinct types of power:
- Authority: This is the formal, positional power someone has in the organization. Executives, sponsors, or department heads often have authority because of their role and title. Their sign-offs are usually needed to move projects forward.
- Status: Stakeholders with this kind of power have built visibility and credibility within the organization. They might not have the final say, but if they’re recognized as an expert or sit at the center of a critical process, their perspective will carry weight.
- Influence: This is the personal power that can come from strong relationships and trust within the organization. A well-connected stakeholder without formal authority can still heavily impact decisions, sometimes even more effectively than someone at the top of the org chart.
The key is not just paying attention to who holds which types of power, but also in noticing how it plays out in conversations and decisions. Recognizing these dynamics can help you better anticipate roadblocks, find allies, and engage the right people at the right points in time to support your project’s success.
Try Stakeholder Mapping
So we know who our stakeholders are, what their needs and motivations are, and the types of power they hold. We can go even further by putting it all together with stakeholder mapping to overlay and more clearly see how stakeholders relate to each other and to your project’s success.
- Power/interest grid: This is a simple framework to identify who needs consistent communication and engagement (high power, high interest), who might just need high-level updates and engagement at key project gates (high power, low interest), and who might like regular updates (low power, high interest).
- Informal networks: This takes the concept of informal types of power and applies it to directional stakeholder relationships. Draw arrows between stakeholders showing the flows of influence. If you notice someone has a lot of influence on key decision-making stakeholders, it can be helpful to partner closely with them!
- Engagement categories: Grouping stakeholders into “supporter”, “neutral”, and “resistant” categories can help surface opportunities to partner with supporters to champion your project, or address stakeholder misalignment that may derail project success.
Stakeholder mapping doesn’t always have to be a formal effort! While using frameworks and creating artifacts can be beneficial, particularly for projects with complex stakeholder dynamics, this could also just look like adding notes to an org chart, or considering these characteristics when deciding who to engage for a particular project need.
Consider Communication Preferences
People have different communication styles and preferences. Tailoring how you communicate can help you make sure your message is getting received how you intended it, and can help you get support that you need.
- Ask (and observe). Ask your stakeholders how they prefer to hear from you – short emails, detailed reports, quick syncs? What’s their go-to channel for urgent items? What forms and frequencies work best for updates?
- Apply push, pull, and interactive communication methods appropriately. While stakeholders may have their communication preferences, you should also be empowered to negotiate communication methods to support the project needs as well. Sometimes “pushing” information to a stakeholder is sufficient, but runs the risk of low engagement (like sending an email that never gets read, or putting together a project dashboard that isn’t really looked at). Sometimes “pulling” information from a stakeholder takes a few tries at different approaches to see what works best for getting needed input. Finally, getting in a room together (physically or virtually) can be needed for interactive back and forth on urgent or important topics.
- Be aware of cultural context. What feels respectful, normal, or efficient may differ in different cultural contexts! Be considerate of national, religious, and cultural holidays. Exercise mindfulness on idioms, slang, and humor that might not translate well across cultures.
Over time, thoughtful communication that fits the receiver builds trust and rapport. Stakeholders who feel respected and appropriately engaged are more likely to provide helpful feedback and advocate for the project.
Help Others Help You
When you need support from your stakeholder(s) for your project’s success, make it as easy as possible for them to help you. Busy stakeholders often want to help but face time pressures, competing priorities, and may be context switching.
- Provide clear, actionable asks. What do you need from who, by when, and why? Don’t make them guess what you’re asking for.
- Provide context. Avoid making your stakeholders search through long historical email threads, chat messages, etc. When possible, re-summarizing what they need to know about the ask that you’re putting in front of them can go a long way. If asking for a decision, outline the options and considerations.
- Show appreciation! Thank people for their time and input, and recognize their contributions publicly if and when there’s an appropriate opportunity to do so!
Experiment and Learn
When it comes to stakeholder engagement, there is no one-size-fits-all formula. Try different approaches and observe what works well, and when you might need to pivot. Additionally, stakeholder engagement typically evolves as projects progress and priorities shift.
- Revisit your stakeholder map regularly.
- Adjust communication methods as needs change.
- Recognize that new influencers may emerge mid-project.
Most importantly, treat stakeholder engagement as an ongoing relationship-building exercise, not as transactions. Every interaction is a chance to reinforce trust and alignment.
Conclusion
Strong, successful stakeholder engagement is critical for project success. Projects move forward more smoothly, conversations become more collaborative and aligned, trust grows, and we more effectively develop solutions that truly work for our clients. By taking a more intentional and proactive approach to stakeholder engagement, we can create more consistently successful outcomes.
Try applying one of these techniques in your current or next project. Perhaps you try mapping the types of power at play, or asking a stakeholder how they prefer to receive updates. Small shifts in how we engage can have large impacts on how well the work gets done, and on the relationships that last even after projects end.