Managing Stakeholders in Construction

This article focuses on managing stakeholders in the construction procejct. This article focuses on the different management tools that can be applied to managing the stakeholders and their requirements. The article contains a detailed section of the different management theories regarding stakeholders. These theories include the general definition of stakeholders and the importance of identifying these different stakeholders in a construction project. It also includes the theory about classifying the stakeholders and comparing them internally as a management tool. Different management solutions are presented, such as stakeholder mapping, stakeholder salience and a framework solution. In the section Mapping Stakeholders, the impact/probability-matrix is defined as an important tool in managing the stakeholders. Furthermore the theory behind stakeholder salience is presented as the model that can help the project manager to identify the important stakeholders, to which the project manager should pay close attention. The application of the different tools is presented. The recommendations based on the studies for this article are more digital solution that could combine stakeholder requirements in construction with the building information modelling. The article concludes the importance of identifying, classifying and mapping the different stakeholders in construction projects, since the project otherwise could fail.

Overview

“The project stakeholders are those actors that will incur – or perceive they will incur – a direct benefit or loss as a result of the project.” (Winch, 2010). “Person, group or organization that has an interest in, or can be affected by, or perceived itself to be affected by, any aspect of the project” - (ISO, 2013) It is the project manager’s role to manage the stakeholders in a construction project and ensure that they are satisfied so that the project can be completed without delaying the project or going over budget. Dealing with stakeholders as a project manager means having a role as a facilitator among different constituencies, as well as ensuring the project requirements are fulfilled satisfactory conditions for all parties. Project stakeholder management is the systematic identification analysis and planning of actions to communicate with and impact stakeholders (Aapaoja & Haapasalo, 2014). As a project manager several tools and methods can be used when dealing with a construction projects stakeholders. The tools are applied to avoid uncertainty in the project, as some stakeholders can have a lot influence on the success of the project. Stakeholders’ ads complexity to a project, and it requires planning from the project manager and in developing the processes the project managers’ role is important. The element of complexity regarding the stakeholders often involves a large number of stakeholders with different requirements, and the interference in the project by key stakeholders. It can also mean the opposite that key stakeholders show little interest in the project, which also can be a challenge for the project manager. (Maylor, 2010) Construction is one of the most significant industry contributors on terms of domestic product and employment in Europe. The construction industry is under change as moving from being a supply-driven industry to a demand-driven industry. Instead of focusing on delivering one single product, a building, the focus will be on providing a variety of services to the built environment. The industry focuses more on delivering extra values such as sustainability, productivity, comfort and many more. This has entailed that the complexity and uncertainty of the project has increased. A construction project often has many stakeholders compared to other industries. The consequences for a requirement failure from a stakeholder in a construction project are also often more severe than in other industries. It is therefor highly relevant to understand how project manager manage stakeholders in construction projects. </references>