What it is
Stakeholder meetings are an essential tool for organizations to communicate and engage with those who have an interest in the organization’s activities and outcomes.
These meetings provide a forum for stakeholders to express their opinions, provide feedback, and engage in a dialogue with the organization.
Benefits of holding stakeholder meetings
- Increased engagement and trust: Stakeholder meetings demonstrate that an organization is interested in engaging with its stakeholders and taking their perspectives into account. This can help build trust and foster a sense of community among stakeholders.
- Identification of issues and opportunities: Stakeholder meetings provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their views, concerns and ideas with the organization. This can help identify issues and opportunities that the organization may not have been aware of otherwise.
- Improved decision-making: By soliciting feedback and input from stakeholders, an organization can make better-informed decisions that are aligned with stakeholder needs and expectations.
- Improved relationships: Stakeholder meetings can help build stronger relationships between an organization and its stakeholders. This can lead to increased loyalty, better collaboration, and greater support for the organization’s goals and initiatives.
- Enhanced reputation: Holding stakeholder meetings demonstrates that an organization is committed to transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to stakeholder needs. This can enhance the organization’s reputation and brand image, which can in turn attract new stakeholders and customers.
Conduct your own stakeholder meeting
1. Get into small groups and assign a stakeholder role to each member (conservation group, Indigenous elder, developer, hunting organization, local business, etc) and, if needed, state the position that the stakeholder should have during the stakeholder engagement simulation.
2. Outline your idea and your rationale.
3. Give the “stakeholders” some time to do a bit of research and prepare their response to your concept, allowing them to decide whether they agree, disagree or need more information.
4. Have each stakeholder state their opinion on the idea being discussed. Have them ask questions, provide feedback or offer recommendations.
5. Answer any questions and address any stakeholder concerns as best you can. If they disagree with your project, ask them for help in improving the concept or for what it would take to have them support your idea. Of course, disagreement isn’t necessarily a sign that your idea is wrong or needs improvement.
6. Review the consultation process and discuss which stakeholder had the most to lose or was impacted by the idea the most. Weigh stakeholder opinions carefully and decide how you can address at least some, if not all, of the stakeholder concerns.
Tips
- Listen to all of the perspectives and don’t interupt
- Ask questions when you need clarification
- Be respectful to all stakeholders
