APM Midlands branch event, presented by Fran Bodley-Scott on 4 April 2019 in Birmingham

1. Stakeholders:
Engaging with a moving target
APM Midlands Branch
April 4th, 2019
Fran Bodley-Scott
Ian Cribbes
APM Stakeholder Engagement Focus Group

2. Agenda
§ Introductions
§ Time to engage:
– Stakeholders & engagement strategies
– The impact of time: case study discussion
– Anticipating the issues
– Keeping engagement strategies relevant
§ Summing up
§ Q&A, discussion & refreshments

3. 3
Introductions – Fran Bodley-Scott
§ Engineer & marketer
§ Stakeholder engagement &
customer loyalty specialist
§ IT, engineering, education,
services
§ Bringing together tools &
techniques to improve
stakeholder engagement and
relationship management

4. BAE Systems
IMC&T Ltd
CSE Aviation
Oxford

5. Stakeholder Engagement Focus Group
Part of the APM People Specific Interest Group

6. Making stakeholder engagement a higher priority
Debates
Research
Articles
Bibliography

8. Stakeholders – who are they?

9. Stakeholder mapping helps to define relevant
engagement strategies by segmenting and prioritising
Interest
Influence
Low
High
High
Keep informed Manage closely
Inform & monitor Keep satisfied

10. Segment stakeholders by rating their influence and
interest in project decisions and activities
Interest
attention to decisions & actions
Influence
power to affect decisions & actions
Low Low awareness of the
project. Project objectives
perceived as not relevant to
their own goals.
Independent of the decision-
making process, or low involvement
in project activities.
High Close attention paid to
project decisions & actions.
May have to live with the
consequences.
Directly involved in decision
making, or actively participating in
activities. Can exert power over
policies, plans and implementation.

11. Regulators,Auditors,
general public
Lawyers, directors,
HR, IT
Environmental activists,
Competitors, Media
Project team, Sponsor,
Client, Users, Finance
Position on the map is an indicator of stakeholder
relationship with the project
Potential source of
irritation
Key Player
Least important Potential to cause
disruption
Low
High
High
Interest
Influence

12. Position on the map is an indicator of stakeholder
relationship with the project
Potential source of
irritation
Key Player
Least important Potential to cause
disruption
Low
High
High
Interest
Influence
Work together
More face-to-face
communication
Keep satisfied
Inform & consult
Show consideration
Inform & consult
Minimal effort
More written
communication

13. What could possibly go wrong?

14. CEO
Sponsor
Client
representative
Joe public
CFO
Project Team
Board
Local
authority
Time - NOW
Filed & Forgotten
What’s the difference?
What caused the difference?
What is the probable impact?
Sponsor
CEO
Board
Joe public
Local
authority
CFO
6
m
onths
Real-world example: PMO Stakeholder Map

15. What’s caused the difference?
Circumstances change …
... and yours
... theirs
Job Change
Operational
priorities
Network &
connections
Experience
Project life cycle
Stakeholder
roles
Project
environment:
deadlines,
problems

16. Joe public
CFO
Board
Engagement strategies for particular stakeholders
need to adapt to reflect change
Sponsor
Check relationship
quality
Client
Urgent
contact
needed
Project Team
Start again!
Local
authority
& CEO:
More
involved
Increase
contact

17. The moving target.
How can we keep engagement
strategies relevant?

18. Updating the stakeholder map …
Regular
schedule?
Wait & see who
turns up?
Watch what’s happening
to trigger a review?

