2.1         Stakeholder mapping and its importance to an NSI

Stakeholder mapping is the visualization of those with whom a relationship needs to be developed or maintained to help the NSI achieve its goals. It is the identification of all stakeholder groups, determining their position and roles, and their impact on the external environment.  It organizes the structure of the relationship with the external environment and describes who and at what level in the NSI should be involved in the contact with the stakeholder or stakeholder group.

A properly developed map of stakeholders facilitates and shortens the process of planning communication with these groups. It shows what actions should be taken to maintain a proper relationship between NSI and stakeholders and eliminates the risk of inappropriate communications or actions.

2.2         How to map effectively

Stakeholder mapping begins with identifying all stakeholders with whom the NSI has contact and a relationship. These can be both institutions and individuals.

It is important for the list of stakeholders to include all those with whom an NSI has built or wants to build relationships – including key politicians using data or well-known academics, analysts and journalists. The institutions or people with whom relationships are difficult to maintain should also be included as they form a core part of an NSI’s challenge.

The list of stakeholders should be reviewed at least once a year to make sure that it correctly reflects the external environment and to ensure that an NSI can continue to have the required influence.

2.3         Determining the importance of stakeholders

Using the list of stakeholders created, it is necessary to define their importance in building an NSI's relations with the external environment and in achieving the NSI’s goals.

To assist with identifying stakeholders and defining their relationship to the NSI, the following questions can help:

  • How important is the relationship?
  • What role does it fulfill (i.e. data providers, users)?
  • What is the impact on the external environment (opinion forming)?
  • What is the range of impact (nationwide/local/isolated in a specific environment)?
  • What is the financial dependency (private company, government unit etc.?
  • Who does the NSI work with?
  • Does it involve politics?
  • What is the stakeholder’s opinion in the external environment?
  • Who can NSI influence through this stakeholder and how?

Properly asked, these questions will allow an NSI to describe in detail the position and role of the stakeholder in the external environment and what it wants to influence or where a relationship is absent and needs to be built.

This information can then be used to help map stakeholders effectively. A common mapping method is the Boston Matrix (see Figure 1 below). Using this approach, the importance of stakeholder groups is determined by how much interest they have in official statistics (interest) and how much influence/impact they have on the environment (power).

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Figure 1. Mapping the importance of stakeholders using the Boston Matrix


This figure shows the most important category as "manage closely". These are the stakeholders who are most important to an NSI’s business and the ones who can have the greatest impact on the external environment. This is the group the NSI should establish the closest possible relationships with and devote the most attention to.

The second most important category is occupied by two groups simultaneously: keep informed and keep satisfied. The difference between these groups is due to their location on the graph. "Keep satisfied" is a group that has a large impact on the environment but is hardly interested in NSI activities (e.g. court, judges) whereas "Keep informed" is a group that has a low impact on the environment but is very interested in an NSI’s activities.

The final, and third, category is the group of stakeholders that should be monitored to ensure their interest or power doesn’t fluctuate, but no major energy needs to be exerted in their management.

2.4         Turning intelligence into action and maintaining the relationship

After grouping stakeholders, the next step is to define the activities required to reach them and determining who within the NSI should be responsible for managing the relationship and their level in the hierarchy. These activities can include, but are not limited to:

  • Publications, such as a magazine or newsletter that is circulated on regular basis;
  • Dedicated channels (i.e. closed groups on social networks, special profiles on social media, tailored messages on LinkedIn etc.);
  • Frequent contact through formal or informal meetings;
  • Identifying a key account contact who works exclusively with a stakeholder;
  • Special events (councils, briefings, conferences with networking etc.); and
  • Tailored information for and from the stakeholders.

To determine the level of relationship management, and the seniority required, it can be helpful to categorize the nature of the engagement. For example:

  • Strategic relationships would typically be conducted by the management of the NSI. Strategic activities are often those involving meetings with the management of government institutions, representing the NSI at international and national meetings, or the participation in high profile meetings with stakeholders.
  • Operational relationships should be carried out by the experts (for example: statisticians) with the support of a communication team if necessary. These are mostly bilateral relationships with their counterparts in other institutions. Activities here often include participation in briefings to provide substantive explanations, running working groups with stakeholders, and participation with stakeholders on topics of expert specialization.

In addition, there are also the relationships that are owned by the communication team. These will often be a hybrid of strategic and operational relationships and form the foundation for future stakeholder relationships to be developed. 

Typically, communication will focus on ensuring there is an ongoing provision of information for stakeholder groups through monitoring the activities and ensuring the flow of information and contacts between stakeholders and experts. The goal with all activities is to ensure that there is robust and transparent relationship management within an NSI. This is crucial to the success of any stakeholder engagement programme, particularly as specific team members will often be dealing with different stakeholder contacts.


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