1

Stakeholder Management5 Aces Consulting

Stakeholder Management Research and Insight Project:

An Analysis of Current and Best Practices

April 1, 2014

2

Presentation Agenda

• Welcome• Team Introduction• Research Process• Demographics• Topic Analysis• Conclusion, Lessons Learned• Q & A

3

James Medeiros

Kunal Shah

Miguel Garcia

Nigel Perreira

Teresa Shih

4

Project Team• James Medeiros - Health Quality Ontario. Likes making beer, theatre, pc building and

vintage video games. Fun Fact; He once sang at the Pepsi Centre (Denver, CO). Congratulations! James is getting married in Cuba, April 7th….

• Kunal Shah - Rogers Communications, Customer Care Rep. Life goal is to be an Entrepreneur, start his own pre-school and a Restaurant. He LOVES to cook and drink...avoids the other way! Huge soccer and basketball fan. Favourite club - Barcelona. Played state level basketball. 

• Miguel Garcia – Extrudex Aluminum, IT Manager. Loves technology and is crazy about football (or soccer as they call it in North America) and you cannot separate football and beer! Congratulations, Miguel’s project to virtualize the server infrastructure at Extrudex has just been set in motion.

• Nigel Perreira – Cassels Brock & Blackwell and he has 200 bosses (lawyers)! Enjoys drinking beer. Huge basketball fan, Lakers and Raptors. Congratulations, Nigel’s Son just turned 20 years old. Move out date in sight….

• Teresa Shih – Freelance Programmer Extraordinaire. Planning on taking GMAT soon for future MBA goal. Avid, Semi-Professional Gamer and blogger. Likes trying new craft beers and local wines. Congratulations, Teresa recently engaged to be married to her internet love!

5

Background and Topic Information• 5 Aces Consulting is intrigued by the PMI’s move to make

Stakeholder Management a separate knowledge area.

• Collectively the 5 Aces team feel that this is one of the most important areas of Project Management as the focus is on the people that are part of any project and its’ success.

• 5 Aces Consulting feel highly motivated to further understanding of this topic by soliciting valuable feedback and real world examples from our colleagues and friends.

6

Formative Research

• Narrow and describe the target interviewees.

• Make decisions with an audience-focused mindset.

• Get useful information from the right people - Focus on the interviewee pool.

• To determine if we focus on in-depth interviews/intercept interviews.

• Identify the factors which influence the interviewee’s take on Stakeholder management.

7

Research Methodology and Process• Identify the area of research/ Purpose of Research/Select the

topic of Research - Stakeholder management Analysis.

• Formulate research objectives/Background and Review of Existing Literature.

• Research Methodology: What is Being Studied, and How (Define the population)?

• Data Collection

• Findings (Results and Analysis of Data)

• Present Findings/Conclusions

• Appendices

8

5 Aces Tools and Techniques• Project Charter – Well defined purpose, goals and deliverables

• Plan the Project – brainstorming, schedules, PM rotation, set deadlines, delegate project tasks

• Communicate & Collaborate – Regular progress updates via face to face meetings, email, use of Google Drive to share information

• Manage, motivate, inform, encourage and enable the team

• Check, measure and review project performance; adjust project plans; inform project team

• Complete project; review and report on project; give praise and thanks to the project team

9

Goals & Objectives

• This presentation will elucidate the universal importance of stakeholder management across all sectors, roles and projects.

• It will also show that project management tools (including stakeholder registers) and teamwork/collaboration improves stakeholder orientations and outcomes.

10

Respondent Demographics

• Number of Respondents - 25• Age – Representative range across age groups• Gender – 9 Female, 16 Male• Education – 80% University educated• PMI Credentials - 3 CAPM, 4 PMP• Organization size – 80% Less than 1000 employees• Organization structure – 50% Functional

11

Position/Title

12

Years of PM Experience

13

Work Industry/Sector

14

Data Analysis Themes

1. Importance of Stakeholder Management2. Stakeholder Management Tools and Best Practices3. Teamwork, Collaboration and Relationship Building

15

Importance of Stakeholder Management

16

Importance of Stakeholder Management

17

Interpretation and Anecdotes

• The research data shows overwhelmingly that respondents understand the importance of stakeholder management throughout the life of projects.

• “Stakeholder management is key to project success and requires constant attention during the course of the project.” - Boro Lukajic, Consultant

18

Stakeholder Management Tools and Best Practices

19

Interpretation and Anecdotes

• The survey respondents identified the following tools and techniques to influence stakeholders:

• Offering support

• Communication, including updates and status reports

• Sharing compelling evidence

• Identifying common interests

• Explain benefits

• Active involvement of stakeholders

• Appeal to stakeholder emotions

20

Interpretation and AnecdotesAppeal to Stakeholder Emotions

"I was involved in leading a group of stakeholders from various sectors in Long-Term Care to create a reporting system/database for 'catastrophic events.' Many meetings were wasted bickering and even name-calling between participants until I decided to take a different approach: I dumped a stack of sheets on the table and read aloud the worst of the worst preventable catastrophes that resulted in death. After some attendees were moved to tears, or had to leave, I asked "have I shared enough? This is what we're here to improve. Let's set aside our partisan differences and see to the task at hand." From then on, everyone was much more collaborative - the difference was like night and day." - Chris Currie, Project Manager

21

Teamwork, Collaboration and Relationship Building

22

Interpretation and Anecdotes

• Leadership, teamwork and collaboration improves orientations and outcomes. This applies to external and internal stakeholders, including project sponsors.

• “Social interactions outside of the office are important, including lunch meetings.”

• “Conduct brainstorming sessions, ask for feedback and opinions to provide a sense of inclusion.”

• “Frequent, open and honest communication is critical to ensuring project transparency.”

23

Interpretation and Anecdotes

“I was called to consult on a project to build a tunnel for a 1 billion dollar hydro project. A contractor was selected to provide a proposal and I was asked to validate their design. Using a technique we refer to as "value engineering" I made a recommendation based on the properties of the soil to change the grading and therefore the length of the tunnel. I was able to influence the orientation of some stakeholders from negative to positive by making recommendations to the design that represented cost savings of 140 million dollars.” – Boro Lukajic

24

Conclusion

• Regardless of industry, experience and project manager credentials, stakeholder management is considered a very important and continuous process throughout the project life cycle.

• Stakeholder management tools in conjunction with strong leadership and collaboration improves stakeholder orientations and outcomes.

25

Project Team - Lessons Learned

• Each interviewee was a stakeholder in the project. They were all highly influential to the success of the project and we saw the importance of being mindful and respectful of their time and their input.

• An important factor to the success of the project was the use of available technologies such as Skype which allowed us to conduct interviews with individuals who were not able to meet in person. Also, an online survey tool was used to collect the data and was further utilized to analyze the data and prepare the graphs for this presentation.

• Working in a team with rotating responsibilities gave us the opportunity to experience a collaborative approach to project management. We gave each team member the opportunity to wear the Project Manager hat and we saw the advantages and disadvantages of different leadership styles.

26

Project Team - Lessons Learned

• Working on this project as a team gave us an opportunity to know each other a little better. We engaged in a team building exercise and we were able to find some common interests. We are considering starting a beer club at the end of this course.

27

28

Closing Remarks

• Thanks to the class for their attention.

• Very special thanks to Professor Haig for his support and guidance.

• Good luck on the final exam and your careers as future Project Managers.