Stakeholder  Engagement      Maximising  impact  through  stakeholder  engagement    

Stakeholder  Engagement  

Why  engage  stakeholders?  

• Needed  to  gain  ‘points’  during  evalua>on  of  your  proposal  and  post-­‐research  evalua>on  

• Gain  support  for  your  research  –  showing  relevance  (leEers  of  support,  financial  support)  

• Maximise  the  impact  of  your  research  –  enhance  the  communica>on  of  your  research  to  impact  

• Improve  the  quality  of  your  research  

 Why  do  Stakeholders  engage?    Understanding  their  mo>va>on  and  ra>onale  is  cri>cal  

Access  to  knowledge,  including  early  access  -­‐  advantage  

Wan>ng  to  engage  researchers  in  solving    par>cular  problems  

Networking  

Not  necessarily  interested  in  your  research  methodology  as  results  are  cri>cal  

Not  a  single  community  –  different  interests  and  drivers  

 

Mapping  Stakeholders  Need  to  iden>fy  those  people  and  organisa>ons  that  are  needed  and  when  to  achieve  the  goals  (research  and  impacts)  

What  are  the  different  roles?  Who  are  they  

• Ins>gators  /  partners  –  co-­‐design  and  co-­‐delivering  

• Informants  –  knowledge  and  data  that  you  need  

• Supporters  -­‐    providing  support  lobbying,  and  networking  

• Disseminators  –  roles  in  dissemina>ng  to  different  audiences  

• Recipients  

Are  there  cri>cal  stakeholders  (a  core  team)?    Why?  

When  should  each  of  these  stakeholders  be  involved?  Why?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stakeholder  Check  List  

•  Scope  of  decision  control  of  relevance  to  the  project?  

•  Connec>ons  and  standing  within  their  organisa>on/community/sector?  What  are  these?  

•  Can  they  affect  the  image  of  the  project  and  its  results?  How  and  why?  

•  Can  they  affect  the  delivery  of  the  outputs  and  their  impacts?  How?  

•  Can  they  bring  exper>se,  knowledge,  data  and/or  informa>on  to  the  project?  What?  There  roles  in  this?  

•  Are  they  a  poten>al  source  of,  or  link  to,  addi>onal  funding?    What  and  their  respec>ve  role?  

Mapping  Stakeholders  

What  is  their  mo>va>on  for  being  involved?    Poten>al  interests  and  expecta>ons?  Challenges  with  their  engagement?  

• Your  percep>ons  of  these  

• Need  to  verify  and  confirm  over  >me  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stakeholder  Engagement  

Stakeholder  mapping  /  analysis    

• Basis  for  an  engagement  strategy  and  plan  

• Should  be  reviewed  periodically  throughout  the  research  process  –  dynamics  of  the  stakeholder  community  

Tools  for  stakeholder  analysis  

• Mind  maps  

• Matrix  or  spreadsheet  

• Influence  diagrams  /  analyses  

Stakeholder  Engagement  -­‐  Challenges  

Time:  

• Expecta>ons  as  to  when  results  will  be  available  and  usable  

• Expecta>ons  as  to  when  data,  informa>on  and  knowledge  required  will  be  available  

• Ability  to  par>cipate  –  your  research  is  not  their  day  job  

• Dynamics  and  challenges  of  their  agenda  

Resources  –  financial  and  people  

• To  support  engagement    

• Changes  in  stakeholders  during  the  research  process  

 

Stakeholder  Engagement  -­‐  Challenges  

Complexity  of  the  research  topic    

• Implica>ons  for  number  and  scope  of  stakeholders  required  and  available  and  the  nature  of  the  engagement  

Complexity  of  the  stakeholder  community  

• Breadth  of  stakeholder  engagement  required  to  appropriately  engage  

• Rela>onships  among  stakeholder  –  compe>tors,  regulators,  already  exis>ng  communi>es  

Building  and  retaining  trust  

 

 

Reeping  the  Benefits  of  Stakeholder  Engagement  

•  Established  stakeholder  community  for  future  research  efforts  

•  Demonstrable  impacts  of  your  research  –  evidence    

•  Broader  understanding  of  knowledge  and  research  gaps  

 

Need  to  publish  on  the  stakeholder  analysis  and  lessons  learnt