20.4. The Session
The materials required for the session are Post-It notes; red, yellow and green sticky dots, and five posters with the Stakeholder Mapping Four Box Model.
20.4.1. Workshop Introduction and Selection of Working Groups
We began the Stakeholder Mapping and Engagement session by building participants' awareness of the importance of networks. We then focused on the importance of identifying and managing a very targeted network: the stakeholders for a specific change initiative.
This introduction was followed by an overview of the stakeholder mapping activity. First, we advised participants who were joining the working groups of their role: to support project sponsors in identifying stakeholders and creating a plan to engage the stakeholder network. Each sponsor then provided the full group with a few headlines about his or her change initiative. The headlines were intended to give participants enough information to help them select a project. Each of the sponsors was seated at a different table in the room.
After each of the sponsors had given the headlines for his or her initiative, it was time to create working groups. First, we gave sponsors an opportunity to invite specific people to join their group. The sponsors frequently asked participants who were part of stakeholder groups they sought to engage during the change initiative. We then invited the remaining participants to select an initiative that interested them and move to the sponsor's table. As facilitators, we ensured that the working groups were roughly the same size. This segment should take one hour.
20.4.2. Stakeholder Mapping
The entire Stakeholder Mapping exercise should take two hours to complete.
20.4.2.1. Directions for the Full Group
(15 minutes) We introduced the full group to the Stakeholder Map (Figure 20.1), which we use to array all the stakeholders for a given change initiative.
We displayed the map and explained that the working groups would use it to sort stakeholders according to the influence they have over the sponsor's change initiative and the level of interest in it.
Stakeholders who have a high degree of influence can approve or block the initiative. Without most or all of these high influence stakeholders on board, it would be difficult for the change initiative to succeed. Those with a low degree of influence cannot, on their own, approve or block the change initiative.
Figure 20.1. THE STAKEHOLDER MAP
Those who display a high level of interest are willing to meet with the sponsor, respond to e-mail messages, and provide input. Those with a low level of interest prefer to remain uninvolved. The placement or mapping of a given stakeholder in the four-box model determines which of four engagement strategies are most effective:
Low interest and low influence—Engagement strategy: Be aware. This group requires minimal effort. Do not overinvest time in this group. Do be aware of those in this group in case they become more interested or gain influence.
High interest and low influence—Engagement strategy: Share updates. This group is interested, but the sponsor should not spend too much time soliciting input. The best strategy is to send informative e-mail messages or hold update meetings to communicate information about the change initiative. Consider who in this group can influence the more powerful stakeholders.
Low interest and high influence—Engagement strategy: Make it short and tailored. This group prefers to be passive but may emerge at the final hour and block or slow down the change. Keep communication short and to the point. Ask a few direct questions and make sure the information you share is bottom-line oriented and tailored so that you are communicating only what is important. Do not ignore these stakeholders, especially if they do not support the change initiative.
High interest and high influence—Engagement strategy: Stay close. Engage this group frequently and work to align support. Make sure meetings and update sessions allow for plenty of interactive, two-way communication. Use questions to tune into what is important to this group and communicate frequently about areas of interest.
20.4.2.2. Directions for Working Groups (1 hour, 45 minutes)
The working groups were now ready to delve into the details of their change initiatives and to map stakeholders. The groups proceeded as follows:
The sponsor provided an expanded description of the change initiative and the desired results to his or her working group. Group members asked questions to guide the sponsor in sharing key information. This was a very informal conversation. (15 minutes)
The working group then helped the sponsor list all of the individual people or groups who were affected by the project, had influence or power over it, or had a stake in its successful or unsuccessful conclusion. The table groups "consulted to" the sponsor by asking good questions and making suggestions that led to the identification of a comprehensive group of stakeholders.
The sponsors of change initiatives at MedImmune found that individuals in their groups consistently thought of stakeholders they had not considered. For example, one sponsor was launching an initiative to form a cross-functional team that spanned the entire manufacturing process. A member of his group identified stakeholders working at MedImmune's manufacturing plants whose involvement could help ensure success. (30 minutes)
The working groups then wrote each stakeholder (group or individual) on a Post-it note and placed each note in the appropriate box on a preprinted poster of a blank stakeholder map. Group members were often able to reveal some of the informal networks within the organization and inform the sponsor about the influence level of different stakeholders.
When they were undecided on a stakeholder's level of influence, the groups always returned to the essential question, "Is the stakeholder able to approve or block the change initiative?" This question helped ground the working groups and supported them in reaching agreement on how to best map the stakeholder. If the interest level was unknown, the working groups mapped the stakeholder along the midline and made a note to gauge the level of interest as part of the engagement and communication plan. (45 minutes)
The team then used sticky dots to identify each stakeholder's level of support: (15 minutes)
Green: Actively or passively supports the change initiative.
