How to use the Stakeholder Engagement Canvas

I attended the session “The Stakeholder Engagement Canvas,” presented by Kathy Berkidge of Mind at Work Consulting at the Building Business Capability conference. Stakeholder engagement is one of the primary things Business Analysts do, and this topic has long been a favorite of mine. I also love a good “canvas” tool, so this intrigued me.

Kathy is a lovely “Sheila” from the country of Australia, so the audience had a lot of fun trying to interpret words that are common to her, but foreign to us. Here are a few of my key takeaways from her presentation:

• There are many already well-known and widely used stakeholder tools and techniques, including:
  • RACI
  • Power/interest grid
  • Onion diagram

• The Stakeholder Canvas helps to give you a more holistic view of your stakeholders, and covers the following categories:
  • Stakeholder name and role
  • Them (Who are they? What’s their world like?)
  • Needs (What are their requirements?)
  • Goals & Objectives (What are the goals of this project?)
  • Context (What is the nature of the work we will do together?)
  • Activities (What interactions will we have?)
  • Outcome (What is the expected outcome of this engagement?)
  • Me (What perceptions do I have about this stakeholder?)
  • Engagement Risks (What potential problems could happen during this engagement?)
  • Engagement Practice (What practices will I employ to mitigate engagement risks?)

Here’s a sample of what the blank canvas looks like:

Please note that the stakeholder canvas can be used for individuals, personas, or even groups.

After reviewing the canvas at the high level, Kathy walked us through each of the categories and included additional lists of questions that could be asked for each (along with a sample set of answers to the questions posted on the canvas). To complete the canvas yourself, you would follow the same steps. Here are the lists of questions by category:

Them

❓Who are they?
❓What is their role?
❓What’s their background?
❓What’s their attitude to work?
❓What do they see and hear around them?
❓Who do they work with, and in what way?
❓What’s happening in their world?

Needs

❓What are their requirements?
❓Are there alternatives?
❓What are the issues or problems they face?
❓What would a perfect solution look like to them?
❓What frustrates them?
❓What delights them?
❓What do they need from me throughout this engagement?

Goals & Objectives

❓What do they want to achieve; short/long term?
❓What is valuable to them?
❓What do they need from this project?
❓How will it be measured?
❓What would happen if we miss the objectives?
❓How can we track progress?
❓What’s in it for them?

Context

❓What is the nature of the work?
❓What is their area of expertise?
❓What type of information will they provide?
❓What decision-making authority do they have?
❓Is there previous history?
❓What is the scope of work?

Activities

❓What types of interactions will we have?
❓When and how frequently?
❓What workshops will they attend and their expected contribution?
❓What interviews or other discussions will we have?
❓Who else will be involved in our interactions?
❓How much time are we expecting from this stakeholder?

Outcome

❓What results are they expecting?
❓What outputs do they need from me?
❓What artifacts do they need?
❓What level of formality is needed?
❓How will we keep them up to date with progress?
❓How will we maintain transparency?

Me

❓Do I have any preconceived notions about the stakeholder?
❓What perceptions do I have about them?
❓Is there history that may influence how I see or feel about them?
❓What opinions do I have of them, true or false?
❓What attitude do I have towards them?
❓What thoughts do I have about them?

Engagement Risks

❓What potential problems could happen between me and this stakeholder?
❓Are there areas of conflict?
❓What misunderstandings could occur?
❓Is there something that could jeopardize the engagement?
❓Could there be communication issues?
❓What else may affect the engagement?

Engagement Practices

❓What tools and techniques will I use?
❓How will I communicate and build rapport with the stakeholder?
❓What approach will work best with the stakeholder?
❓How will I mitigate engagement risks?
❓What preparation(s) must I complete?
❓How will I remain mindful throughout the engagement?

Mindfulness

Interestingly, Kathy is also a mindfulness coach, so she weaved some of this into her presentation. Given that stakeholder engagement is all about having emotional intelligence, mindfulness makes a lot of sense in this context.

First off, we need to be aware enough of our own selves in order to practice mindfulness with consideration for others, going through these steps:

Once in the third stage of mindfulness, we can then pay attention to the following aspects of mindfulness:

One final quote that stuck in my mind from this presentation is that “people remember how you made them feel.” Also, we need to practice carefulness, be present, and lean in.

Final Thoughts

So, what do you think about this new Stakeholder Engagement Canvas? Will you give it a try as another technique for better stakeholder engagement? I know I’ll be giving it a try – along with being more mindful. If you have any other thoughts or comments, please share them in the comments below!