Course Introduction

A stakeholder is a person, group or organization that has an interest in an organization, because they are affected by its operations or can affect Its operations. Stakeholders have an impact on every organization, public or private sector – some are internal, others are external, but the higher priority stakeholders must be engaged, their expectations understood and strategies developed, planned and implemented to recognize and address their concerns.  All groups of stakeholders must be recognized and treated equitably, as part of good governance.  Stakeholder management involves both hard and soft skills, with some understanding of human nature, culture and communications added, finished off with the ability to influence and negotiate with integrity.

This Oxford Management Centre Stakeholder Management training course will introduce you to the relevant tools and techniques, as well as a leading standard, that will help you to engage and manage stakeholders effectively and efficiently. This will include learning the stakeholder management processes, developing an understanding of human behavior and how to influence it, analyzing and planning communication strategies, as well as using the techniques of principled negotiation and influencing without authority, to achieve your goals.  This will be achieved with a mixture of short theory blocks, backed up by many interactive exercises and role plays, to help you practice your newly learned skills in a safe learning environment.

This Stakeholder Management training course will highlight:

• The first principles of managing stakeholders
• The stakeholder management process and typical plans/documents
• Developing communication strategies and plans for successful engagement
• The key interpersonal skills and an introduction to personality and behavior and their relevance to managing stakeholders
• The importance of being able to understand the national, regional, corporate and business unit cultures that influence your stakeholders’ behaviors

Objectives

At the end of this  Stakeholder Management training course, you will learn to:

• Explain the process flow, the processes and key documents involved in managing stakeholders
• Describe how to analyze the stakeholder environment, identify/prioritize stakeholders and recognize their expectations
• Create and promulgate communications that assist in engaging stakeholders
• Demonstrate an ability to recognize how personality and behaviors give an insight into how to best manage stakeholder aspirations and expectations
• Give examples of different types of culture and the impact it has on your stakeholders’ worldview
• Show how to undertake successful negotiations, using principled negotiation techniques

Training Methodology

This Stakeholder Management training course will utilize a variety of proven adult learning techniques to ensure maximum understanding, comprehension, and retention of the information presented. Includes stimulating presentations supporting each of the topics together with interactive trainer lead sessions of discussion.

There will also be practical sessions where participants can practice and experience course-related activities. Practical and fun exercises, short video presentations, small group work, and feedback will be used to facilitate learning.

Organisational Impact

After the participants return from the Stakeholder Management training course, typical benefits to the organization include

• Lower levels of conflict making people more productive in operational functions
• Projects/programs completed in less time
• Projects/programs delivered with lower expenditure
• Operational efficiencies improved, leading to better organizational performance
• Enhanced risk and opportunity management outcomes due to collaborative working
• Less time spent resolving conflicts
• Longer lasting agreements, leading to better outcomes

Personal Impact

After attending the Stakeholder Management training course, delegates will be able to

• Take an integrated view of stakeholder engagement and management
• Navigate the processes required to engage with stakeholders and manage their expectations
• Feel confident in creating and executing communications strategies and plans
• Apply a broad range of interpersonal skills in working with stakeholders
• Assess the impact of culture on the stakeholder environment and allow for it when planning
• Negotiate confidently with stakeholders

Who Should Attend?

This Stakeholder Management training course will greatly benefit anyone who needs to interact with stakeholders in their professional role - people who have attended include

• Executives and managers
• Junior managers and supervisors
• Professional managers and staff, including HR and finance
• Anyone who needs to understand Stakeholders and stakeholder engagement
• People involved in transformation initiatives
• Program, project and PMO personnel

Course Outline

DAY 1

First Principles, Identifying and Defining Stakeholder Audiences

• Overview of stakeholder engagement and management
• The stakeholder engagement process and key documents
• Identifying stakeholders
• Producing the stakeholder register
• Creating and analyzing stakeholder profiles
• Assessing interests, positive and negative
• Analyzing the gap between current stakeholder and required perceptions
• Selecting a suitable stakeholder management strategy

DAY 2

Planning Stakeholder Communications and Measuring Effectiveness

• Planning stakeholder engagement communications
• Identifying and delivering the key messages
• Creating stakeholder communications
• Planning and managing stakeholder meetings
• Dealing with stakeholder objections
• Escalating stakeholder issues for resolution by senior management

DAY 3 

Interpersonal Skills in Stakeholder Management 

• Empathy and how it can assist in managing stakeholder relationships
• Trust – the foundation of on which relationships are built
• Influencing, persuading and manipulating – why they are different and the impact they have
• Personality factors affecting stakeholder management (including feedback on a personality type questionnaire, to be taken in class)
• Behaviors, their relationship to personality and how to read them
• Influencing without authority – how to do it
• Emotional intelligence, what it involves and benefits

DAY 4

Negotiating for Success

• The negotiating environment and backdrop
• Reservation points, zones of potential agreement and best alternatives to a negotiated agreement
• Differences between ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ negotiation techniques and why they are important
• Principled negotiation, hardball tactics and important choices
• Negotiation protocols and processes
• Managing a negotiation

DAY 5

How Culture Affects Stakeholder Engagement and Management

• What do we mean by culture?
• National culture
• Regional culture
• Organizational culture
• Business unit or division culture
• Communicating to different cultures
• Negotiating with different cultures
• Review of course/presentation of certificates