Establishing Rapport With Critical Stakeholders

We’ve all encountered problems in our attempts to communicate business insights. Managing denial and setting expectations requires a positive rapport with critical stakeholders to overcome these issues. 

To bridge communication gaps, understand why establishing a good rapport is vital. Then, apply these methods to building relationships with your most important stakeholders.

Why establishing a good rapport is essential. 

In business analysis work, stakeholders of all kinds get caught in the fray. They have to balance their duties with contributing valuable insights to your project, and it’s your job as a business analyst to make this easier. Without a good rapport, your efforts will suffer. 

Each stakeholder has their goals and agendas. While sometimes these goals overlap, you have to coordinate your messaging as a business analyst to make the insights and recommendations you generate applicable to all parties. This can present many difficulties as the range of stakeholders invested in any business can be broad.

Typically, the stakeholders you’ll communicate with include:

● Customers

● Employees

● Investors

● Suppliers

● Trade associations, to mention a few

Your customers will be most interested in the highest quality products or services for the lowest cost, while your investors will want to see your revenues increase. Coordinating stakeholders to accommodate these interests requires effective communication. For example, you’ll need strong communication and presentation skills to explain to customers why prices might rise or convince investors that new software platforms are worth the overhead. 

Methods for building good relationships with critical stakeholders

Human beings are complex, and communication can be difficult at best. To solidify a consistent strategy for communicating coherent messages, you have to first start by understanding your stakeholders and moving forward with carefully coordinated narratives. Data and storytelling have to coexist for any successful approach.

Build good relationships with analytical and empathic methods of communication. By following these strategies, you can better establish a rapport with each stakeholder in your business to get your points across: 

1. Map your stakeholders — The whole process begins with understanding your stakeholders and what matters to them. One of the best ways to do this is to put together a stakeholder map. This is a process that involves either manually mapping or using a software application to construct a visual of all interested parties, ranging from your C-suite executives to your customer base. 

With a map laid out of stakeholder needs and relationships, you are better positioned to communicate and elicit information. From there, you would know which relationships should be cultivated first, which personalities need a specific approach, and how you can best establish a rapport.

2. Further your business and communication education — Applying clear and compelling business communication to the often-complex nature of analysis can be a challenge. The more education on your side regarding business and communication, the better you’ll be prepared to establish great relationships.

A Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) degree is one way to cultivate the transferrable skills you’ll need to make this easy, from analytical reasoning to emotional intelligence. Additionally, any further training you take on will assist in your efforts.

3. Establish communication best practices — Some stakeholders can be notoriously difficult to get information out of. That’s why it’s especially vital to practice effective communication skills during all your elicitation sessions. Start with active, encouraging listening that encourages communication. Focus on body language, encouraging words, reflection, and paraphrasing, which shows your stakeholders that you are just as invested as they are.

Then, ensure that all your communication efforts are applicable and time-saving. Forming a narrative out of your insights will help in this regard. By relaying an immediate need, challenge, and avenue for overcoming problems, all framed in a human context, you improve your chances of being heard and understood. 

Cultivating great business relationships

As a business analyst, you might be more focused on the data than the direct interpersonal communication of business insights. However, you need to establish a great rapport with your stakeholders to be effective at your job. 

Start by mapping out the people and departments you need to communicate with. What are their goals and challenges? Then apply empathetic frameworks for showcasing your insights, and always be prepared to listen and engage actively. 

Though it’s hard to gauge in data form, communication is a critical success factor that will determine the impact of your analysis. Focus on stakeholder rapport for more significant results.