How to...build effective stakeholder relationships at work
These relationships can make or break career success and progression, so here's how to do it right
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Welcome back! This is a huge week in the UK due to the elections taking place, so whatever your political leaning, if you can, get out and vote today!
Let’s talk politics with a small “p” today and the art of building stakeholder relationships at work.
First of what are stakeholders? Who are they?
In any role and in any organisation, you know that there are people who can influence not just your role, but also the business as a whole and its direction. Those are stakeholders.
Do you know who yours are? (If not, try this handy stakeholder mapping exercise.)
When you're thinking about your stakeholders, I want you to remember that these can go far deeper than just transactional relationships and the more that you invest your time, your effort, and your energy in building really valuable relationships with these stakeholders, the better positioned you'll be for success as a leader and in your role.
So let's say, for example, you've been invited to a meeting and it's full of important people that you know could have a bearing on your professional future, but you haven't spent any time with them. If you go into this meeting “cold”, it's going to be much harder for you to land your messages with impact simply because the “like and trust” factor won't be there yet and “like and trust” is something that's really important.
Consumer retail businesses and professional services businesses talk about this factor a lot because it affects buying decisions. As a consumer or a purchaser of something you are far more likely to do so if you know, like and trust the person, the people or the brand behind what's on offer and it's the same within your role.
You need to get to know people, they need to get to know you, they need to like you and respect you and therefore trust you, so that when you do have something to share with them, the chances are much much higher that they're going to listen!
But when it comes to communicating with stakeholders, how can we do it effectively?
Read on for my tips on building impactful stakeholder relationships at work…