It’s important to understand the difference between a stakeholder and a partner since each role has their own level of involvement, commitment, and engagement. This allows you to develop your relationships with each role appropriately through appropriate communication, decision-making, and strategic alignment.

Internal stakeholders are teams who are interested in your community because it affects them in some way. They want to know about your community’s outcomes and may give resources or share their opinions, but they don’t get involved in the day-to-day activities. These are teams you keep informed about your community metrics and other outcomes. Example: Sales

Internal partners are teams that are just as interested in your community as stakeholders, but these teams roll up their sleeves and work closely with you on shared objectives. These are teams that you directly collaborate with on projects and goals. Example: Product and Support

Knowing the difference between an internal stakeholder and partner gives you the ability to manage your expectations and build stronger relationships by understanding the level of

• Communication and engagement – Partners will be more collaborative and involved while stakeholders will prefer a high-level summary.
• Resource management – Partners are involved with your projects with shared goals which requires more resources while maintaining the level of support from stakeholders who aren’t as directly involved requires less.
• Strategic planning – Partners will be more influential when you’re setting goals and project initiatives while stakeholders have a more indirect influence

The difference between a good and great community manager is recognizing the nuances between internal stakeholders and partners. Knowing how to approach each group using the right communication strategies, along with resource expectations and weaving them into your strategic plans not only builds stronger relationships, but also significantly contributes to your community’s success.

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