• Who will use or be impacted by your research?

• E.g. doctors and patients, teachers and students, advocacy groups.

• Prioritise impacted parties using: the 3i framework.

• Relationships often managed by researchers and engagement leads.

• For research projects, especially important when —

  • identifying and defining research goals

  • designing research methodologies

  • mobilising knowledge

  • evaluating impact.

• For teams and orgs, especially important when —

  • ensuring organisational strategy aligns with community needs

  • evaluating outcomes and impact

  • building credibility and public trust.

• Who can influence the conditions you work within?

• E.g. your faculty exec, funders, policymakers, philanthropists, your team.

• Prioritise enablers using: Interest vs Influence.

• Relationships often managed by senior leaders.

• For research projects, especially important when —

  • responding to shifts in policy and funding landscapes

  • aligning projects with institutional priorities

  • securing strategic investment or resources.

• For teams and orgs, especially important when —

  • launching, expanding, or restructuring your org

  • building sustainable funding

  • influencing broader sector or institutional strategy.

• Who will you work with on research projects?

• E.g. other researchers, industry partners.

• Prioritise collaborators and clients by considering: potential strategic alignment, synergy, competitive advantage, ease of starting the relationship, and long term value.

• Relationships often managed by researchers and program managers.

• For research projects, especially important when —

  • seeking collaborators for grant applications

  • co-designing or co-producing research

  • delivering research outcomes together.

• For teams and orgs, especially important when —

  • developing strategic partnerships

  • building capacity through collaborative projects

  • growing revenue from commissioned research.

• Who can help with knowledge mobilisation?

• E.g. media outlets, peak bodies, institutional decision-makers, practice leaders.

• Prioritise enablers using: Interest vs Influence.

• Relationships often managed by comms teams and engagement leads.

• For research projects, especially important when —

  • designing projects, to understand their goals

  • piloting KMb (knowledge mobilisation) strategies

  • implementing KMb strategies at project completion.

• For teams and orgs, especially important when —

  • building strategic partnerships for KMb

  • developing, implementing, evaluating, and refining specific KMb strategies.

• Who can help you build relationships with people in the other categories?

• E.g. internal champions, media outlets and platforms.

• Prioritise enablers using: Interest vs Influence.

• Often managed by comms teams and senior leaders.

• Especially important when —

  • you lack direct relationships with key players and need credible introductions

  • you need to quickly establish trust and credibility

  • establishing or deepening strategic relationships (e.g., government, industry, peak bodies)

  • expanding your network into new sectors or policy domains

  • navigating complex or politically sensitive stakeholder landscapes.

Step 1: Context and Objectives

What are our objectives next quarter and beyond? What challenges or opportunities may we face?

Step 2: Prioritise Categories

Which relationship categories matter most for achieving these objectives?

Step 3: Brainstorm & Prioritise Within Categories

Which specific people belong in these priority categories, and how important are they to us right now? Prioritise as you brainstorm using methods like the 31 framework and interest vs influence matrices.

Step 4: Refine Priorities

How do we need to refine our initial prioritisation as we gather more data or the situation changes?

Step 5: Think Holistically

Where do we see potential for synergies, overlaps, or conflicts within our organisation?