CERTIFICATE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT 1

YEAR, 2022

APRIL - SEPTEMBER

MODULE 1- PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT & FINANCE

___________________________________________________________________________

NAME OF FACILITATOR:

B. Muchenje

__________________________________________________________________________

NAME OF STUDENT:

Tanaka. T. Mwineya

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SUBMISSION DATE:

23 September 2022

QUESTION

AS A PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS MANAGER, EXPLAIN THROUGH EXAMPLES THE IMPORTANCE OF

STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT LIFE
AS A PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS MANAGER, EXPLAIN THROUGH EXAMPLES THE IMPORTANCE OF
STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT LIFE CYCLE.

INTRODUCTION:

A project is a sequence of tasks that must be completed to attain a certain outcome, usually, it
is a temporary endeavor with a definite beginning and end. A standard project typically has
four major phases, each phase identified by its agenda of tasks and issues, the phases are the
initiation phase, planning phase, implementation phase, and closure phase. Taken together
these phases represent the path a project takes from its beginning to its end and are generally
referred to as the project life cycle. For every project, either small or large, stakeholders will
always be impacted by the project. Stakeholders can be defined as anyone who can influence
or be influenced by the project and its outcomes. It includes people who will be working on
the project, the ones who will contribute resources, external vendors, and the people who will
use and benefit from the project’s outcome. Throughout the project life cycle, it is important
to involve the identified stakeholders because, it ensures project succession, reduces and
uncovers risk, provides expertise, and grants project acceptance.

ENSURES PROJECT SUCCESS

Firstly, it is important to involve stakeholders throughout the project life cycle because it
ensures project succession. During the first phase of the project life cycle, the initiation
phase, the point where an opportunity or reason for a project is identified and the project is
developed to use that opportunity, this can be a business case with recommended solution
options. Stakeholders can be Internal: who operate entirely within the boundaries of the
organization and external: who can be those who provide inputs to the organization
(equipment, material suppliers), those who compete with the organization (for customers,
resources), and those who have some other interest in organization function (government,
media, etc.) (Mayers, 2005; Carlon and Downs, 2014, 139). Once the stakeholders are
identified and there are involved during the start of the project, they get to share their
expectations, culture, and beliefs. According to Khan, Skibnieski, and Cable [4], globally,
project stakeholders are now considered one of the major critical success factors in every
given complex construction infrastructural project. Stakeholders play various roles in the
project development stages; Mitchell, Agle, and Wood, [22] present a methodology that aims
to demonstrate in what way the attributes of power, legitimacy, and urgency explain the
degree of importance managers accord stakeholders’ requests [23]. For instance, a group of
Pamusasa was conducting their research on prostitution in Epworth but to have conducted
their interviews successfully, they had to involve the ring leader of these women so she could
exercise her power so the others could open up in front of the cameras. So, it is logical to
conclude that for a project to be successful it is important to involve the identified
stakeholders during the first phase of the project life cycle.

REDUCES AND UNCOVERS RISKS

The next phase in the project life cycle is the planning phase. The project planning phase
begins after the initiation or conception phase and it is the stage where the entire project is
planned. The planning process which requires the full participation of stakeholders includes
scope definition, the redefinition of project objectives, and the development of the course of
action required to attain those objectives. According to Williams [6], planning primarily
establishes a set of important directions to inform the project team exactly the course of
action(s), time for the actions to be implemented, required resources for achieving the
project’s deliverables successfully, and finally a schedule for availing the resources. It is
important to involve the stakeholders in the project's planning phase because it reduces and
uncovers risks. Cheng, Shimiao, and Danfeng [7] affirm this point in stating J. Matu et al.
DOI: 10.4236/jbcprt.2020.81006 75 Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research
that in the project planning stage, activities are defined, expected end products are outlined

and particularly the ways activities are to be accomplished are known. When a project
manager engages and involves stakeholders, the more he/she will reduce and uncover risks in
the project. When discussing initial requirements, project needs, and constraints, stakeholders
may bring up issues or concerns about meeting those things. Uncovering risks and then
discussing a plan to mitigate them before issues arise will dramatically increase the success of
the project. Involving knowledgeable stakeholders during this process will help. An example
can be cited along Rotten Row Road opposite Colcom a project was carried out where by
there was the need to limit traffic within the CBD of Harare by having a bus terminal in the
peripheral of town. The stakeholders who were to be impacted by this project were not
involved during the planning phase and the terminal remains empty to this day. If the
stakeholders were involved there would have shared where they preferred to have the
terminal located because where it is located one has to walk a distance to their destinations.
One can be of the notion that the involvement of stakeholders throughout the project life
cycle is of greater importance because it reduces and uncovers risks of the project being a
failure.

