Stakeholder Identification | Engaging Diverse Groups | Getting Started
Stakeholder identification and analysis is integral to the engagement planning process. By understanding and managing the relationship between stakeholders (including community members) you increase the likelihood of achieving your desired overall project outcome. Conversely, failure to appreciate the dynamics of the relationships that exist between stakeholders can lead to obstructions that will ultimately have a negative impact upon your overall project.
The Effective Engagement Planning Tool will take you through the process of identifying the key stakeholders and their interest in the project, their level of influence and what they consider to be a successful outcome.
The Toolkit section of this website provides a range of tools for identifying the best course of action to engage and communicate with stakeholders.
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The Victorian community comprises a broad diversity of people with different backgrounds, needs, values and aspirations. Victoria's diversity reflects the many characteristics that capture difference between people. Observable and unobservable, they include ethnicity, gender, age, tenure, functional background, socio-economic background, values, sexual orientation and physical and mental ability.
This broad definition of diversity builds on the Equal Opportunity foundation. It goes beyond the concept of rectifying the disadvantage of target groups by emphasising the importance of an inclusive culture and of valuing difference between individuals and communities. While we should aim to be inclusive in all our work, at times it may be necessary to tailor our engagement processes and activities to enable some communities or individuals to fully participate.
Over time you will build your own networks, become more aware of the relevant issues and of what questions to ask that relate to your work. Being inclusive will become an everyday part of your thinking and planning.
| DSE staff should refer to the Department’s intranet, under Social and Cultural Diversity, for more information and resources to assist with engaging diverse groups within the community. |
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Here are some general considerations for working more inclusively. These are followed by some specific considerations for engaging different stakeholder groups:
- Building trust is often the first step in successfully engaging with communities who have in the past been marginalised or engaged in a tokenistic way. This may initially take time and involve a lot of learning for you, but it will provide long-term benefits.
- Some groups are networked within a community structure, while others are represented by peak bodies. They are valuable starting points for getting assistance with approaching and communicating with the group that you wish to engage.
- These contacts can also provide knowledge of the styles that are effective for communicating with particular communities and also vital practical knowledge, like when, where and how a particular group meets or whether you would need interpreters.
- Community agencies often operate on low and unpredictable levels of funding. This can limit their capacity to participate in an engagement process regarding planning or environment issues, especially in the face of more pressing or short-term issues such as helping clients to find accommodation, find a job or cope with a mental illness.
- Initially, you may have to negotiate ways to help these communities to work with you. For example, when you bring a group of stakeholders together for the first time, you may find that the issues and concerns that they raise are slightly different, or outside the scope of your project. What would you do? You might first try working with the group to address their immediate goals or priorities, possibly bringing in other agencies to assist. By demonstrating a willingness to address the immediate concerns of the stakeholders, you are more likely to build a relationship of trust which will make it easier to work with this group and others during the current project and in the future.
For more information and tips regarding engaging diverse stakeholders, refer to Book 1: an introduction to engagement.