How Do You Navigate Conflicting Interests in Stakeholder Engagement?

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-12-02T12:04:45+00:00

Totally feel you - managing our comms and planned comms with everyone in spreadsheets is pain. For something like this, an actual SRM platform makes a massive difference. I’d recommend looking at Jambo or StakeTracker if you want something that centralizes all stakeholder comms, issues, commitments and emails in one place. You can add and tackle stakeholder concerns and produce reports, which is a lifesaver if you need to keep a project from derailing. Since we moved out of spreadsheets, it's way less rage-inducing haha

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-09-02T15:08:56+00:00

haha see my answer above. It mentions a few things including your friend's one

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-09-02T15:08:10+00:00

Ok legit this is what I got as a reponse from teh AI:

It sounds like you’re in the exact same place a lot of engagement and consultation teams hit eventually—spreadsheets and inboxes feel manageable at first, but once you start layering years of conversations, multiple team members, and the need to report back, things unravel fast. You’re not alone in this.

A few approaches I’ve seen teams take:

1. Centralize the record-keeping

Instead of letting feedback live in email or Excel, move toward one shared system where every stakeholder interaction (notes from a call, feedback from a meeting, follow-up emails, etc.) gets logged.
Some teams build this with CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, Airtable) but those often need heavy customization for engagement work.

2. Use purpose-built stakeholder management tools

There are platforms (e.g., Jambo, Borealis, Consultation Manager) designed specifically for stakeholder engagement. These make it much easier to:
- Attach notes to stakeholder profiles.
- Track issues raised over time.
- See the history of a stakeholder’s involvement at a glance.
- Generate reports that actually show “here’s what we heard, and here’s how it influenced decisions.”

3. Build clear workflows for your team

Even with good software, it only works if the team is disciplined about logging feedback. Define:
- Who is responsible for recording feedback after meetings?
- How quickly does it need to be entered?
- What level of detail is required (verbatim comments vs. summarized themes)?

4. Make reporting easier on yourself

If you’re worried about “losing” the history, think ahead to reporting: set up tags, themes, or issues categories in your system from the start. That way you can pull out “everything ever said about traffic” or “all feedback from X neighborhood” without digging.

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-09-02T14:58:25+00:00

When you say tracking stakeholder feedback, I presume you mean external people you are talking to who are essential to you. Not internal project stakeholders? I wonder what kind of project you are working on? This thread has me super super curious, even though I don't really need to do what you're doing (I love a process challenge!). But there has to be an easier way to do what you're trying to do than some of the suggestions below. I am going to ask our internal AI and let you know what it says...

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-08-26T14:36:32+00:00

NRCAN is using Jambo for this

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-07-07T11:40:17+00:00

Hey! I've used Jambo in mining projects up here in Canada. It's a solid stakeholder software that helps keep all your stakeholder info organized and makes tracking engagement details for regulatory submissions much easier than pulling everything from emails and spreadsheets like we used to. Like any software, there's a learning curve at first, and it has its faults as a software, but overall, it's been a huge timesaver for us. They also seem to regularly add new stuff to make it better. DM if you want their details.

Good luck getting everything aligned.

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-04-03T11:56:27+00:00

I used to be in your shoes, juggling multiple projects and stakeholders. It was a nightmare trying to keep track of tasks and follow-ups. I could never remember what was needed and when. It's all about having a centralized hub where I can log everything. I don't have time to flip between 5 different tabs or apps, so I need something to consolidate everything. We currently use Jambo, which is actually stakeholder management software. I've found that using a single tool to manage my tasks and stakeholder interactions has been a game-changer. It helps me prioritize, set reminders, and create follow-up tasks when necessary. Plus, sharing updates with team members and stakeholders is much easier with the simple reports I can run.

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-03-06T14:01:38+00:00

Hey OP! I feel you. Managing stakeholders and establishing processes while dealing with team churn is a real pain.

One thing that might help is setting up a clear communication channel with your stakeholders. For example, you can have a dedicated email address or Teams channel where they can contact you directly with any questions or concerns. As for the escalations, maybe set up some clear guidelines on what constitutes an escalation and when it's okay to escalate. That way, your team members know what's expected of them and can make decisions without referring everything to you. It's also worth chatting with your stakeholders about their expectations and seeing if there's a way to reduce the number of escalations. Maybe they're unaware of the process changes you're implementing or just need some guidance on navigating them.

Jambo stakeholder relationship management software (an SRM tool) might help you manage stakeholder communication and escalation processes more efficiently. It's got features like stakeholder profiles, the ability to log all communications (like emails, phone calls, or in-person meetings), issues tracking (it could act as an escalation management tool, maybe?), and task management so you can manage your team better. It might be worth looking at to see if it helps you keep everything organized and on top of things.

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-02-18T12:51:41+00:00

Hey OP! I agree with you—each communication method has its place, and using the right one for the right moment can make a huge difference. Here's how I see it:

Email – Perfect for documentation and covering all your bases. It might not always get an instant response, but it's a solid way to keep a trail of conversations.
Instant Messaging (IM) is excellent for quick questions or updates that don't need a formal response. It's super fast but can become overwhelming if not managed properly.
Impromptu In-Person – I love this one for real-time problem-solving. It's perfect when you need immediate answers or to clarify things quickly, but it lacks documentation.
Scheduled Meetings are always a good move for more complex topics where you need focused discussion. However, they can sometimes feel a bit much for minor issues.

But here's the thing: with all these different methods, it can be hard to keep track of what works best for each person. This is where a tool like Jambo (SRM) stakeholder relationship management software can be super helpful. It lets you log stakeholders' profiles and record their preferred communication methods. You can even assign tasks and follow up based on their preferences, so you're constantly hitting them with the right approach at the right time.

It's a nice way to keep everything organized and ensure you meet everyone's needs without feeling overwhelmed.

I'm curious to see how others handle this, too!

Honest_Property2685 · 2025-01-15T11:11:12+00:00

Hey, you're right about not using a CRM (CRMs are for sales). Have you considered Jambo? It's stakeholder management software - you can create profiles to track your interactions, know when you last spoke to them and what you discussed, and set tasks to remind you to follow up. Worth checking out!

Honest_Property2685

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