Good crisis management is essentially the art of managing stakeholder expectations and perceptions. How you map and engage the audiences that matter most should be a priority. However, we often find teams are not dedicating enough time or thought to how they map and prioritize the stakeholders they’ll need to manage during a crisis response.
Here are some tips for mapping and prioritizing stakeholders:
The best prepared clients we work with have a detailed stakeholder map and contact list in their crisis plan. These clients regularly review and update the map with names and contact details of priority stakeholders.
Every crisis is different and requires a different stakeholder approach. So, at the outset of a crisis you will need to review and re-prioritize the stakeholders relevant to that particular situation.
Download this mapping matrix to help you think through your team’s engagement priorities
Stakeholders with a high level of interest and power should be categorised as Priority 1 stakeholders and managed closely throughout the response. Start by mapping against these parameters so that you have some sense of your priorities and are making best use of available time.
The more detailed and precise you can be in your stakeholder mapping, the better. Try not to default to generic categories such as ‘government or ‘media’ , but instead focus on specific points of contact. For example the relevant local government department and point of contact and specific news outlets, reporters and online influencers.
Once you’ve identified priority stakeholders, you then need to put some detail around how best to engage them. It isn’t enough to adopt a one size fits all approach. Draft a stakeholder engagement plan so that you have a tailored approach for each. This then needs to be regularly updated throughout the response so that you stay on top of your engagement activities.
Here is an example of a stakeholder engagement plan for you to download
It’s easy to focus on external stakeholders such as investors, because that’s where a lot of the pressure and scrutiny comes from.
Your own staff should always be priority stakeholders. If you don’t manage your relationship with your own staff, then all other aspects of your response will quickly fall apart.
If the first time you pick up the phone to a priority stakeholder is to let them know that something has gone badly wrong, then you’re unlikely to maintain a positive relationship.
You need to put time and effort into fostering positive, collaborative relationships in ‘peacetime’ with the audiences that matter most to you, so that these relationships can serve you well in times of crisis.
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