Topic: Stakeholder engagement

By Jonathan Norman
June 13th 2018

Project closure and operational readiness Short Report

In the late 1980 Jan Carlzon transformed SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) into the best in Europe from what had been “the sickest of sick men”. He said, “the first 15 second encounter between a passenger and the airline sets the tone of the entire company in the mind of the customer, it is the ‘moment of truth’”.

Similarly, in whatever industry a major project is undertaken, however well the project is delivered, irrespective of time and budget savings, there will come the ‘moment of truth’ when the project becomes part of everyday life and almost instantaneously will become a success or labelled as a failure. The opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow is a classic example – the well-executed project was overshadowed by problems with baggage handling. So much so that the BBC asked: What went wrong at Heathrow’s T5?

Success of transition will be dependent on numerous factors including design, construction, testing and commissioning, recruitment, training and planning. Key questions must be answered to achieve a smooth transition:

• How soon should the planning for the transition from project to operation/daily use start?
• Who should be involved?
• How does the risk profile change during that period?
• How do we manage stakeholders, media and end users?
• How do we obtain safety assurance?
• What lessons can be learned from past projects and the people who delivered them?

This seminar will examine the critical success factors, and some of the less obvious, for Project Managers, Project Directors, Financiers, Project Sponsors, Politicians and many other key stakeholders.

There is no charge to attend this event.

By Jonathan Norman
July 19th 2017

Global trends in client models and industry insights Highlight Report

PwC and the Major Projects Association are proud to host this event that will bring together leaders from across the North-West. This relaxed forum will seek to explore future industry insights and global trends in client models over drinks and dinner. Leading the dinner will be Lee Hillyard, PwC Capital Project Services Director and Professor Denise Bower, Executive Director, Major Projects Association.

The Major Projects Association is currently investigating how client models impact on the delivery of major projects and programmes and are seeking to identify emerging global trends in this area. To compliment this, PwC will introduce the initial results of their new piece of industry thought leadership which, over the coming months, is bringing together future industry insights from leaders across the country.

We would be delighted if you could join us in Birmingham on 19th July to contribute to and gain insight from these exciting initiatives.

By Jonathan Norman
September 7th 2016

Delivering high-performing assets breakfast meeting Highlight Report

Asset owners are increasingly concerned with realising the value across the lifecycle of their assets. It is not therefore just about effective delivery of these assets but also the value they will create. Recent thinking has extended this principle to consider how the wider value might be captured. Understanding the trade-offs that constrained capital budgets present, in an environment with rapidly changing user needs requires a new way to look at how we manage and deliver high performing assets. This breakfast meeting, chaired by Michèle Dix, Managing Director of Crossrail 2, with an introduction by Ross Agnew, Head of Asset Management Advisory at KPMG LLP, will explore how major projects should focus on the value that they create in order to drive effective decision making.

If you are interested in attending this breakfast meeting please contact Maggie Latham 01865 338373

By Jonathan Norman
January 20th 2016

Engaging with stakeholders on the benefits of major projects Highlight Report

Major projects are often used to begin their public lives with a set of justifications, cost-benefit ratios and proposals for impact mitigation. Promoters of major projects would shy away from actually promoting the positive impacts and benefits that a major project could deliver. Whether it’s local benefits – be it improved connectivity, community investment funds or better services – or wider socio economic benefits, any communication about this can often buried amongst the environmental and technical assessments.

The tide is turning, however, and more major project promoters are leading their communications with the promotion of project benefits. Promoters are beginning to better understand the importance of public acceptability. We know Crossrail delivers jobs, improved connectivity across East and West London, apprenticeships, training academies, as well as a raft of community initiatives along the construction route. The Thames Tideway Tunnel will not just be a very big sewage pipe; it aims to reconnect London with its most valuable historical asset, the River Thames. Promoting the benefits can improve how the public, and other stakeholders, perceive a major project.

So how can more project promoters better communicate the benefits of major projects to the wider world?

This MPA evening debate will hear examples from across the industry about how, when and why benefits of major projects should be promoted. With panelists from Transport for London, Copper Consultancy and an international organisation, discussions will consider:

• What are the most effective methods of communicating project benefits?
• What are the implications of communicating project benefits?
• Which organisations, sectors and countries do it best?
• Does better communication of project benefits equal increased public acceptability?

By Jonathan Norman
May 17th 2012

The Digital World and Major Projects – what will be different? Full Report

Increasing capabilities and capacities of digital technologies could have a significant impact on the way in which major projects are planned and executed in future. As computing power increases and the costs of hardware decrease what benefits can be realised in our sectors?
One serious consequence of the increasing capability to record and monitor events is the consequent potential overload of incoming data sets. How can this be handled?

A further complication is the growing number of media streams by which we gather, process and share information and views. We have seen the increasing importance of social media and the impact it can have in society. Many large projects are now either subject to its external use or are using it as means of communicating with stakeholders.

