Manage Your Project Stakeholders: Develop an effective communications plan to eliminate unnecessary delays and maximize your research investment

This is the second eTip! on managing your market research project stakeholders. The previous issue focused on how to determine their appropriate levels of involvement. This one covers considerations for developing and implementing an effective communications plan.

Once you've determined how to appropriately involve the individuals and groups who share a stake in your research results, you'll need to develop a plan for communicating with them. Your communications plan will be your primary tool to align project stakeholders. It should encourage key internal constituents to address their information needs, and it should include a process for providing relevant information to external partners.

As stated in January's eTip!, those who may have an interest in the market research project include:

• Your Boss
• The Marketing Team
• Sales Management and the Field Force
• Your External Partners (e.g. market research supplier, ad agency, co-marketer)

Before approaching these stakeholders, first determine whose buy-in is needed at each step of the project's progression. While general input may be appropriate for framing the business decision, research design influences should be limited to qualified groups, such as your boss and research supplier. Similarly, data collection, analysis of results, and implementation should be handled by those with direct responsibility for these activities.

After identifying who will be involved and when, you'll want to understand the level of support each stakeholder provides for your project. Your communications plan should identify critics and advocates and include a process for dealing with each. For instance, if your boss is a strong supporter of your project, while the brand manager seems determined to poke holes in it, you'll want to approach each party separately and differently. Your boss may simply sign off on your recommendations in an email, while the brand manager may require a lengthy off-site meeting to discuss his/her concerns and ideas.

In addition to individual levels of support, other factors can influence how you approach each project stakeholder:

• Corporate Culture: What is the standard way of doing business within your company?
• Significance of the Business Decision: How will the research results affect the company's bottom line, strategic planning, and so on?
• Individual Interests and Expectations: What impact does the project have on a stakeholder's direct responsibilities, professional reputation, ability to succeed, etc.?
• Personal Style: What are the stakeholder's individual characteristics: formal/ casual, stern/ humorous, egalitarian/ authoritarian?

Another important component of an effective communications strategy is finding the right way to deliver information to your stakeholders. Delivery considerations include choosing the preferred communications tool and format. For example, would the sales manager appreciate a formal presentation with take-away slides, or would an email or impromptu meeting in the company cafeteria be more appropriate? Does (s)h