Stakeholder engagement is often treated as a checklist — meetings held, feedback gathered, emails sent. Yet, to really deliver the best for your client means focusing on stakeholder relationships. These relationships are built on two key human factors: empathy and respect. Its seeing their perspective, listening to build understanding and taking on what’s important to them.
Too often we see stakeholder relationships sour when these fundamentals are not followed.
Respect: The foundation of trust
Respect is about valuing your stakeholder’s expertise, acknowledging their input and being authentic in our actions. It’s shown in how we turn up to meetings, how we communicate, follow through, and how we make space for diverse voices.
Just as important is what it is not: saying one thing and doing another, speaking about people negatively or worse, critical or divisive comments in Teams or Slack chats.
Empathy: Understanding before acting
“Standing in another’s shoes” and seeing the world from our stakeholder’s perspective helps us understand what’s important to them. When we take the time to understand stakeholders’ perspectives, we uncover the motivations, concerns, and values that drive their decisions. Stakeholders who feel understood are more likely to engage openly and actively support the change.
At Alphaplus Solutions, we don’t just engage stakeholders — we treat every stakeholder in the project with respect and empathy. In the National One Stop Shop for Clinical Trials and Medical Health Research project we have been working nationally with jurisdictions, regulators, the private sector and associations to develop the requirements for the national system. We know our stakeholders come with unique perspectives depending on their role in this complex ecosystem. Our engagement is designed with each in mind; to deeply understand what’s important to them and the pain points, replaying back our understanding with them in a collaborative way. Always with respect and empathy.
Creating human-centred stakeholder relationships
Here are five ways to make empathy and respect part of your everyday stakeholder engagement:
- Be present and curious: Focus on what’s being said now, not what you’ll say next.
- Listen without interrupting or judging: As Stephen Covey wrote in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”. This means understanding another person’s perspective before trying to communicate your own. Create space for honest dialogue.
- Co-create solutions: Involve stakeholders early and often. Don’t just consult — collaborate.
- Be transparent: Share not only what decisions are made, but why. Let stakeholders see how their input shaped the outcome.
- Follow through: Deliver on promises. Respect is built through consistent, reliable action.
From engagement to partnership
Stakeholder engagement isn’t just about managing expectations — it’s about building relationships. When empathy and respect are at the centre, we create space for genuine collaboration, shared ownership and better outcomes.