Government and many clients such as Crossrail, are very keen for BIM (Building Information Modelling) to be adopted and used to both improve the manner in which new infrastructure is designed and built, and also importantly to provide added value information to improve subsequent operation and maintenance. We shall hear from the person who led the Government initiative on BIM and from a leading designer who is currently using the technique.
In order to better appreciate the potential future technologies, we shall hear a global perspective from a specialist in the future use of digital technologies and use of datasets. We also have a leading player who will challenge us about the potential impacts or even use of social media. How can we select, analyse and maximise the benefits of new streaming sites?

As business models migrate from simple products to whole life service provision (sometimes referred to as servitization) major project initiation and delivery increasingly focusses on long term in-service use and dynamic temporal outcomes.

How will new technologies cause us to work differently in the world of major projects? Come and find out.

By Jonathan Norman
November 19th 2009

Managing Government as the Client Full Report

Given the situation in which central government departments operate, what are the peculiarities which make working for government different from commercial clients?

This full day seminar will hear from government clients on what they want from suppliers, and from senior executives well used to helping governments achieve their desired outcomes.

The environment in which Government acts is peculiar in that it spends public money and therefore has to be transparent, achieve value for money and be accountable. The leaders of major projects therefore face different challenges to those in the private sector and have to negotiate particular processes and approvals procedures.
Gateway Reviews, Project Steering Boards, Customers 1 and 2 (and sometimes 3), all provide opportunities for internal scrutiny which are sometimes not obvious or visible to contractors and supply chains. Further, many public sector projects are often a ‘one off’ procurement for the department or agency, and sometimes the project is led by persons not broadly experienced in procurement or delivery. Added to this, personnel can frequently change due to the project post being time limited or for career progression reasons. These and other issues present the background to the topic of this important seminar.

Vice Admiral Tim Laurence as head of a major government client, will chair this event and he will ensure that all both sides of this debate will be fully explored. We will hear a view from across European governments on the lessons that have been learned on how to better engage and be influenced by suppliers. AECOM will present their experiences in guiding governmental clients in the particular environment of the Middle East. These international lessons will be complemented by the very latest output of best practice for clients from the Institution of Civil Engineers who have spent the summer developing this guide with input from MPA members. We shall hear from the Highways Agency on what they are looking for in the way they will select and appoint consultants and contractors. Finally QinetiQ, with their unique operational position, will provide valuable insights on the tricks and tools to be used in interacting with and guiding government clients.

Delegates should gain much from this seminar to help them at senior executive level to modify behaviours to improve relationships, whether government client or supplier.

By Jonathan Norman
November 12th 2008

The Investor, the Board and Major Projects Full Report

Often the team members charged with procuring and delivering a proposed project are not clear on the scheme’s objectives and may be remote from the client body and/or the investors.

Major projects by their nature are complex, long in gestation and subject to scope change and expansion. Often they are also subject to political interest and external influences. With large and sophisticated management and corporate structures governing the oversight and outcomes, it is a major challenge for the project team, and the Project Manager in particular, to be aware of and understand the investor and Project Board requirements.

All sectors engaged in major projects should be interested in how investors and Project Boards direct and control outcomes. Communication of objectives to the project team and reporting back on progress are vital components in achieving success. How can these relationships be best managed for the benefits of all three parties?

Within the public sector, client teams themselves may not receive clear and consistent direction, specially appointed project management teams often do not gain direct access to key decision makers, and delivery teams may never communicate with the client body.

Who should take control of this process? What happens when investors and the client or Project Board seem to have competing objectives? Should special purpose delivery companies be allowed to operate at arms length from their investment arms?

Our Chairman for this seminar has significant experience of corporate governance of major projects and the speakers will provide valuable lessons from research and studies into past mistakes, as well as providing important perspectives and advice for future project teams tasked with achieving clear objectives for the project and realising the business case and operational requirements and return on investments.

By Jonathan Norman
June 20th 2006

The London Games – Managing Delivery Full Report

Delivery of the facilities for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is the largest and most complex project undertaken in the UK for a very long time. It involves not only the design, commissioning and installation of infrastructure, transport and sports facilities, but also systems for information, data handling, communications and security.

The seminar looked at the arrangements being made for managing the whole Olympics project: every important aspect of managing a major project is present, and the eyes of the world will be watching to see if the UK can deliver a successful Games, on time and within budget.

By Jonathan Norman
May 17th 2005

Stakeholder Management Full Report

The aim of the seminar was to consider the early identification of stakeholder management issues in the development of overall strategies, to receive updates on best practice and to learn from examples of recent projects that were difficult, but well handled. In the early part of the 20th century, when capital was the only resource that was considered, the only stakeholders were stockholders. That attitude
has clearly changed and evolved. Project leaders have now to be experts, not only in technology and finance, but in political science, managing relationships, social psychology, communication and sales. In general, our understanding of physical systems is still more advanced than our understanding of social systems.

The change of ethos in stakeholder management can be summed up through the Shell example when the disposal of the oil rig Brent Spar persuaded them to move from the maxim ‘decide, announce and defend’ to ‘dialogue, decide and deliver.’ That incident was a catalyst for change in the way organisations approached their stakeholders

By Jonathan Norman
May 19th 1999

So Where Do We Stand Now? Full Report

This seminar explored the importance of knowing where a project stands; what to measure and how to measure it.