How to Build Relationships With Your Stakeholder
By Patricia Kaim
A stakeholder is an individual group of people who have an interest in an organization, people, or groups inside or outside the organization (e.g., shareholders, senior management, Board of Directors, regulators, customers, and third-party vendors).
To be an effective and influential leader, you must build and maintain strong relationships. True leaders need to pull up a chair and sit at the table; do not wait until you get a formal invite; be visible and actively seek out opportunities to drive change and share your point of view. It takes a few seconds to cause the first impression, lasting forever. I want to share a few tips to have a positive first impression:
Dress well; dress for success. Your image educates others on how you want to be approached. Dressing appropriately minimizes unnecessary distractions so others can focus on the conversation and your message to minimize additional distractions.
Keep eye contact and smile to send a good message during the interaction.
Shake hands when you introduce yourself in person.
Say your name or the name of your department slowly.
Keep a good posture (arms, hands, and legs uncrossed) to show that you are open to the conversation and fully transparent.
Be careful with your sense of humor; if you are not good with that, please avoid it.
Seek the opinion of others; ask open-ended questions to start the conversation.
Make your online presence respectable and impactful and share your talent and unique perspective.
Project a high energy level. I want to spend time here. Your energy level matters and you need to focus on this daily. I am a Reiki Master, and I understand the power of your energy and how important it is for you to have a good balance and health. A good energy level starts with eating healthy, exercising regularly, drinking enough water, and sleeping well. Still, it can be impacted by interacting with others, not organizing well your day. We always need to pay attention to our energy level. We can attract good things when our energy is high, and it can also improve interaction with others.
Once you identify your stakeholders, you need to analyze them. Would you like to manage a few stakeholders more closely? You may want to keep others informed about relevant things. Proper communication is key to building trust and enhancing stakeholders’ engagement. Effective communication involves great engagement, transparency, responsiveness, availability, commitment, cooperation, and reputation among stakeholders.
“Your presence is very important; this is your power.”
Below are a few tips you can use both to build and improve healthy relationships:
Be aware of first impressions and non-verbal communication (e.g., tone of voice, body language [posture, gestures, eye contact, appearance, body movements]). First impressions matter! Good posture will impact the conversation and your message.
Be yourself – be natural.
Be agile; do not wait until the last minute to share your point of view or concerns.
Be positive; no matter how difficult the conversation could be, remain calm and confident during the conversation. Keep all meetings positive by highlighting positive recommendations or points of views, things that add value, and positive feedback.
Be open, honest, and accountable.
Listen to your stakeholders; be active (listen with a purpose or attend with a pen) and avoid technical jargon. Use non-verbal behavior (eye contact, smiling). Also, understand others’ points of view before trying to get them to understand yours. Have an open mind; always have the big picture in mind, listen to suggestions, questions, and concerns, and always thank people for their input and feedback. Another important tip (before closing the meeting or call) is to rephrase what they have mentioned in such a way that you are trying to understand their points of view.
Be aware of cultural differences, for example, in non-verbal communication.
Set a good example; build trust, transparency, and respect. Share your talent!
Schedule periodic touch-base sessions. Regular meetings keep you and your stakeholders on the same page; you can easily identify emerging risks or potential issues or challenges before they even arise. Keep the communication channel always open so they can easily contact you. You need to be available for your stakeholders too.
Prepare yourself, read, and have an agenda or a presentation deck (know your audience, structure your presentation, prepare a deck and be familiar with it, and prepare yourself for the meeting by practicing it). Please focus on the audience and keep it simple. If you have a deck, send it in advance.
Do not get sucked into a big debate; scheduling another meeting or call to follow up or answer additional questions is okay. Learn when you need to cut the conversation.
All these topics matter even more when you are on a video or phone call. Wear appropriate clothing, be aware of your video settings, mute your microphone whenever you are not speaking, and avoid any distractions or objects on your back. Also, always look at the camera instead of looking at yourself talking on the computer screen. It will help others feel like you are 100 percent present.
