CASE STUDY: The simple truth was that Marty didn't like that Marty people.

Adapted from Hartley, S$.(2020)$: Project management: A practical guide to planning and managing

projects, $4$th Edition.

The simple truth was that Marty didn't like that Marty people. Okay, so he was an introvert$$not that that

should have had any direct bearing on how he engaged his project stakeholders. After all, he could

socialise, knew lots of people and generally felt comfortable contributing to the meetings he attended.

With limited frontline experience, Marty was nominated for this project given his policy credentials and

attention to detail. And as head of his state government policy unit, Marty certainly got things done. Of

course with a stable team of only three, there was very little dissent as everyone seemed to get along

just fine, which certainly created a productive working environment.

As Marty prepared for his first stakeholder meeting, he knew exactly how he would engage with, manage

and control this cohort of project stakeholders. Not only did he need to work with the government

ministers, advisers, the governance committee, project board, different department heads across the

state and industry bodies; he would also be dealing with senior managers, consultants, SMEs and junior

staff from different departments$$in short, a dynamic mix of roles, egos, agendas and influence. Over

dinner the previous night, his partner Ellen had tried to help by encouraging Marty to map out who this

diverse pool of people were$$to which Marty had tersely replied, 'I need to know a whole lot more than

just who they are.$\text{'}$ Realising that Marty had missed the point, Ellen politely suggested he try the following:

$$ Record who they are.

$$ Understand what role they play.

$$ Confirm their level of involvement.

$$ Identify the information they need.

$$ Develop a targeted communication strategy.

Once Marty came to realise how his fear of engaging with these 'powerful' people could be broken down

into just a couple of steps, he felt more at ease. All he needed was a couple of columns on a page where

he could record the points Ellen had suggested. A quick Google search produced myriad designs for

stakeholder management, communications management and stakeholder engagement.

$...$ much of the information would be gathered progressively throughout the project, given that some

stakeholders came and went as the project progressed.

With a little 'poetic licence', Marty created his own design and went to work filling in the blank columns

and rows with what he knew about each stakeholder. It wasn't long before Marty knew that he actually

didn't know a whole lot about the people at all.

Sure, he could make something up or try to guess the information but he knew he was only kidding

himself if he did that. But if he didn't have the necessary information to profile these people, what would

he do$?$ As he discussed this dilemma with Ellen, Marty realised that much of the information could be

gathered by reviewing past project documentation $($project plans, communication plans, risk registers,

lessons learned logs$)$ with which these stakeholders had been involved, accessing their position

descriptions, direct interviews, informal conversations and$/$or as part of the initial and ongoing project

meetings he had scheduled. After all, much of the information would be gathered progressively

throughout the project, given that some stakeholders came and went as the project progressed.

QUESTION $1\mathrm{.}1(25$ Marks$)$

Project stakeholder management includes the processes required to identify the people, groups, or

organisations that could impact or could be impacted by the project. Discuss in detail project stakeholder

management.

QUESTION $1\mathrm{.}2(25$ Marks$)$

Project communication is the process of communicating information from the person providing it to the

person receiving it through vocal and nonverbal way. Analyse the project communication plan.

NB: Include referencing using the Harvard style. And include the introduction,body and conclusion to the answers.