The Stakeholder Engagement Plan: A 5-Step Guide to Build One That Centers Communities

In the utilities and infrastructure space — from energy and water to mining and waste management — stakeholder engagement has become procedural. In the utilities and infrastructure space — from energy and water to mining and waste management — stakeholder engagement has become procedural. Many businesses boast of inclusive engagement plans, yet few can say their plans are truly community-centered.

Inclusion means everyone is invited to the table. Centering means the community owns the tablet.

At Kumalo & Co, we believe that a stakeholder engagement plan should be more than compliance — it should be a social architecture for trust, accountability, and shared value.

Here’s how to build one in 5 comprehensive steps.

1. Map All Stakeholder Categories — and Don’t Miss the Core

The first step is developing a full stakeholder ecosystem.

Our experience shows that effective engagement starts with correctly identifying and categorizing stakeholders into these key groups:

• Traditional Authorities – Custodians of local governance, culture, and legitimacy.

• Local Government Structures – Councillors, Ward Committees, and LED Units.

• Project Operations – Engineers, contractors, and implementing agencies.

• Community Stakeholders – Residents, cooperatives, landowners, and community-based organizations.

• Business and Commercial Interests – Local enterprises, forums, and cooperatives.

• Civil Society Organisations – NGOs and faith-based institutions that amplify local voices.

  
  

Tip: Go beyond listing stakeholders. Profile them — understand their influence, interest, history with the project area, and what “value” means to them.

A complete list is not enough; social intelligence is what makes engagement meaningful.

2. Match the Type of Engagement to the Stakeholder Category

Not all stakeholders require the same level of engagement.

The Engagement Spectrum—Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate, Empower— helps you determine who gets what kind of engagement and why.

Yet, most utilities remain trapped between the first two stages: Inform and Consult.

Communities are informed of decisions already made, consulted on impacts already defined, but rarely involved or empowered in shaping solutions.

• Inform: Communities receive project updates — but no voice.

• Consult: Feedback is collected — but seldom integrated.

• Involve: Collaboration begins — but only within project limits.

• Collaborate: Stakeholders co-create solutions.

• Empower/Transfer: Decision-making is shared or devolved.

  
  

True transformation happens only when communities move from being consulted to being empowered, when decision-making authority is partially or fully transferred to them through legitimate governance mechanisms.

3. Match Engagement Activities to Project Phases

Stakeholder engagement is not static.

Each project phase demands a different level of communication, consultation, and collaboration.

Here’s how to align your stakeholder activities with the project lifecycle:

• Planning & Design Phase

  • Focus on social risk scanning and stakeholder mapping.

  • Identify key groups, their expectations, and potential points of conflict early.

  • Build the social baseline for later decision-making.

• Pre-Construction Phase

  • Focus on trust-building and governance structure formation.

  • Establish CLCs and CLOs, conduct capacity assessments, and create communication pathways.

• Construction Phase

  • Focus on transparent communication and conflict management.

  • Keep dialogue consistent, address grievances quickly, and ensure visibility on-site.

  • Strengthen local enterprise development and community monitoring partnerships.

• Operation & Maintenance Phase

  • Focus on shared ownership and sustainability.

• Decommissioning or Handover Phase

  • Focus on exit strategy and legacy planning.

  • Ensure knowledge transfer, community empowerment, and clear social exit protocols.

Tip: Integrate your engagement calendar into the project schedule — not as an add-on but as a core operational activity.

When communities are engaged through each phase, they become co-owners of the project journey, not bystanders.

4. Build a Two-Level Governance Structure

A community-centered engagement plan relies on governance at two levels:

• Community Level: A Community Liaison Committee (CLC) and Community Liaison Officer (CLO) serve as legitimate representatives of local voices.

• Project Level: The client, contractor, and social facilitator coordinate decisions, ensuring CLC participation is real — not symbolic.

  
  

Best practice includes:

• A representative CLC (including vulnerable groups)

• A CLC Skills Audit and capacity-building programme

• Transparent CLO recruitment and reporting mechanisms

• Regular M&E reviews to keep governance functional

  
  

This dual structure bridges formal project governance and community democracy — ensuring decisions are socially credible and technically sound.

5. Move from Reactive to Relational Engagement

Too often, social facilitation is treated as a reactive tool — used when conflict arises.

A community-centered plan, however, is relational and proactive. It builds trust before a project starts and maintains it long after completion.

That means:

• Embedding facilitators early in planning

• Using community data to inform technical design

• Treating local knowledge as part of the engineering solution

  
  

When engagement is relational, communities don’t just participate — they lead.

The Takeaway

A stakeholder engagement plan that centers communities is not about adding more meetings — it’s about shifting power.

It’s about designing systems that see, hear, and respect the people who live closest to impact.

Utilities that make this shift don’t just avoid conflict — they build legitimacy, resilience, and long-term sustainability.

Written by Nombasa Kumalo