The success of any water management project heavily relies on successful stakeholder engagement. Without it, your project is sure to fall flat! An effective stakeholder engagement process helps foster informed decision-making and build healthy relationships with the people who matter most by ensuring that they have an opportunity to participate in the project planning process and that their concerns have been heard and adequately addressed.
Of course, as a water sector leader, it might be a bit challenging to know which mechanism to use to successfully engage your stakeholders. Here, we explore some of the most common ways to do so, including interviews, surveys, public hearings, focus group meetings, community presentations, workshops, and citizen advisory committees. And remember! Engaging stakeholders early and often creates an atmosphere of trust, leading to better decision-making and increasing your chances of successfully achieving your goals.
Stakeholder Interviews
Stakeholder interviews are a common mechanism for engaging stakeholders. In this approach, you meet with individual stakeholders to get their input on the project. This is a good way to get feedback and to identify potential concerns.
Identification of all significant stakeholders who have a ‘stake’ or an interest in the problem is required first.
Interviews typically take place in a one-on-one setting, either at a stakeholder’s home, office or can be conducted through online video calls. A list of questions should be prepared prior to the meeting. The objectives of the questions should be to understand the person’s perspective on the project and issues of interest or major concerns.
The interview details gathered can be used to estimate the stakeholder’s sentiments of a particular issue. Stakeholder interviews also often provide valuable details of other stakeholders who should be included in the project team’s audience, which can provide additional valuable insights for developing stakeholder engagement survey questions.
Surveys
Surveys are one of the easiest methods for collecting public sentiment towards a particular project. They are a quick and easy way to collect information from a large number of stakeholders. By asking the right questions, you can get feedback on project planning, objectives, and concerns.
Surveys can be conducted via mail, email, in person, or over the phone. The most common survey used today is sent via email. Surveys help to establish a benchmark of public opinion towards the project.
It is best to conduct surveys at the very beginning of a project, even before any public discussion of the project. It is recommended that surveys be launched post initial stakeholder interviews, so that more useful questions can be developed.
There are several things to keep in mind when designing surveys: Make sure the questions are clear and concise; avoid leading questions or closed-ended responses; keep the survey short, preferably 5-10 questions; provide an opportunity for stakeholders to provide additional comments. Stakeholders should be given a reasonable amount of time to respond to surveys. It is also important to follow up with those who do not respond.
Public Hearings
Public hearings and public meetings are the most common forms of engaging with stakeholder groups. Government projects typically require public hearings to take place at different stages of a project so it is important to understand the requirements before hosting a public hearing. The purpose of the public hearing is typically to fulfill a legal requirement for receiving oral comments from the general public, however they do provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their views and concerns with the project team.
Oftentimes, each person who would like to speak is given a short amount of time at a microphone, to state their name and address for the record and then make their comments. It is important that all stakeholders who wish to speak are given an opportunity to do so. All comments should be documented and recorded. The proceedings of the meeting should be made available to the public.
Focus Group Meetings
Focus group meetings or small group meetings are another common stakeholder engagement method. They are small group discussions that allow stakeholders to share their views and concerns with the project team. When stakeholders are brought together in small groups, with similar issues, the project team is able to establish a vehicle for open discussion. The project team can then respond to these concerns and make changes to the project plan as needed.
The focus group should be small, 8-10 people is ideal. These meetings are held in a private space, which gives them a sense of comfort and lessens their fears of being judged. Focus group meetings can range from a small meeting of people over zoom, to neighbors meeting in someone’s home, to a small office meeting.
Community Presentations
Community presentations are a way to update established organizations within the community on the progress of the project and to gain feedback. Community presentations provide a less formal meeting option than public hearings, and provide an opportunity for the community to ask questions and share their views with the project team.
These meetings typically take place during luncheons or in the evenings at the host organization’s selected venue. The project team will deliver a project update presentation. An opportunity for feedback typically happens at the end of the presentation during a questions and answers time.
Typically meetings are held on an on-going basis with the organization. This allows for rapport to be built with the community group, allows the group to provide feedback on multiple occasions, and also allows the group to get to know the project team as more than just project managers.
This stakeholder engagement method also provides the project team with periodical feedback, rather than just receiving feedback at the beginning and end of a project. This ultimately allows a better opportunity for incorporating community feedback into the decision-making process.
Workshops
Workshops are typically one-time events that are designed to engage stakeholders in a specific activity related to the project. For example, a workshop could be held to gather input on the project design or to discuss the details of the construction schedule. Workshops are typically small, intimate meetings that allow for a more open discussion than large public meetings. They also provide an opportunity for stakeholders to get involved in the project and have their voices heard.
Citizen Advisory Committees
A Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) is a group of citizens, representing the community, who provides general feedback to the project team and is also suited to tackle a specific project issue. The CAC is an on-going body that meets periodically throughout the project. Citizen advisory groups can either be standing or created for a specific project.
The CAC is typically made up of representatives from different stakeholder groups, including: neighborhood associations, business groups, environmental organizations, and other interest groups. It’s critical to have an inclusive and diverse group to establish and preserve credibility for its findings.
The CAC provides an opportunity for continuous dialogue and advice to the project team. The advantages of CACs include the ability to get more in-depth feedback from the public and a deeper understanding of problems that arise. While they do require a greater time and effort investment on the part of the water organization or company, the benefits can be well worth it.
Stakeholder Engagement Methods Inform Project Decisions
Engaging stakeholders in water management projects can be a daunting task, but using a variety of methods, will ensure that all stakeholders have an opportunity to share their views and concerns. By using these methods, project teams can gather valuable input from stakeholders that can help inform decisions about the project.
NextWave Consulting can help you reach out to stakeholders and engage them in meaningful dialogue to support your water management project. Our experienced team can help you develop a strategy for engaging stakeholders and implement it using the most effective methods for your specific project. We can also provide support for ongoing stakeholder engagement throughout the life of your project. For more information, please contact us at [email protected] or book a free consultation with us today!