PROVIDES EXPERTISE

Furthermore, during the third phase of the project life cycle, the implementation phase, the
project plan is put into motion and performs the work of the project. It is important to involve
stakeholders during this stage because it provides expertise. Progress is continuously
monitored and appropriate adjustments are made and recorded as variances from the original

plan. Stakeholders are a wealth of knowledge about current technologies, historical

information, and industry insight. At most, these team members will have been at the
company or on the project longer than the project manager or project team. It’s important to
involve all the identified key stakeholders when gathering and documenting requirements to
avoid missing major deliverables of the project. Project managers, or others who are in

charge of deliverables, may not be experts on every project. Identified key stakeholders can
provide requirements or constraints based on information from their industry that will be
important to have when understanding project constraints and risks. The stakeholders, in this
case, maybe subcontractors who are qualified specialists who can offer value to the project.
For example, the government of Zimbabwe under the ministry of road development and
infrastructure had their project to dualize the Harare to Beitbridge road for the convenience of
promoting a reliable road network. The ministry had to involve contractors such as Bitumen
World, Fossil Contracting, and Tensor to provide their expertise in implementing their
projects. Hence it can be concluded that the involvement of stakeholders throughout the
project life cycle is of great importance.

GRANTS PROJECT ACCEPTANCE

More so, the importance of stakeholders’ involvement throughout the project lifecycle is that
it grants project acceptance. During the last stage of the project lifecycle the closing phase the
emphasis is on releasing the final deliverables to the customer, handing over project
documentation to the business, terminating supplier contracts, releasing project resources,
and communicating the closure of the project to all stakeholders . The more regularly a project

manager engages and involves stakeholders from the start, the more likely he or she will have
a positive project conclusion. At the end of the project, the project team members should
have already been aware of delivery expectations, risks, and how to mitigate the risks. They
also should have reviewed draft deliverables along the way. This process helps avoid any
surprises at the end of the project. Projects bring a unique change and change brings
opportunities. Unfortunately, these opportunities alone will not convince all stakeholders.
Providing context around the project rationale and answers to the question of why any such
change is being carried out is an effective way of generating project acceptance. The key
stakeholders if they are not involved during the closing phase of the project may develop fear
as to what may be the outcome of the project. Fear often creates defensiveness and insecurity,
anxieties about the changing landscape of a familiar environment. Or the fear of being left
with the short end of the stick after the project is implemented. There the project may face
some resistance and may not be accepted by the stakeholders. According to Thomas Waldorf:
"From the position of the stakeholders, resistance is reasonable, and the only way to protect
their interests!" For instance, in the Beitbridge border post-upgrade, the investor of the
project ZimBorders involved all its identified stakeholders from the beginning to the end of
the project. The terms of the project meant that ZimBorders will be controlling 70% of the
Revenue that was to be generated at the port of entry, which was a change that was brought
with the execution of the project. Zimra was an identified stakeholder who was going to be
impacted by this project development but because Zimra was involved throughout the project
lifecycle at the closure phase of the project they accepted the project because they felt their
expectations from the project were met and it resulted in successful closure of phase 1 of the
project. So, it is logical to be of the notion that stakeholder involvement is important if one
desires that his project gets full acceptance from the impacted persons.

CONCLUSION

Stakeholders are people who get affected by a project or have any kind of interest in it. They
can be internal, external, positive, negative, high power, low power, etc. However, to
complete a project successfully a project has to manage all these identified stakeholders and
fulfill their prospects. If this is not done, it may result to project failure, more risks associated
with implementing the project, an incompetent job may be done, and the project might face
rejection by the targeted audience. In conclusion as a project manager, it is important to a
greater extent to involve stakeholders throughout the project life cycle.
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