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Welcome to my Newsletter - Monday Morning Motivations (MMM) - Article #11:

May 08, 2023

In this week's edition of we will focus on internal stakeholders within a company and introduce you to the "Stakeholder Matrix" - a powerful tool designed to help managers better understand your colleagues and navigate complex organizational dynamics.

Internal stakeholders are the individuals and teams within your organization who play a crucial role in your project or team's success. They may include upper management, coworkers, subordinates, or even cross-functional partners. Identifying these stakeholders and understanding their needs and expectations is essential for fostering collaboration, enhancing communication, and achieving your goals.

In today's fast-paced and competitive business environment, understanding internal stakeholders has become more important than ever. While external stakeholders often receive a great deal of attention, internal stakeholders are sometimes overlooked or undervalued. This oversight can have significant consequences, as neglecting these crucial relationships can hinder organizational growth, performance, and even personal career development. We will discuss four key reasons why understanding internal stakeholders should be a top priority for any manager or professional.

1. Uncovering Hidden Gems: Internal stakeholders, such as colleagues, subordinates, and cross-functional teams, are an essential component of a company's ecosystem. As they work closely with you on a daily basis, their insights, opinions, and contributions significantly impact your project's or team's success. By identifying and understanding their needs and expectations, you can foster a more collaborative and supportive environment, ultimately leading to better results.
2. Strategic Stakeholder Synergy: Taking a deliberate and strategic approach to understanding internal stakeholders ensures that you are attuned to their concerns, interests, and goals. This heightened awareness enables you to make more informed decisions, allocate resources effectively, and create a shared vision for your team or project. Moreover, a purposeful approach demonstrates your commitment to the well-being and success of your colleagues, which can bolster trust and morale.
3. Allies for Success: Engaging with internal stakeholders and genuinely understanding their needs can often yield significant benefits. They can provide valuable feedback, expertise, and support that can help you overcome challenges, identify new opportunities, and achieve your objectives. By actively seeking their input and building strong relationships, you can create a network of allies who are invested in your success and the success of the organization.
4. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Success in the business world is rarely achieved in isolation. To truly excel, you must recognize that your career and the organization's success are intrinsically linked to the collective efforts of the team. Understanding internal stakeholders is the key to unlocking this collaborative potential, as it enables you to align your goals, communicate effectively, and work harmoniously toward common objectives.

Understanding internal stakeholders is a critical aspect of effective management and professional growth. By prioritizing these relationships and adopting a purposeful approach, you can unlock the power of collaboration, drive your team and projects to success, and ultimately propel your career forward. Remember, in the world of business, no one succeeds alone – it is a team sport, and understanding internal stakeholders is the foundation upon which winning teams are built.

Creating a stakeholder matrix is an effective way to identify, analyze, and engage with your stakeholders. Here are 10 essential questions to ask when building a stakeholder matrix, which will help you strengthen relationships and drive your project or team forward.

1. Who are your stakeholders? Begin by identifying the individuals and groups within your organization that have a vested interest in your project or team. These may include colleagues, subordinates, cross-functional partners, and senior management. Be thorough and consider both the direct and indirect influencers of your work.
2. Why are they significant for my project or team? Evaluate the importance of each stakeholder by considering the impact they have on your project or team. Are they decision-makers, influencers, or supporters? Understanding their role will help you prioritize your engagement efforts and allocate resources effectively.
3. What are their interests and concerns? Take the time to understand each stakeholder's needs, motivations, and concerns. This will help you identify common ground, anticipate potential conflicts, and develop strategies to address their concerns and fulfill their needs.
4. When do our interactions occur? Determine the frequency and context of your interactions with stakeholders. Are your touchpoints regular or sporadic? Are they formal or informal? Knowing when and how you engage with stakeholders will help you plan and optimize communication and collaboration.
5. What is their preferred working style? Identify each stakeholder's preferred working style, such as detail-oriented, big-picture thinkers, or collaborative problem-solvers. Adapting your approach to accommodate their preferences can enhance your rapport and foster a more productive working relationship.
6. How do they influence my project or team's success? Examine how each stakeholder contributes to or affects the success of your project or team. Are they directly involved in decision-making or do they provide essential support and resources? By understanding their influence, you can prioritize your engagement efforts and ensure that their needs and expectations are addressed.
7. What are their expectations from our collaboration? Establish each stakeholder's expectations for your collaboration, such as specific outcomes, deliverables, or performance metrics. Aligning your goals and managing expectations is crucial for maintaining trust and ensuring mutual satisfaction.
8. What communication channels do they prefer? Identify the communication channels that are most effective for each stakeholder, such as email, phone, or face-to-face meetings. Adapting your communication style to their preferences can enhance clarity, minimize misunderstandings, and strengthen relationships.
9. What are their potential pain points or challenges? Uncover any obstacles or challenges that stakeholders might face in their work or collaboration with you. By understanding these pain points, you can proactively develop strategies to mitigate their impact and ensure smoother collaboration.
10. How can I best support their needs and foster strong relationships? Finally, consider how you can best support each stakeholder's needs and create an environment that fosters strong, mutually beneficial relationships. This may involve providing resources, offering guidance, or simply being a reliable sounding board for their ideas and concerns.