Yellow: Undecided or unknown.
Red: Actively or passively opposes the change initiative.
20.4.3. Stakeholder Engagement Plan
Following the mapping activity, each working group created a Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Plan, which became a living document, guiding the sponsor in engaging the stakeholder network. The participants began by targeting the highest-priority stakeholders, those who have high influence but are either undecided or actively oppose the change initiative. They also sought to target those who currently support the idea and might be influential with this high-priority group by sharing their reasons for supporting the change initiative.
The Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Plan includes the following information:
Stakeholder. List names of individual stakeholders and stakeholder groups.
Influence. Based on assessments during the mapping exercise, indicate high or low. How much control do they have over the change initiative? Can they block successful implementation? Do they control decisions that will be made? Budgets? Do they influence others?
Interest. Based on conversation during the mapping exercise, indicate the amount of interest as high or low. How much time can they devote to receiving updates or giving their thoughts about the change project? How interested are they in hearing from the sponsor?
Overall strategy. Select the appropriate strategy from the influence/interest four box model (Be Aware, Share Updates, Short and Tailored, Stay Close).
Level of support. Do they oppose the project or support it, or are they on the fence? In the case of the Sales and Marketing leader, her working group helped shift her perspective about the value of her change effort. While she was fully committed to realizing efficiency and cost gains, her colleagues challenged her to look for benefits for her stakeholder group. For example, once implemented, the new process would free up salespeople for more calls.
Topics of interest or concern. What is relevant for them about the change initiative? How could their support enable or hinder the results the stakeholder is seeking to achieve? In the case of the Finance leader who was depending on IT to deliver his enterprise financial system, one working group member was an IT leader. She provided valuable information regarding the IT project manager's other assignments, which helped the Finance leader understand that it would be helpful to ensure that he and the IT project manager were aligned on timing and resource requirements.
Communication vehicles. Does the stakeholder prefer group meetings, one-on-one chats, e-mail, voice mail, or "drive by" meetings, in which quick updates are shared when passing by his or her office? How often does the stakeholder want or need to be updated? Does the sponsor need to determine which communication vehicles will be most effective? The higher the influence level, the more the sponsor should consider designing two-way forums in which the stakeholder will feel heard.
Who will lead? Who will lead and be accountable for communication with the specific individual or group? Do members of the sponsor's team have relationships they can leverage to enroll stakeholders? Who has the knowledge, insights, and communication style to best face off with different stakeholders? Make sure that those who are working directly with key influential stakeholders have the credibility and skills to uncover their points of view and tailor convincing messages. The sponsor's implementation team will need to decide how to develop approaches to win over those stakeholders who are most critical to success.
The Stakeholder Engagement Plan should take one hour to complete.
20.4.4. Wrap-Up
During the final segment of the workshop, we brought the working groups back together so that the full group could discuss its reactions to the Stakeholder Mapping and Engagement process. We asked the participants what they had learned and what they found helpful. In general, most of the participants had not been through a disciplined approach to thinking through the stakeholder aspect of a change initiative. They commented that this process could have helped them avoid earlier headaches.
The sponsors found that their working groups were able to generate a number of valuable recommendations for the engagement and communication plan. For example, a participant from the Commercial Division was able to provide insights into particular individuals' communication preferences and concerns. This segment should take 30 minutes to complete.
20.4.5. Results
At any growing, complex organization, it can be challenging for leaders to understand the entirety of the business. It's hard to see across functional lines, to drop by the office of a colleague who works on the other side of the Atlantic, or speak directly with a customer who is multiple steps downstream in the process you manage. To be effective, leaders must step back and challenge themselves to understand the impact of their work across the business.
This workshop helped MedImmune's leaders broaden their perspective and understand the impact of their change efforts. The early days, when they could gather the group of cross-functional stakeholders by yelling down the hall, are gone. Mapping and planning a stakeholder engagement strategy gave participants the opportunity to tap their diverse network to look across the business, identify stakeholders who could make a difference, and develop a plan to drive collaboration, alignment, and successful change implementation.
The workshop helped the sponsors of change initiatives increase their odds of success, but it also had a secondary benefit: it gave all participants the experience of giving input to and receiving input from a large, diverse group. They gained an appreciation for the benefits of hearing from those outside of their existing network. Several sponsors at MedImmune were surprised that people who knew little about the details of their work could contribute to the creation of a robust stakeholder engagement and communication plan—a learning that influenced the degree to which they actively tapped and built their own personal networks in the future.