Module 2 | Know your audience & their needs

Session 1

2 hours

Theme

Thinking through stakeholder and needs mapping

Materials needed

Methodology

Ground rules to set for all sessions:
- Bring only the devices you need to the session. Note to facilitator: Explain here what is needed for this particular session
- Mute mobile phones before you put them away
- Encourage the participants to take space and make space. To take up space is to speak up and participate actively in discussions and putting their ideas and perspectives across. It is equally important to make space for others to do the same. Note to facilitators: Ensure you check in about this throughout the sessions, especially by making space for those who are not used to taking up space or struggling to do so.
- This is a safe space, and we encourage everyone to check their privilege and ensure that we do not discriminate in speech or action.
- Do remember there are no right or wrong answers. Note to facilitator: Repeating this during the sessions and activities helps participants speak up more freely.

Divide the cohort into teams of 2-3 members each. Each team can choose their own names. It is best to separate members from the same organisation into different teams. Explain that there will be team activities throughout the workshop.
Use the same example from the previous day, of the university. Each team may use cards, sticky notes and sketch pens for their activity.
Invite each team to think through who could be the different stakeholders for the school, and their needs. Ask them to list out the stakeholders and 3 of their needs on the sticky notes: 1 stakeholder/1 need on each card.
Each team presents the cards with the names and needs of stakeholders. Facilitator can choose one card from each team for all the the common stakeholders mentioned; for instance, students/teachers/school management/support staff. If any team has come up with a stakeholder not mentioned by any other team, this can be kept separately.
Once you have a card with needs for each of the stakeholders, read out the needs listed on the first stakeholder card. If any team has needs that have not been mentioned in the ones read out, collect that note from that team and add it to your card. Go through this exercise with each of the stakeholder cards.
Once all the stakeholder cards have been sorted, ask the teams to gather around a large chart paper, with concentric circles drawn on it. Lay out all the stakeholder + needs cards so that the teams can look through them and see the updated cards with needs listed. Give them a couple of minutes to go through this. Encourage them to ask questions to clarify doubts.
Explain how there are so many stakeholders for the university, but there will be one or two key stakeholders without whom the university cannot function or its purpose cannot be fulfilled. Invite the cohort to suggest who could be the primary stakeholder in this case. Participants may need help/prompting in thinking this through. Place that card in the centre of the circles in the chart. Ask participants who the next key stakeholder could be. Place the card on the next circle. Similarly, arrange all stakeholders in the concentric circles, with the secondary stakeholders moving towards the outer circle. Now explain to them clearly who are the primary stakeholders and the secondary stakeholders. Ask the team to take a look at the circles and placement of cards to fully understand who are the primary and secondary stakeholders.
On a whiteboard/chart paper, draw a four-quadrant graph for decision-making, with Power on the Y axis and Impact on the X axis. Allow teams to discuss and suggest where each of the stakeholders will find a place on the graph.
The graph will indicate that the primary stakeholders have the least decision-making power but will face the highest impact of the decisions.
Have a short discussion on making decision-making more accessible to and inclusive of key stakeholders.

Learning outcomes

Understanding how to figure out the key stakeholders
Understanding the impact of decision-making, and the idea that the key stakeholders need more power in decision making

Session 2

1 hour

Theme

Thinking through key stakeholders for the website

Methodology

Using the same example and stakeholder cards from the first session, ask teams to suggest who they think are the key stakeholders for the university's website. Who could the primary stakeholder be if the problem statement remains the same: hiring.
Help them understand why key stakeholders for the website may be different from the key stakeholders for the school. Take them through how this is often the case for NGO/changemaker websites.
Ask each team to write out three key needs each for two of the key stakeholders.
Help them think through what this could look like in a website.
Each team to discuss and present what the website's home page should be to represent the top two needs.
Homework: Participants to think through who are the key stakeholders for their project websites and what their needs are.

Learning outcomes

Understanding that key stakeholders and their needs for the website are unique, and may differ from the NGO's key stakeholders
Applying this learning to their own projects