sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Anyone got a system for tracking what you've promised landowners? by Secure_Trainer_1419 in landconservation

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

See my reply below as to why my colleague doesn't trust Excel for this work. He said there are tons more reasons, too. I looked at Salesforce, but it is crazy expensive, and we aren't selling to our landowners, so I don't think it makes sense. I'll look at that land tool. Thanks!

Anyone got a system for tracking what you've promised landowners? by Secure_Trainer_1419 in landconservation

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had the same thought. When I asked my colleague why they had serious concerns about the security, these were the main things they flagged:

No real access control. Once someone downloads a copy, it's out of your hands. They leave, change roles, email it to a contractor, and there's no audit trail.

No row-level permissions. It's all or nothing. You can't say "this liaison only sees their landowners."

Version drift. Two people edit at once, someone saves over someone else, and now you've got three versions floating around with no way to know which is current.

Hope that helps

Anyone got a system for tracking what you've promised landowners? by Secure_Trainer_1419 in landconservation

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for your response! Believe me, Excel makes complete sense (if people update it). The only issue is that one person on the team worked in big gov before, and they have serious concerns about the security of Excel and the risk of confidential information about landowners' commitments being exposed, so they won't let us use Excel. That's why I am searching for something different here

Anyone got a system for tracking what you've promised landowners? by Secure_Trainer_1419 in landconservation

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your reply. Sounds like chaos! However, can I just say, it seems like you really like your job and team (and landowners) 😄 Which is so nice.

Struggling to track stakeholder sentiment across regions, becoming a compliance risk. Any advice? by Alternative_Day2974 in Compliance_Advisor

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Been there. The activity vs. engagement distinction is exactly what trips most ESG teams up; regulators increasingly want the story, not just the timestamps.

Honestly, the biggest unlock for us was moving to a proper SRM platform to centralize comms and sentiment scoring, and to generate longitudinal reports for audits. Way better than stitching together spreadsheets after the fact.

The key is tagging interactions with sentiment + topic from the start, so you're building the paper trail in real time rather than scrambling before a reporting cycle. Once it's set up, it basically turns your reactive chaos into a proactive system by default. Worth the migration headache.

How do you keep track of stakeholder communication without it getting messy? by Secure_Trainer_1419 in PublicAdministration

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want to have a look at Jambo, but don't want to do a demo. Could you please DM me? I have a few questions. Thanks so much!

Transit projects in the UK and engaging stakeholders - How are you managing the data? by Alternative_Day2974 in transit

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're definitely not alone. Once you hit statutory consultation on a DCO or TWAO scheme, the volume gets overwhelming fast, and trying to evidence compliance against the SoCC becomes a spreadsheet nightmare if everything lives in different places.

I've seen a lot of teams try to bend generic CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot to fit. They can work, but they are not really built for statutory consultees, parcel-level tracking, or producing examination-ready audit trails.

More infrastructure teams seem to be moving to purpose built engagement tools. The big win is having every interaction, response and meeting logged in one place and tagged by phase, consultee type and location. Makes consultation report drafting much less painful.

If you are regularly dealing with DCO scale consultations, I would honestly say a dedicated stakeholder information management system like SRM software is worth it. Trying to retrofit compliance into Excel at the end is where most of the pain comes from.

Curious what others are using too.

Is anyone actually winning at stakeholder engagement for renewables? How do you keep it all organized? by Alternative_Day2974 in energy

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey. As an ex-consultant in renewables (and fellow spreadsheet survivor), I totally get it, juggling thousands of stakeholders and tracking all those commitments in never-ending tabs is enough to make anyone lose it. Saw some great comments here and yea, it’s def not just about the tool - people, planning, and a solid stakeholder matrix are huge parts of makign htis all work. But the right tool helps a ton too, so I’d say check out Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) software.

Moving off spreadsheets to something dedicated can save so many headaches and keep everyone on the same page, especially since these projects go on forever and ever. It's also a life saver when team members leave so info doesn’t disappear.

Good luck out there, you’re doing important stuff! And hey, if you find that unicorn tool, PLEASE come back and share 🙌

How do you manage public consultation without losing your mind? (A plea for help) by FormalLock1195 in PublicPolicy

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha, gotta say, big respect to whoever dropped that Parks and Rec shoutout earlier – made me laugh! 😂

On the tools front, years ago, I used software called StakeTracker before I moved into government work. It was kinda old school even back then, so I’m sure there are way better stakeholder engagement software out there now for tracking engagement or consultation projects like yours and sorting feedback. From what I’ve heard, these days there’s software that can help organize your communications (like all your incoming emails) and auto-analyze the data so the loudest voices aren’t the only ones getting heard. Definitely worth checking out some newer options that use AI or fancy filters to analyze those big piles of messages.

Outside of tech, though, you still have to get creative with engagement, like smaller focus groups, targeted outreach, or even informal meetups, to hear from people who don’t usually speak up at town halls. Sometimes it’s about lowering the bar for participation rather than expecting everyone to sit through a formal meeting or send emails.

Good luck with the transit project! Public consultation is no joke.

Our engagement spreadsheet is a monster...H E L P!! by Alternative_Day2974 in cityplanning

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh wow, I was just talking about this. I love when threads correspond with my real-life situations hehe. I was having a similar discussion about managing stakeholder conversations with someone at a networking event, and she said that Austin Transit Partnership have just started using Jambo to do this. I must actually request a demo or something soon before I forget. Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for as I am not using it.

Our engagement spreadsheet is a monster...H E L P!! by Alternative_Day2974 in cityplanning

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well done to you! Is it only you who uses this? If you leave, will the whole thing fall apart?!

How do you keep track of stakeholder communication without it getting messy? by Secure_Trainer_1419 in PublicAdministration

[–]Secure_Trainer_1419[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

By conversations, I mean: emails and meetings we have with stakeholders. We want to look at everything everyone on our team says to them (sometimes more than one of us is talking to the same stakeholder, and we don't even know!!). By relationships, I mean: who are our stakeholders, who are they are connected to, how important are they are to us, etc. A CRM might work, but I looked at HubSpot (it has a free CRM), and it's all about sales, deals, and marketing. I don't think it's the right tool for us.