Stakeholder & Communication Management

• Lecture 2 covers stakeholder, integration, and communications management.

Background

• The construction/property/facilities industry operates under public scrutiny.
• These industries spend revenue from taxpayers.
• Public projects face open disclosure, criticism, and stakeholder interference.
• The perceived business value of the public should balance the owner's risk and project outcomes.
• Public projects must comply with rules and ordinances by law.
• Public owners often manage funding, sponsor projects, and take active roles in planning and execution.
• Construction activities equal economic developments.

Stakeholders and Management

• Stakeholders include anyone with interest in or impact from a project.
• Stakeholder management involves systematically identifying, analyzing, and planning actions.
• Plans include communication, negotiation, and influence strategies for stakeholders.

Categorization of Construction Stakeholders (Winch, 2010)

• Stakeholders can be internal or external to the construction project.
• Internal stakeholders are on the demand side or supply side.
• Demand side stakeholders include clients, financiers, client's employees, client's customers, client's tenants, and client's suppliers.
• Supply side stakeholders include architects, engineers, principal contractors, trade contractors, and material suppliers.
• External stakeholders include private and public entities.
• Private stakeholders include local residents, local landowners, environmentalists, conservationists, archaeologists, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
• Public stakeholders include regulatory agencies and local, regional, and national governments.

Stakeholder Management Entails

• Identifying and prioritizing stakeholder interests.
• Analyzing stakeholder interests, requirements, and influence levels.
• Developing strategies to effectively manage and communicate with stakeholders.
• Implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of the stakeholder management plan.
• Communicating which stakeholder requirements will or will not be fulfilled.
• Ensuring threats and opportunities are captured and managed proactively as risks.
• Executing, communicating, and managing changes to the stakeholder management plan.
• Gaining commitment from all stakeholders, including the most challenging ones.

Public Sector Projects

• Public sector projects involve:
  • Sponsors (owners)
  • Passive investors
  • Contractors and subcontractors
  • Input suppliers
  • Operations and maintenance operators
  • Lenders (syndicate)
  • Subordinated lenders and preference shareholders
  • International agencies
  • Export credit agencies
  • Customers
  • Workers
  • Facilitators (professionals)
  • The state
  • Other groups

Identify Stakeholders - Introduction & Data Gathering

• Methods include questionnaires, surveys, meetings, presentations, and memos/emails.

Stakeholder Mapping

• Stakeholder Grid and Salience Model may be used.
• Stakeholder Grid is also know as Power/ Interest Grid, Power / Influence Grid and Impact / Influence Grid

Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix

• This matrix assesses stakeholder awareness and engagement levels.
• Engagement levels include unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive, and leading.
• Unaware: Unaware that the project exists
• Resistant: Resistant to the project or any changes (seeks failure)
• Neutral: Indifferent to the success or failure of project
• Supportive: Supports project and seeks success
• Leading: Actively engaged in ensuring project success

Kano Model - Negotiating with the Stakeholders

• The Kano model is used for negotiating with stakeholders, balancing attractive requirements, one-dimensional requirements, and must-be requirements.

Value Management (VM) and Value Engineering (VE)

• VM defines what value means to the organization and the project.
• VE optimizes the conceptual, technical, and operational aspects of project deliverables.
• VM and VE are techniques for achieving value for money during stakeholder management.

VM Workshop

• The workshop/job plan includes:
• Information Phase
• Functional Analysis Phase
• Creative Phase
• Evaluation Phase
• Development Phase
• Presentation Phase

VM vs VE

• VM is a systematic review of project functions focused on achieving best value.
• VE systematically enhances value by eliminating unnecessary costs.
• VM improves function while maintaining/reducing costs.
• VE improves performance, reliability, quality, safety, and maintainability.
• VM draws from social science, emphasizing differing perceptions, in real-world problem.
• VE assumes problems are technical in nature, following scientific method.
• VM is a 3-phase process: Pre-workshop, Workshop, and Post-workshop.
• VE is a 5-phase process: Information gathering, Speculation and brainstorming, Evaluation, Development, and Presentation.

Project Manager's Role

• Project managers coordinate and integrate activities across functional lines.
• Integration activities include developing, executing, and making changes to project plans.

Integration Management

• Resources like capital, materials, equipment, facilities, information and personnel input into integrated processes
• Products, services and profits output from integrated processes

Stakeholder Management Skills

• Leading: Project managers and superintendents should be project leaders who interfaces with executive management.
• Communicating: Consistent effort and plans should address stakeholder needs and understanding.
• Negotiating: Involves money exchange for services and estimating modification costs.
• Problem Solving: Important for construction scheduling sequencing for safe, economically controlled site operations, and applicable in labor disputes.

Communications Interface Management

• Number of communications interfaces on a project is computed using the formula: (n2 – n) / 2 or [n (n – 1)] / 2, where n is the number of people on a project.

Forms of Communications

• Contract documents indicating general and special conditions.
• Project documentation demonstrating contract fulfilment.
• Corporate communication and social responsibility initiatives.
• Requests for information, variation requests, and construction change orders.
• Daily reports on worksite conditions and events (e.g., weather, visitors, work progress).

Information and Communication Technology

• Computer-aided design (CAD) applications.
• Virtual reality applications.
• Project planning and control software.
• Risk management software.
• Building information modeling (BIM).
• Project management information system (PMIS).

Communications, management executing, monitoring and control

• Managing conflict (task and non-task).
• Managing meetings (face-to-face and online).
• Documentation and information distribution (e.g., design clarifications, invoice logs, testing and acceptance).
• Performance and progress (time, cost and scope).
• Safety, health, environmental reports.