When the stakeholder mapping is completed, the hardest part of the work is done!
What’s left to do? Defining a communication strategy per group of stakeholders. For some groups, your communication strategy might be to not communicate, well at least for the time being. For others, you could have a monthly, weekly or even daily detailed communications plan if you’re in a phase of your project during which issues or interactions are more sensitive.
A good communication strategy to engage with your various groups should include:
| Who | Which stakeholder groups are you going to engage with? |
| What | What are the topics that need to be discussed, with sentiment (negative, neutral, positive) |
| Why | Why are you addressing this subject with this group (prevention, reaction, general announcement)? |
| How | How will you deliver your message to your stakeholders (public consultation, letter or email campaign, etc.)? In your team, who is in charge of communicating with them (CEO, Community Relations Agent, Public Affairs, etc.)? |
| When | Establish a clear time frame for your communications: daily, weekly, bi-monthly, etc. |
You should now be able to carry out your engagement plan while making sure you’re addressing the right subject with the right groups of stakeholders.