stakeholder management | Gautrey Unleashed

How to Engage with Your Players

March 20, 2013 by Colin Gautrey

These are the stakeholders you are never quite sure about. They say one thing (usually they agree with you) and then do another. Their actions don’t quite back up their words. What you need to do is dig a little deeper into why they may be doing this, then you can decide on your best approach to engage with them. Incidentally, Players rank behind Advocates and Critics in terms of general priorities for your time and effort. Enemies usually come last in your task list. So, with one of your Players in mind, take a look at the different types of Player and see where they fit… Game Player: These are the office politicians. They enjoy the game and seem to think it is okay to Read More

Engaging and Influencing Stakeholders

February 17, 2013 by Colin Gautrey

Stakeholders are important people who share an interest in your success. You need to engage with them at the right time so that you can influence them as easily as possible. Stakeholder influence doesn't just happen; you have to make it happen. By engaging with your stakeholders early, you stand a much better chance of being able to help them to understand what you want to achieve. Critically, you need to develop a clear appreciation for their stance in order that you can pitch your goals in the most favourable light.

"Proactively seek out, engage, and influence your stakeholders."

You can find stakeholders in many places. By thinking Read More

Focusing Your Stakeholder Management

January 28, 2013 by Colin Gautrey

Becoming more strategic at managing and influencing your stakeholders requires that you take a structured approach to your work. The first step of the Stakeholder Influence Process requires that you get very clear on exactly what you want to achieve.

Step 1 — Focus: Assess your priorities and focus your Influencing Goal

The starting point is working out what you want to achieve. Sure, you will have lots of goals, but you need to get focussed in order to gain maximum progress with the Stakeholder Influence Process.

Action

Pause and think of the most important goal you have right now.

I am sure you have lots of goals, but which one is most prominent in your mind right now? Settle on one to use over the next hour for Read More

Consorting with the Enemy

January 8, 2013 by Colin Gautrey

If you want to reduce your stress when managing stakeholders, realise that you do not necessarily have to go into battle with your enemies and adversaries. Many diligent and capable people spend an unnecessary amount of time and energy engaging with these people, which can be soul destroying. They are hard work because they are opposed to you, and your relationship with them is poor. Rather than automatically focus your stakeholder management effort on engaging with these troublesome characters, step back and first understand them. Gain a measure of what they are about, what they are capable of ― and then make clear decisions about your strategy. Ignoring them is not an option. To challenge your understanding, use these questions and find the gaps in your knowledge which need to be filled before you take action. So, with a particular adversary Read More

Being Secretive and Hiding Inconvenient Truths

October 22, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

"Whatever you do, don't tell them that!" "But, when they find out, it'll come back to bite us." "We'll worry about that when and if it happens. Now, go get them to agree to our plan." Sound familiar? While this is often seen as an expedient tactic, it is usually short-sighted and creates a multiple of problems upstream. However there are exceptions. My starting position is that to maximise success, you should proactively pursue open and honest communication, even with those who oppose you. This topic arose on a workshop a few weeks ago in a workshop as we were reviewing delegates experience of using my Stakeholder Influence Process (see Chapter 13 of Advocates & Enemies. When we analyse stakeholders, one of the dimensions under consideration is “agreement”. Between the positive and the negative there is what I call the grey zone, or rather those people whom you are unsure about ― you don’t quite know if they have bought into your idea or not. The general strategy is to work with those stakeholders to move them out of the grey zone; even if this is into the negative agreement space ― at least then you know what you have to deal with. However, one delegate suggested that his strategy is Read More

How to Discover New Ways to Influence Stubborn Stakeholders

October 5, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

If you want to influence a stakeholder who is resistant to your proposal, and you have already tried everything you can think of, try this...

Clarify exactly what you want them to agree to (how you want them to do, think, feel or believe etc.)
Select 5 to 10 people in your network whom you trust and who also know the stakeholder you are seeking to influence. Read More

13 Questions to Ask Your Advocates

September 2, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

Getting someone in your network to the position of Advocate can take quite a bit of hard work. Building the relationship, creating trust and demonstrating value can take months, if not years. Of course, that presupposes premeditated action — it is more likely that you just landed there by chance. And doesn’t it feel great noticing how an individual promotes “brand you” to everyone they meet? Finding out through others that “so and so” has been telling everyone how fast you deliver, or how quickly you cut through the trivia and get down to business. Even more rewarding is when they are heard to be recommending you for inclusion on exciting new projects. Because it is more likely that you happened upon your Advocates by chance, you might like to do a little re-evaluation to make sure you have the right people doing the job for you. To get your thinking off to a quick start, here are a few interview-type questions you could (but probably never will) ask of a potential Advocate… Read More

Ignoring Your Competition: Influencing Mistake No. 3

August 12, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

As you learn how to influence more effectively, make sure you don’t miss this on your checklist as you prepare your strategy. All too often, people get consumed with their own ideas and fail to keep a watchful eye on others who may act to protect their own interests. Developing a competitive strategy does not guarantee success, but failing to take account of the forces set against you is plain stupid, or careless, or perhaps just a consequence of being very busy. Here is a quick process to build into your planning… Read More

Avoiding Risks and Seizing Opportunities

August 3, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

As you are developing and working on your Influencing Goals, you need to be aware of what else is going on around you. It is very easy to become so focused on what you want to achieve that you fail to notice risks until they hit you in the face. Dealing with a risk after it has materialised is not as easy as being proactive and preparing contingency plans or taking action to reduce the impact it could have. Opportunities are somewhat different; they will slip by without you even noticing. The fact that a few simple actions could have substantially improved your prospects will never enter your head. Read More

Leading Your Team with the Stakeholder Influence Process

May 30, 2012 by Colin Gautrey

We've already covered how to use the process when managing individuals, now let's talk about how you can leverage it with your whole team. The outline approach below usually yields three key benefits. Firstly, it helps to identify clearly what each individual needs to do to move the team goals forward. Secondly, it helps everyone to share their insights and experience and learn from each other. Finally, it can have a massive impact on the prospects that your team will deliver the results. At your next team meeting... Read More

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