Task 7 – Documentation
Whether documentation is in hard or soft copy, the following tools will be required to adequately document stakeholder engagement. It is recommended that the action planner/engagement schedule, stakeholder register, consultation log and monitoring and evaluation framework are managed in one database, preferably an online information management system. Remember that sites should apply the guidelines for data protection in the design and operation of this management system – see Box 3A.7 Data Protection for further details.
- Stakeholder register (see 3A.2 Guidance, Task 3): an ongoing and regularly updated inventory of all stakeholders and their contact information.
- Action planner/engagement schedule (see section 3A.2 Guidance Task 4): Forward-looking plan of activities and upcoming engagements, including activity, tasks, resources, budget and timelines.
- Consultation log: to record all material exchanges with stakeholders, both planned and unplanned, formal and informal, including at a minimum:
- dates and locations of engagements or other correspondence
- purpose of engagement
- people in attendance (external and internal. For external stakeholders, link details to the stakeholder register)
- information shared
- issues/ questions raised, management responses and stakeholder satisfaction with response
- commitments made (link to commitments register)
- follow-up actions required and timeline/responsibilities (this may include an action to engage internally on issues raised during the engagement or actions for further external engagements)
- link to incident and grievance register, if any were identified through the engagement
- additional comment/next steps
- facility to link to saved scans or copies of letters, emails, community notices, notes for the record, attendance registers, photos and videos, etc. These should be labelled with a code that matches the corresponding entry in the consultation log.
- Monitoring and evaluation framework (see 3A.2 Guidance, Task 8)
- Meeting minutes/notes for the record and attendance lists: formal or important meetings should be written down and minutes approved to create an agreed record of discussions, agreements and actions. These should be accompanied by attendance lists and, where relevant, photos. Label the minutes to match the corresponding entry in the consultation log. A brief note for the record should be completed for informal engagements if significant issues were raised, a commitment was made, or follow-up action is required.
- Links to other social management tools
Stakeholder engagement activities may intersect with other social functions and documentation tools. For example: