Tool 3 – Consultation Matrix
Once all the steps in tool 2 have been completed, it is then necessary to plan how and when you intend to consult with stakeholders. The consultation matrix tool helps you create a plan that works with all the needs from different groups of stakeholders, keeps you up-to-date with forthcoming meetings and records what has been previously discussed. Keeping records using an electronic stakeholder database (p161) ensures information does not get lost or forgotten and all stakeholders are consulted and listened to on a regular basis.
STEP
1
List key stakeholders taken from tool 2
STEP
2
Use consultation matrix to identify best consultation methods for each stakeholder or group
STEP
3
Create consultation table summarising the selected methods
STEP
4
Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your consultation activities
STEP
5
Record consultations to keep track of progress. When agreements have been made, it is advisable to record and sign them; retaining a copy for yourselves and providing the stakeholders with their own
Top Tips:
- consult often and not just when you require something
- consult everyone who wants to talk
- listen as much as you talk
- record all comments and responses in a database, including your own
- be responsive to issues raised and actions arising from consultations
- register any commitments made and review them regularly
Further Reading:
Community, Economics, Environment, Ethical Business, Management, Rehabilitation
Pre-operational implementation of HSEC processes
BHP Billiton’s IndoMet Coal Project (IMC) has taken a comprehensive and integrated approach to developing health, safety, environment and community (HSEC) practices and processes while still in the exploration and feasibility study stages of the project.
Sources:
IFC, Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook for Companies Doing Business in Emerging Markets, Washington DC, 2007. Available at: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/938f1a0048855805beacfe6a6515bb18/IFC_StakeholderEngagement.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
Zandvliet, L. and Anderson, M. B., Getting it Right: Making Corporate-Community Relations Work, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, 2009, especially Chapter 9.