Six Steps Toward Better Stakeholder Engagement

Whether you’re a broadband service provider, an electric co-op, a tribal nation, a municipality, or someone new to the broadband game, the expansion or creation of your broadband network will require you to develop relationships as you build your case for state and federal funding. Too often, in rural areas, it’s tempting to say, “We’re local, we’re part of the community, we’re your neighbors,” and leave it at that. The reality, though, is that every community’s character and needs are different. Building successful partnerships means engaging stakeholders genuinely, without a one-size-fits-all approach. Here are six best practices to keep in mind:

1. Make an Engagement Plan the first plan you create.
   Be intentional about how you will engage with community stakeholders. Effective engagement may be the difference between your project happening or not, so take it seriously and consider making an engagement plan. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy released a helpful, thorough booklet called Creating a Community and Stakeholder Engagement Plan, which discusses the plan you should make before any project plan, before you ever set foot in a community.
    
2. Learn who your stakeholders are.
   Don’t assume you know to whom you should speak. The BroadbandUSA booklet “Introduction to Stakeholder Outreach” identifies possible stakeholders as, at a minimum, “Existing and potential partners, including incumbent service providers, community residents, funders, active community organizations, community activists, and program beneficiaries.” The NTIA’s guide called Setting Up Initial Stakeholder Engagement recommends constantly asking, “Who else should we be talking to?”
   
   
3. Listen to your stakeholders.
   Don’t approach a community with preconceived ideas or project plans set in place. Talk to community stakeholders and prepare to let your vision be shaped and changed. This might involve town halls, one-on-one meetings, listening tours, focus groups, surveys, going door-to-door—essentially, any method that helps you identify what the community needs, what their previous experiences have been, and what they want the future to look like.
    
4. Identify what you will bring to the table. Be crystal clear about the tangible, concrete benefits you—and your broadband network—will bring to a community. At a minimum, these benefits should include:
   • Digital equity: How will your broadband project bring life-changing services to underserved and/or unserved people? How will your project close the digital equity gap in a community?
   • Economic development: How will your project improve the economic prospects of a community? How can you help communities with what the Pew Charitable Trust calls “capacity building”?

5. Make a plan and get stakeholder buy-in.
   Only after you have talked to the right people and truly listened to them should you start creating your project plan. The NTIA initial stakeholder engagement guide suggests developing your plan in a working group, council, or task force rather than creating it on your own. Getting feedback as you develop the plan will help it succeed: “Sharing sections while the plan is still under development will improve plan relevancy, transparency, and buy-in.”
    
6. Communicate regularly.
   Don’t ignore stakeholders once your plan is in place. Give frequent updates about the status of your project. The NTIA recommends that you “keep accessibility and inclusivity top of mind,” which involves translating materials in common community languages and communicating via multiple channels—including websites, social media, printed materials, webinars, etc. Regular communication puts a positive cap on the final stages of your project, and helps stakeholders remain involved from beginning to end.
   
   

CHR Solutions has decades of experience, focused on creating strong relationships with rural and independent telcos, electric cooperatives, municipalities, and others to develop and implement advanced network solutions. From feasibility studies to network design and construction to operating and securing your network, we partner with you every step of the way to optimize your operation and increase your speed to market.