Everyone is a Stakeholder
I used to be intimidated by the idea of cycling in a big city, mostly because of safety concerns, but once I became more comfortable and skilled at riding, I relied on sensible navigation techniques and, most importantly, bike lane networks to enhance my overall cycling experience. Bike lanes are spaces designated for use by cyclists to encourage safer riding conditions. While the idea of bike lanes seems simple enough, I learned that implementing them can be a lengthy, complicated, and sometimes controversial process, especially in areas with growing populations where open space is highly coveted. Bike lane proposals compete with other priorities and proposals for real estate, transportation infrastructure (i.e., bus lanes and loading zones), parking space, pedestrian walkways, and now, outdoor dining space, and it can take a significant amount of time before the proposals are even evaluated, let alone approved. Bike lane advocates must convince other entities that bike lanes are a safe, necessary, and valuable addition to the communities in which they will be used, and that bike lanes encourage environmentally-friendly alternatives to driving. Similarly, bike lane dissenters must convince other entities that bike lanes are an ineffective use of space, structurally disruptive, and expensive. How, then, are bike lanes ultimately implemented?
The real answer is way more complicated, but rooted in successful Stakeholder Management strategies. Stakeholder Management is a critical PM concept & integral to ensuring a project’s success. As defined by the PMBOK, Stakeholder Management “includes the processes required to identify the people, groups, or organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project, to analyze stakeholder expectations and their impact on the project, and to develop appropriate management strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decisions and execution.” In other words, Stakeholder Management is about managing relationships with respect to project objectives.
Identifying stakeholders is the first step of Stakeholder Management (I call this step the “Who’s Who and Their Five I’s”), but that process does not end with project initiation. In fact, you may find that you continue to identify additional stakeholders as a project progresses. PM’s often use a technique called the Stakeholder Analysis to gather important information about their stakeholders. Before designing strategies to engage stakeholders, before managing stakeholder engagement, and before measuring the effectiveness of engagement efforts, it is critical to first understand WHO the stakeholders are and what they bring to the table——whether it is opposition to an idea or the power to bring an idea to life. Thinking through each of the “I’s” provides key information about what type of stakeholder you are dealing with and how to communicate and engage with them:
Impact
Who would be impacted by this project?
Who would impact the project’s success or failure?
Influence
How persuasive is this stakeholder?
How much power do they have over the project’s outcome?
Interdependencies
What is the stakeholder’s relationship to this project and to other project stakeholders?
Interest
How invested is this stakeholder in the project?
Involvement
How often does/should this stakeholder participate in the project’s decision-making processes?
Using the bike lane expansion example, let’s try to think beyond the end user (i.e., cyclists) to expand the breadth of potential stakeholders, which introduces other parties who may, indirectly or directly, impact or be impacted by the initiative itself. Some questions we may consider include:
What are the arguments for/against bike lanes?
Where are the bike lanes being proposed?
Who lives in the communities where the bike lanes are being proposed?
What are the current traffic conditions along the proposed routes?
Who designs bike lanes?
What is the process for implementing bike lanes?
What are the costs associated with implementing bike lanes?
Would the implementation of bike lanes alter existing infrastructure?
Would any existing policies impact the implementation of bike lane?
Cyclists, local politicians, residents, advocacy groups, civil engineers, urban planners, drivers, public transportation agencies, small business owners, civic engagement groups——these are all examples of potential stakeholders.
Stakeholder Management plans can be designed using a top-down mapping approach, which looks at the “big picture” first to outline the more granular aspects of relationship-building later. Once a stakeholder network is established, we may revisit the project’s objectives to evaluate each stakeholder’s relationship to them.
While the PM framework offers several tools (i.e., Stakeholder Register, Engagement Matrix) to aid in the stakeholder management process, some of the most valuable techniques it provides are based on human psychology and rely on interpersonal and organizational skills for success. Do you listen actively? Are you able to earn your stakeholders’ trust, even if they oppose your idea? Are you able to communicate data and information in a way that is digestible to your stakeholders? Are you skilled at resolving conflict or overcoming resistance to change? Can you organize meetings and presentations across multiple groups? How are you keeping track of your stakeholders? Using PM tools can help document and synthesize the information you learn about your stakeholders into a more strategic networking and planning process.
Managing diverse stakeholders, such as the politicians and civil engineers in our bike lane expansion example, requires varying degrees of engagement and communication approaches to achieve the desired outcome. For example, civil engineers might be more concerned about how altering roadway infrastructure will impact traffic, while a politician may be more interested in the impact that new transportation policies related to a bike lane expansion will have on their constituents. Understanding each of their priorities and concerns informs us about what we communicate to them (i.e., sharing information about existing bike lane networks in similar communities, or case studies on transportation policy proposal), how we communicate to them (i.e., face-to-face meetings or e-mails), and how often we engage with them (i.e., weekly or quarterly). Each approach is tailored specifically to the stakeholder.
Stakeholder Management is not always as complex as it could be in a bike lane expansion project, but it does require effort and intention, just as with any relationship. The neat thing about PM approaches is that they can be scaled to various types of projects and initiatives (such as organizing a small birthday party or launching a new app), and investing the time to learn about your stakeholders, as well as keeping your stakeholder network organized, can set a strong foundation for more effective communication and engagement outcomes.
In the next post, I will discuss Communication Management. Stay tuned!
-T