Stakeholder involvement is critical to the success of just about all local government projects.  People must embrace and support project plans in order to achieve progress.  But in a rushed and busy environment, getting the attention of stakeholders can be a challenge.  Information overload is not unusual, and oftentimes, messages simply don’t register with people.

In an era of multiple communication options, how can you make sure your message is received and understood?

Such is the question faced by the City of Philadelphia where ICMA is working with City on the selection and implementation of a new customer relationship management (CRM) solution for their Philly311 Contact Center.  The Philly311 Project Team set out from the beginning to fashion a communications plan that took into account the need to communicate in different way in order to break through and get their messages about the project across.  Below is a list of some of the more popular strategies used:

• Knowing that the culture of the City is very participatory, the Philly311 Project Team has scheduled numerous large group meetings to update all stakeholders about plans and progress on the project.  Stakeholders not only hear directly about plans for the project, but have an opportunity to ask questions directly of the project team.

• Project team members have made a point to schedule personal meetings with key stakeholders, especially when someone simply cannot make a large group meeting.  This includes both executive staff and subject matter experts in the supporting service departments.

• Video recordings of key presentations have been sent around with meeting summary notes, giving stakeholders the option to watch the presentation when their schedule permits or scan the meeting notes.

• Periodic e-newsletters are sent to Philly311 Contact Center call agents to keep them up-to-date on how plans are progressing.  The e-newsletters are kept short, to the point and easy to read.

• The City routinely uses Facebook, Twitter  and other social media outlets to push announcements out to the public.  But because so many staff members are actively engaged in the City’s social media effort, project announcements also serve to generate attention internally.

In short, the City of Philadelphia has discovered that by identifying key stakeholders early on in the project, and determining which communication outlets to use in reaching those same stakeholders, there are fewer surprises for people and they have greater support internally for their project.