High Performance Management Series Stakeholder Engagement

Our High Performance Management series workshops feature advanced learning methods and tools to give participants the most effective and engaging learning experiences.

This Stakeholder Engagement workshop incorporates an advanced management simulation –full immersion experiential learning –that provides realistic scenarios in a complex project context for the participants to deal with.

It has been well documented that the difficulties associated with managing complex projects are very often “human”, as opposed to technical. Numerousresearch reports and project reviews point to reasons such as: lack of senior management support, bad communication between relevant parties, lack of consensus on objectives, etc., as the primary causes of project delay and failure. The ability to maximize “buy-­‐in”, co-­‐operation and approval from key stakeholders is increasingly a critical skill for the 21stCentury Project Manager.

Intended Audiences

This simulation workshop is intended for anyone who needs support for their initiatives from multiple stakeholders:

• Project and programme managers
• Project team members and business analysts
• Business / Account managers
• Anyone seeking to lead, shape and achieve positive outcomes from change (e.g. change managers)

Participant Outcomes

Participants gain a number of insights and skills in:

• How to develop more strategic, pro-­‐active and efficient approaches to engage their stakeholders
• How to develop advanced stakeholder analyses
• How to develop detailed communication strategies,and touse their networks in order to influence stakeholder attitudes and opinions
• How to balance project objectives against the different and conflicting interests of a variety of stakeholders
• How to define and manage for overall project success

Organization Outcomes

• Increase the likelihood of sustaining or improving long term relationships with key stakeholders
• Increase the likelihood of projects achieving the right objectives
• Develop a core change competence within the organization

Course Materials

• Course handouts and exercises
• Stakeholder engagement templates

Workshop Duration:

2 days (14hours)

14 PDUs

Workshop Agenda 

Day 1–Principles, Tools & Techniques

• Stakeholder–Seeing the Big Picture
  -Knowing our stakeholders
  -Managing vs Engaging
• 7 Principles in Stakeholder Engagement
• Identify Stakeholder
• Plan Stakeholder Engagement Strategy
  -Persona & empathy mapping
  -Two-­‐ dimensional stakeholder map
  -Stakeholder register /profile
  -Communications management
• Manage Stakeholder Engagement
• Monitor and Evaluate Stakeholder Engagement
  -Social network analysis

Day 2– Stakeholder Management Simulation

• Introduction and Simulation “Warm-­‐Up”
  -Free-­‐play in simulation environment
• “Play” Stakeholder Management Simulation
• Interim Review–Key Learning Points
• End of Simulation
• Conclusion
  -Lessons learned presentation by groups
  -Relate key learning points from simulation to personal contexts
  -Action plan for projects / individual

Workshop Structure & Teaching Method

This simulation workshop is based around a sophisticated simulation engine that models how a typical group of stakeholders behave during a complex project. The simulation allows participants (in competing teams) to experience, in an accelerated timeframe, the dynamics and pitfalls of managing a multiple stakeholder situation. These experiences are then debriefed and the lessons learned are applied to the participants’ own real-­‐ world situations. This experiential method is crucial for a skill area where there are no “right answers” or simple recipes for success. In the context of a simulated major natural resources project, participants must plan, develop and implement an effective strategy in order to achieve the key objectives of the project, whilst trying to maximize support for it from a diverse group of external and internal stakeholders.

Accelerated experience-­‐based learning

• Reduce the risk of mistakes in real projects
• Help ensure that the RIGHT projects get implemented
• Improve the implementation of organizational changes, strategic initiatives and major projects
• Sustain long-­‐term relationships with key stakeholders

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