360° Stakeholder Mapping

OnTrackNorthAmerica has pioneered an innovative approach to stakeholder identification and cataloging that supercharges facilitation, collaboration, and results for any challenge or opportunity. We have successfully used this methodology for over thirty years, advising on infrastructure projects across 47 U.S. states and Canadian provinces. 360° Stakeholder Mapping serves as the cornerstone of all OTNA Initiatives and IntelliConferences®.

Stakeholder engagement is often thwarted right out of the gate by the basic question, "Who are the stakeholders?" The answer can seem overwhelming until you systematically create a detailed list of stakeholder groups within an industrial system or geographic area. Without this framework, identifying all relevant parties is difficult.

360° Stakeholder Mapping offers a systematic approach to ensuring the effective participation of all stakeholders across diverse sectors. Once you establish a clear catalog of stakeholder groups, you can focus on the relevant entities and individuals within each group to engage to advance specific projects. All stakeholders can then be identified and included—it's no longer overwhelming. We have found a particular CRM software platform, Act!, to be well-suited for cataloging and accessing stakeholders by these groups and their logical subgroups. Along with IntelliSynthesis®, this essential tool and methodology enables the level of collaboration and coordination needed to address significant challenges.

The How and Why of Cataloging

Three Key Questions to Guide Your Thinking

1. What are all the groups that constitute the involved stakeholders in the targeted arena and community?
2. Who are the stakeholders within each group you want to involve in changing the outcomes of that system?
3. What subgroup designations will facilitate conversations with the right stakeholders for each subject?

Start with Initial Mapping

We typically begin mapping participants from these primary sectors: Academia, Advocacy, Business, Community, Funders, Government, Labor, and Media.

Deciding who to include from each sector for a new initiative starts with current knowledge and online research. However, the key is to have conversations with informed individuals in the industrial sector or region to gather community input into who needs to be involved. This collaborative approach actively engages community and industry members as contributors to the stakeholder mapping process. For an example of this initial mapping, see the VitalRail 360° Stakeholder Map.

Identify Additional Groups and Subgroups

Further develop your groups and subgroups while considering the project's objectives and the key topics that need to be discussed. Consider the ecosystem's geographic scope and the various roles stakeholders play in the arena you are working. For example, if working on a port to rail logistics system, you would catalog stakeholders as ocean carriers, port management, terminal operators, railroads, trucking companies, chassis owners, container owners, labor unions, city government, community leaders, and so forth.

Multi-Dimensional Classification: Assign each stakeholder to multiple groups and subgroups based on their sector, role, and geographic location. This multidimensional approach enables flexible engagement strategies tailored to diverse needs and contexts.

Hierarchical Subgrouping: You might find it helpful to create subgroups within larger categories. For example, set up subgroups for federal, state, and local governments within a "Public sector" umbrella group. This hierarchy enables more precise and relevant communication.

Geographic and Industry Organization: Sometimes you need to communicate with everyone in a specific county, region, state, or country, or organize stakeholders into geographic teams. At other times, you may want to convene discussions with all individuals who provide specific services, such as transportation, or work in particular industries, like mining.

Cross-Sector Engagement: Assigning people to multiple group designations allows you to easily bring together cross-sector stakeholder discussions on specific topics. This flexibility is essential for tackling complex, multi-faceted challenges that cross traditional boundaries.

The Benefits of This Specificity

This level of specificity demonstrates respect for stakeholders' time and effort, fosters trust and encourages participation, and promotes long-term engagement. When stakeholders see that their involvement is focused and relevant to their skills and interests, they are more likely to participate actively and maintain their engagement over time.

Industrial systems are for people, managed by people, and have an impact on people. The key to large-scale collaboration and progress is engaging all relevant stakeholders within the ecosystem. Sharing and receiving input, perspectives, and commitments become highly effective when you build an initiative's participant database using 360° Stakeholder Mapping. This practical approach to stakeholder facilitation allows the right people to collaborate in redesigning our industrial systems, developing solutions that genuinely serve the communities and industries they affect.