1st Edition
How to Manage Project Stakeholders Effective Strategies for Successful Large Infrastructure Projects
This book outlines how to identify stakeholders, analyse theirs stakes, and plan and implement an engagement strategy to secure relevant input and dependable buy-in to assure the successful delivery of Large Infrastructure Projects. It also addresses common stakeholder management "inadequacies" and is supplemented with four extended practical exercises to help readers apply the principles to their own large, complex projects and ensure project success.
The project management industry, particularly the Large Infrastructure Projects domain, has only recently awakened to the reality that failed Stakeholder Management probably leads to a failure of the project altogether. Due to the complexities involved, most traditional approaches to managing stakeholders have developed serious difficulties in dealing with large and complex projects. This book presents a Systems Thinking approach to managing stakeholders that accommodates these complexities and seeks to crystallise the notion that "managing projects means managing stakeholders", while also introducing an ethical perspective (i.e., stakeholders have legitimate rights regardless of their power to influence the project). This shifts the paradigm from "Management of Stakeholders" to "Management for Stakeholders".
It is essential reading for all those involved with managing large projects including project managers, sponsors, and executives. It will also be useful for advanced students of project management and systems engineering looking to understand and expand their knowledge of infrastructure projects and Systems Engineering.
List of Figures,
List of Tables,
About the Author,
About this book,
Foreword,
Acronyms,
1. Introduction,
2. Failed Stakeholder Management,
3. Stakeholder Management and Project Complexity,
4. Four-Step Approach to Stakeholder Management,
5. Stakeholder Identification,
6. Stakeholder Analysis,
7. Stakeholder Strategy and Plan,
8. Stakeholder Engagement,
9. Four-Step Approach and Generic PM Processes,
10. Advanced Topics in Stakeholder Management,
11. Conclusions,
12. Practical Applications,
12.1 Practical Exercise No 1,
12.2 Practical Exercise No 2,
12.3 Practical Exercise No 3,
12.4 Practical Exercise No 4,
Personal Reflections,
References,
Index
Biography
Pascal Bohulu Mabelo has more than 20 years of professional experience and possesses a wide range of technical and managerial skills pertaining to projects. He has previously served as the national chairman of Project Management South Africa (PMSA) and is a regular speaker at project management conferences and seminars. He promotes the application of Systems Engineering concepts to unravel complexity in Large Infrastructure Projects.
"Given the pressing time constraints on large projects, stakeholder management tends to be overlooked and is often perceived to be a wasteful and/or unnecessary exercise ... Yet it has been proven over my career life that the best way to delay a project is in trying to fast-track it by ignoring essential delivery processes such as stakeholder management. This book is definitely a must-read for anyone with keen interest in good PM practices." – Kana Mutombo (PhD Maritime), Principal Engineer at Transnet National Ports Authority
"Whether you are a novice, a seasoned project manager, or even a student, I have no doubt that the content covered here will meet your needs for any project in dealing with the often volatile stakeholder management dynamics … With my 15+ years of mentoring project managers in Central and Southern Africa, I highly recommend this publication." – Peter Banda (PhD Fellow/NUST, MSc, APM), CEO of Project Management Zimbabwe