19. Look for the signs of stress
Be prepared to change strategy
Early intervention can avoid a big cost later
Monitor external factors

20. Monitoring for change: signs of stress
Source of stress Indicators to look for
Job change Responsiveness, Change of gatekeepers, PR
announcements
Business strategy Internal announcements, Responsiveness, Use of
proxies/representatives
Experience: personal &
project related
Satisfaction score, ‘Effort score’,
Relationship quality, Emotion/sentiment
Stakeholders’ contacts
& network
Social media followers, Web site traffic increase,
Nature of questions asked

21. Implications of stress on interest & influence
Circumstances What changes as a result
Job change Interest – project relevance, personal goals
Influence - Direct power, network & contacts,
Interest – time horizons, Project role prioritisation
Business strategy Interest - Project role prioritisation, Relevance and
commitment,
Alignment of objectives
Experience: personal &
project related
Interest & influence: Capabilities, Role satisfaction,
Relationship quality, Perceptions, Expectations,
Confidence in the project
Stakeholders’ contacts
& network
Influence & interest:Awareness of relevance,
Ability to influence through followers,
Proximity to decisions and activities through
contacts

22. Monitoring signs of stress: know your stakeholders
§ Account management techniques – ‘man-marking’
§ Observation - co-location
§ Proactive contact, ask for feedback
§ Measure sentiment
§ Monitor relationship quality (AI)
§ Monitor time between contact, response rates
§ Look for changes in behavior – new gatekeepers, increased
attendance at meetings, falling levels of participation

23. Anticipating change: project environment
Environmental change Potential implications
Project gate: role
evolution
Interest due to impact on operational role,
Expectations of more or less involvement,
Influence through proximity to activities
Interest due to confidence or relationships
Project deadlines:
urgency
Unimportant becomes critical,
Power over outcomes,
Interest due to perceptions of value
Portfolio prioritisation Interest due to changing priorities,
Perceptions of project importance,
Ability to influence through network

24. Stakeholder mapping needs to reflect variable
attributes of interest & influence
Interest
Proximity
to
decisions
Project role
time
horizon
Project role
prioritisation
Job change
Business
strategy
Experience
Stakeholders’
contacts &
network
Project role
evolution
Project
urgency
Influence
Power Network
opportunity
to influence
Alignment
with own
objectives

25. Create a framework for consistent scoring
Interest
Proximity to
decisions
Project role time
horizon
Project role
prioritisation
1 (Low) Not closely involved
eg. clients, senior
executives.
Short term or single
issue eg. subject matter
experts
Future involvement: no
impact on current
operational role
2 (Medium) Detached from the
work, supporting
processes eg.
Purchasing, HR, IT.
Regular input eg.
advisors, administrators,
contractors
Likely to affect short
term role operational
priorities
3 (High) Directly involved in
the work eg. team
members, sponsor.
Long term, seeing the
project through to
completion eg.
governance team
Immediate or ongoing
involvement, requiring
high prioritisation of this
project

26. Create a framework for consistent scoring
Influence
Power to affect
project decisions
Network - influence
on others
Alignment with
operational goals
1 (Low) Low ability to
affect decisions or
attitudes
Independent of project
stakeholders
Short term – project helps
a specific personal
objective
2 (Medium) Some ability to
change decisions
through advice or
opinion
Indirect influence of
stakeholders through
followers or
operational role
Medium term – seeing the
project through to
completion
3 (High) Formal capacity to
make or change
decisions
High connectivity with
key stakeholders
Long term – involved with
realising benefits

27. For more information on stakeholder prioritisation

28. Summing up

29. Effective stakeholder engagement requires
managing expectations - yours!

30. A stakeholder map is the start not the end
§ Stakeholder mapping helps develop effective & efficient
engagement strategies
§ Stakeholder maps are static - the situation ‘on the ground’
will change
§ Be prepared to change your stakeholder map
– Know your stakeholders
– Identify factors that can change their position
– Expand your definitions of influence & interest
– Measure & monitor
– Update the map when there is a change

31. Learn more …
Stakeholder engagement tools
& resources

32. Other stakeholder engagement
resources
–Check out the APM website
–NewSE Bites monthly updates
–Help by getting involved:
§Contribute ideas for NewSE Bites
§Provide case studies
§Help to improve the website
§Engage on social media
§Organise an event around stakeholder engagement
§Follow People SIG
§Tell us what your particular issues are with stakeholders
www.apm.org.uk/stakeholder-engagement

33. SEFG@apm.org.uk
www.linkedin.com/in/franbodleyscott
@APMSEFG
Get in touch …
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iancribbes/

34. Questions & Discussion