Stakeholder Management - Get Ready to Get Creative!

Stakeholder management is a pretty importantstop themselves from 'editing' too hard when the
component of any manager's role. In the main the keywacky ideas come.
stakeholders will often be simply employees, the biggerYou see, out there in the real world, where
organization and, of course, the customers and clientsstakeholders come in all shapes and sizes (often
that are on the receiving end of the goods andliterally!), some creative ideas about how to firstly find
services they purchase.and then manage them effectively, are much needed.
In many circumstances, stakeholders will be aTaking a risk or two with the ideas your people come
considerably broader range - especially with largerup with not only risks huge success, but it also risks
projects - and it's vital to really understand just who willbuilding a dynamic team who will be energized by the
be affected by what you are doing and potentiallyway they are trusted to come home with the goodies.
how they will react as well.Of course there are always going to be some ideas
Now, none of this is easy. It becomes less easy wherethat get rejected, that's inevitable. What is vital is that
a manager decides that he or she is the only personthe ideas are heard through and respected by careful
who is up to the task, thereby leaving a significantquestioning, that will enable the individual with the ideas
chunk of their resources in the team back in the lockerto make their own decisions about feasibility and
room.relevance too.
When this is a time to max out all the resources youRemember, although something might not resonate
have, losing possibly 95% of your people assets iswith you in your ways of seeing things, there is
likely as not an idea worth reconsidering.everything to say that a different approach could
By utilizing more of your team, as you come up with amake a valuable impact in the stakeholder activities
plan of action for your stakeholder management, youthat you need it for.
are more likely to come up with new ideas andSometimes, managers really do have to get out of
concepts, some of which might seem to be a bittheir own way a little and go with the flow, because so
off-the-wall to you.often, there is much to gain and actually very little to
Here's where the best managers are worth theirlose!
weight in gold. They listen carefully to their people and