Stakeholder Management and Communication Strategies
Published: 17/03/2025
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Communication is at the core of consulting. In this article, we explicitly cover how to excel in it by improving stakeholder management and keeping all parties involved engaged.
The role of a consultant is to understand and guide the client through their challenges. Naturally, one of the ruling aspects of success is communication. However, it’s often overlooked that communication doesn’t only involve engaging with the client—it also means establishing a connection with the stakeholders. Although frequently forgotten, stakeholder management is a critical component of every project due to its impact on the flow of the project, budget, resources and potential future collaborations.
There is not enough conversation about the topic of stakeholder management, nor are there many guides available online. This is why we at Timesheet Portal are happy to share our expertise. In addition, we will explore how our platform can be used to secure smooth communication with stakeholders.
The golden rule of stakeholder management is being honest and transparent no matter what. Approaching the situation with empathy, hearing the other parties out and working towards overcoming challenges in the most optimal way is what makes a consultancy suitable. Your interactions should be thoughtful and aimed to help at all times.
While this sounds like common sense and is easy to achieve, many consultants tend to overemphasize problems when they don’t go according to plan. Transparency entails being honest, even if it means delivering the bad news—that way, you can work together to find a solution.
Stakeholder management is part of the initial project planning stages. It helps you set the KPIs, timeframes, budget, and required resources. In this part, we will talk about the starting points for efficient stakeholder management.
The first step to stakeholder management is ensuring there are no communication roadblocks between them and the client. This means your number one priority should be figuring out the communication channels of the mutual preference and then utilising them to create an easily accessible outlet. As a consultancy, you will be serving as a link between the two when it comes to timely updates that keep both parties on track with the project's progress. You should also encourage regular meetings with all parties involved, where you can update them in person and provide a chance to voice immediate concerns. However, keep in mind that communication channels cover more than direct interactions. Therefore, don’t forget about outlets such as document-sharing platforms or project trackers.
For example, using Timesheet Portal, you can connect the client and the stakeholders by providing a centralised team availability tab. Although the two won’t be actively conversing on it, they will have a shared view of who’s working as well as predicting when the progress may slow down due to less workforce being available. The key to a good communication strategy is to include different communication types and cover as much ground as possible.
Another big part that needs to be addressed in the early stages is expectation management. Naturally, there will always be a gap between what the stakeholder wants, what the client expects, what a consultancy provides and when. Discussing what each party hopes to achieve and the proposed timeframes for that is required to find common ground. For consultancies specifically, we recommend backing their claims up with past data.
Solutions like Timesheet Portal will record a lot of information that can then be used to help the client and stakeholders understand realistic timelines for specific tasks. Additionally, it will keep you accountable throughout the project, as the platform tracks not only time but also expenses, mileage and more. All that will result in even more data that, moving forward, will contribute to your accuracy when setting up the expectations.
Setting up the outlets for communication is only half of the job done. Unlike it, keeping it going will take a consistent effort. However, with the right communication strategy and digital tools in place, stakeholder management becomes much easier than you’d expect. Especially if you’re using Timesheet Portal to aid your efforts.
The key to effective stakeholder management is supplying all parties involved with timely, informative and easy-to-understand progress updates. The problem often arises from the fact such updates take time to produce, inevitably chipping at the overall project flow. Not to mention, depending on the pace, the data might have changed by the time the report is complete. However, with Timesheet Portal, you can quickly generate customised reports within seconds and distribute them without leaving the platform.
We offer over 40 pre-built report templates that can be customised visually and display data-wise. Drag and drop the tabs in a preferred offer and set them to show data in a format that fits your preference. Additionally, you can create your templates from scratch if the ones provided don’t tick your boxes. There’s no limit to how many templates you create, either. From then on, you can program the platform to generate the reports using recorded data at the chosen frequency and add a list of people to whom the reports will be sent.
Things often don’t go according to plan, projects get off the rails, and anxieties rise. It’s important to understand that during more intense periods, the amount of communication required will likely change. Not just the cadence but also the methods may change as the project progresses, and to keep the ball rolling, you need to be ready to adjust. Building rapport is vital in stakeholder management, and sometimes, it will require you to go out of your way to provide the best support.
When you use Timesheet Portal to stay on top of your projects, you put yourself in a position where you can predict when a potential change in communication will occur. Planning ahead will help you ease into accommodating the change without putting a strain on the project or risking upsetting other parties involved by being uncooperative. Remember - projects seldom follow a straight trajectory. You need to be ready to adapt.
Stakeholder management is a vital component that heavily relies on efficient communication. However, it may be challenging to keep up with when handling multiple projects. Lower efforts, mistakes and accidental negligence happen as a consequence. But don’t worry - Timesheet Portal is a solution designed to help you.
While some argue there should be no automation in communication, we strongly disagree. A lot of administrative work comes into play, especially regarding business and bridging the bridge between clients and stakeholders. It naturally deters you from focusing on the type of engagement that builds a relationship by setting the tone for solely transactional and soulless interactions.
With Timesheet Portal, you can delegate a variety of communicative tasks to the software, freeing up the time to focus on fostering mutual trust instead. For example, the platform enables a holiday management outlet, an easy expense submission module, a straightforward approval process you can tailor to your requirements and many more. These many seem like little tasks that require no effort, but as they stack up, they eat into the time you need to get to know the people you work with. It is crucial to understand the best approach to them and their preferences, standards, expectations, and work styles. All that translates into long-term partnerships and loyalty - quite a reward for a small software fee.
Stakeholder management should begin at the early stages of project planning. Communication is a crucial component that needs to be established before the project starts, and the consultancy should aim to be the bridge between the client and the stakeholders. This approach also aids the process of planning itself, as smooth communication makes it possible to manage everyone’s expectations and seek compromises for potential disagreements on topics such as timeframes or resources.
However, keeping the ball rolling can be a little trickier as it’s all about maintenance. Namely, you need to establish consistent progress updates with all the parties involved. Since consultancies typically manage several projects at any time, it can be more tasking than expected. For that reason, solutions like Timesheet Portal exist. Using them, you can automate report creation and distribution, which are customisable to each project individually. This gives you the flexibility to adapt to changes in communication frequency if required.
How is your stakeholder management looking? Let’s talk.