By asking these 10 critical questions when building a stakeholder matrix, you'll gain valuable insights into the motivations, needs, and preferences of your internal stakeholders. This understanding will help you create a more collaborative and effective work environment, ultimately driving your project or team to success. Remember, investing time and effort in understanding your stakeholders is an investment in the future of your organization and your career.

Let's take the example of Oscar from Operations (exmple matrix above), who wants to strengthen his relationships with Heather from HR, Frank from Finance, and Tod from Tech. In order to achieve this, he decides to create a table that outlines the common objectives, visions of success, priorities and values, required support and resources, communication rhythm, and distinctive work styles of each of his colleagues.

1. Common Objectives: The first step is to identify the common goals and projects shared by Oscar and his colleagues. These shared objectives serve as the foundation for collaboration and provide a basis for understanding the individual needs and motivations of each stakeholder. For example, Oscar shares the goal of employee satisfaction with Heather from HR, budget optimization with Frank from Finance, and system integration with Tod from Tech.
2. Vision of Success: Next, Oscar should explore what success looks like for each of his colleagues and their respective teams. This helps him understand their aspirations and align his own efforts to support their goals. Heather's vision of success revolves around high employee retention rates and positive feedback, while Frank focuses on accurate financial forecasting and cost reduction. Tod envisions success as seamless integration of new software and fewer technical issues.
3. Priorities and Values:To build strong working relationships, it's important to understand the priorities and values of each colleague. By doing so, Oscar can better appreciate their motivations and decision-making processes. Heather values employee welfare, Frank emphasizes financial accuracy, and Tod prizes tech innovation.
4. Support and Resources Required:Effective collaboration often involves providing support and resources to help colleagues achieve their goals. By identifying what he needs from each colleague and their team, Oscar can ensure that he is meeting their requirements and setting the stage for successful collaboration. For instance, Oscar requires assistance with HR policies from Heather, timely expense reports from Frank, and technical guidance from Tod.
5. Communication Rhythm:Establishing a communication rhythm is essential for maintaining strong relationships and keeping everyone on the same page. Oscar should determine the frequency and format of his interactions with each colleague to ensure that communication is clear, timely, and efficient. In this example, Oscar has bi-weekly meetings with Heather, monthly updates with Frank, and weekly check-ins with Tod.
6. Distinctive Work Style:Lastly, Oscar should consider the distinctive work styles of his colleagues to better understand how they approach tasks and problem-solving. This awareness will enable him to adapt his own style to work more effectively with each of them. Heather is approachable and empathetic, Frank is detail-oriented and analytical, and Tod is solution-focused and collaborative.

By creating a table that outlines these key aspects of his colleagues, Oscar can gain valuable insights into their needs, preferences, and motivations. This understanding will help him build stronger working relationships, foster a more collaborative environment, and ultimately drive his team and organization toward success. This simple yet powerful exercise can be easily adapted to any professional setting and is a worthwhile investment in the future of your career and your organization.

Final thoughts

Understanding your internal stakeholders, such as colleagues from different departments, is critical to fostering collaboration and driving your team and organization to success. By identifying key aspects of your colleagues' needs, preferences, and motivations, you can build a more cohesive and high-performing team. Creating a stakeholder matrix that outlines the common objectives, visions of success, priorities and values, required support and resources, communication rhythm, and distinctive work styles of your colleagues can be an invaluable tool in this endeavor.

Investing time and effort in understanding your colleagues will help you create a more collaborative environment, where everyone's unique strengths and perspectives are appreciated and leveraged. Whether it's uncovering hidden gems, achieving strategic stakeholder synergy, or embracing teamwork as the foundation of success, this purposeful approach can unlock the power of collaboration and propel your team and organization forward.

Remember, the key to success lies in understanding and supporting one another, as collaboration and teamwork are the cornerstones of any thriving organization. Embrace empathy, active listening, and adaptability to create a work environment where everyone's contributions are valued, and common goals are achieved. By prioritizing and nurturing these relationships, you will not only enhance your team's performance but also contribute to your own professional growth and the overall success of your organization.