Engaging with stakeholders

Your stakeholders can be your greatest allies or your most vocal critics. It’s essential you communicate with them early, often and clearly.

Stakeholders include people in your region who are interested in speed management. They may be staff within your own organisation, local Police, AA, community groups, transport operators, your Mayor and Councillors, local MPs or special interest groups in your area.

Your stakeholders can support your engagement with other groups, particularly media. They often bring informed and interested views crucial to supporting your projects. 

This section includes:

• insights into stakeholder perspectives and what this means for you
• seven steps to engaging with stakeholders
• building your stakeholder list
• stakeholder engagement case study
• stakeholder engagement tools and resources available to you.

Insights into stakeholder perspectives and what this means for you

The Transport Agency recently undertook research to identify and understand stakeholder attitudes to speed, roads and speed management. 

Key stakeholder insights include: 

Diversity of views

• Stakeholders, like the community, have a range of views about speed, speed management and the main causes for risk on the roads

• • What this means for you
    Take time to engage deliberately and consciously with stakeholders (not just the community) so you understand the different perspectives of your stakeholders, and build mutual trust. Don’t assume your stakeholders understand what you are doing and why, and give them time to provide input to your plans.

Stakeholders are open to engagement

• They are looking for a long term commitment from you, that you are listening and focusing on evidence over opinion. They want to be able to share perspectives and participate in speed management initiatives

• • What this means for you
    Stakeholders want to be included in the decision making process, or at the very least invited to participate. Show them you are listening and include their perspectives in your process. Working collaboratively is key, so consider forming a working group to involve all stakeholders from the very beginning.

The power of many voices

• Having many voices talking about roads, risk, and speed management will help create trust and understanding within the community 

• What this means for you
  Engage stakeholders early. Inform them of your work and invite them to collaborate and take part in the conversation. Provide consistent messaging and good content so they have the confidence to engage in productive conversations with other community members.

Seven steps to engaging with stakeholders

1. Identify all stakeholders: list your stakeholders and map them according to influence and interest.
   
   
2. Create a stakeholder engagement plan:  explain how you intend to engage with each stakeholder, identify channels, and outline your key messages.
   
   
3. Establish a working group: a collaborative stakeholder group will guide decision-making and engagement with your community. It shouldn’t be too big, but should represent the key stakeholders involved. For example, the Waikato speed management working group is led by the Waikato Regional Transport Committee . It includes members from the region’s councils, the AA, Road Transport Association, NZ Police, the Transport Agency and Waikato District Health Board. 
   
   
4. Take a united approach to engagement :
   • Test your ideas with the working group – engage them often and early on in the project.
   • Make it easy for them to provide their feedback, with feedback forms or open discussions.
   • Ask stakeholders to speak to their contacts and organisations so they can access information and gain an understanding of different priorities.
     
     
5. Help stakeholders tell a clear and concise story : create a core set of key messages so all stakeholders can talk about the project accurately, and consistently. Encourage them to engage in the public conversations they are a part of.  The Transport Agency has developed interactive workshops designed to empower and support RCAs and stakeholders have powerful conversations about speed, roads and speed management. 
   
   
6. Keep talking : keep stakeholders informed throughout the process by sharing data, maps and other information with them. Educate them on the speed management framework. At the same time, stay up-to-date with your stakeholders’ perspectives and actions through regular meetings.

Building your stakeholder list

Your stakeholder list does not have to be long, but it should include key people who are both interested, and have influence. Try to include all relevant community stakeholders, not just the ones you know.

Councillors, local police, and Transport Agency national staff may help you compile your list. Don’t forget to check any local media coverage on speed management, as media spokespeople are often key stakeholders.

Below is a list of potential community stakeholders to get you started. Keep in mind that stakeholder working groups should have no more than six to eight members.

Stakeholder engagement case study

Working groups working for communities

Tasman District Council is developing a speed management plan for the growing town of Richmond using the new speed management framework presented in the Guide.

The Council decided that to first understand the town’s priorities, it needed to bring together key stakeholders who could help identify the priorities, and then support the Council to implement changes.

It set up a working group comprising regional and national staff from the Transport Agency, Tasman District Council representatives, a local AA representative, and a local representative from the Road Transport Association.

Feedback to date from the working group is positive. Early collaboration has resulted in a shared understanding of the priorities and concerns of each organisation. Members also have access to the same research and data to help them make informed decisions and ensure they are all on the same page.

Taking a collaborative approach to speed management has meant members will present a united front during engagement and consultations. Because they have been integral to the decision making process from the beginning, members will be able to speak about proposed changes with confidence – while drawing from collaborative and consistent messages.

Together, the working group is developing an informed and supported plan it believes will benefit all Tasman road users.

This work is currently underway.

Stakeholder engagement tools and resources