Abstract
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide – Fourth Edition) states: “Stakeholders are persons or organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by the performance or completion of the project!” (PMI, 2008, p. 442)
Also, stakeholder engagement, stakeholder management, and stakeholder decision-making, are continuous headaches for all project management team members. Most projects fail because of bad stakeholder management.
According to KPMG (2005, p 21), “unclear/change of scope requirements” is the number one reason for project failures. This means that some ingredients are missing from the recipe of stakeholder's management.
From the other riverside, the science of “structured dialogic design (SDD)” found its foundations in the 1970s, and is a branch of systems sciences with applications in social sciences. SDD is a deeply reasoned, rigorously validated methodology for dialogic design, which integrates knowledge from mixed participants in strategic design settings. SDD is based on: four axioms, six consensus building methods, seven language patterns, four stages of interactive inquiry, and seven laws of dialogue.
SDD encourages innovation and is very effective in resolving multiple conflicts of purpose and values and in generating consensus on organizational, inter-organizational strategy and projects.
Also, SDD efficiently enables democratic redesign of socio-organizational systems and practices based on a dialogic process that consolidates power relationships into consensus agreement for effective cross-functional collaborative action.
So, using SDD as a systemic tool, we can better manage project stakeholders. More specifically we can advance stakeholder engagement, stakeholder management, and stakeholder decision-making for improving project delivery results.
Background
Project success and failure is always related to stakeholders. Their requirements, perceptions, and expectations in the project context can make a project successful or failed. The PMBOK® Guide states that “Stakeholders are persons or organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by the performance or completion of the project!”
So, project stakeholder's management includes the processes required to identify all people or organizations impacted by the project, analyze stakeholder expectations and impact on the project and develop appropriate management strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decisions and execution. Stakeholder's management also is focusing on the continuous dialog with stakeholders to meet their needs and expectations, address issues as they occur, and foster appropriate stakeholder engagement in project decisions and activities.
Every project, small or large, complex or simple, linear or non-linear, will have stakeholders who are impacted positively or negatively by the project outcome. While some stakeholders may have a limited ability to influence the project, others may have the power to directly or indirectly influence the project positively or negatively. The ability of the project manager to identify and manage these stakeholders in an appropriate manner can mean the difference between success and failure.
From the other side, the history of structured dialogic design (SDD) finds its foundations in the 1970s. It emerged as an application of systems sciences in social contexts, out of cybernetics, and the science of complex systems, especially in the sphere of social systems. SDD engages stakeholders in participative democracy through disciplined dialogue.
The science of SDD is a deeply reasoned, rigorously validated methodology for dialogic design, which integrates knowledge from mixed participants in strategic design settings. It is especially effective in resolving multiple conflicts of purpose and values and in generating consensus on organizational, inter-organizational strategy, and projects. It encourages innovation and prevents “spreadthink” and “groupthink” (Warfield, 1995). SDD efficiently enables democratic redesign of socio-organizational systems and practices based upon a dialogic process that consolidates power relationships into consensus agreement for effective cross-functional collaborative action.
The Structure of Structured Dialogic Design (SDD)
The SDD method is based on: four axioms, six consensus building methods, seven language patterns, four stages of interactive inquiry, and seven laws of dialogue.
The Four Axioms of SDD
(1) The Axiom of Complexity
We live in a world that is very complex. Most observers are confused. Systems design issues are strongly interconnected. Projects live in a bigger ecosystem. The Axiom of Complexity is attributed to John N. Warfield.
(2) The Axiom of Parsimony
Human cognition and attention is limited. Team members are usually overloaded in design meetings, which in turn lead to bad designs. The Axiom of Parsimony is attributed to Herbert Simon.
(3) The Axiom of Saliency
The field of options in designing social systems is multidimensional. Salient synthesis is difficult. The Axiom of Saliency is attributed to Kenneth E. Boulding.
(4) The Axiom of Engagement
Disregarding the participation of the stakeholders in designing social systems is unethical. The Axiom of Engagement is attributed to Hasan Ozbekhan.
The Seven Laws of SDD
The application of the science of SDD requires Facilitators of Dialogue to strictly comply with the following seven laws.
(1) Law of Requisite Variety
The Law of Requisite Variety demands that an appreciation of the diversity of perspectives and stakeholders is essential in managing complex situations. All stakeholders are welcomed to participate. The Law of Requisite Variety is attributed to William Ross Ashby.
(2) Law of Requisite Parsimony
The Law of Requisite Parsimony states that structured dialogue is needed to avoid the cognitive overload of stakeholders. The Law of Requisite Parsimony is attributed to George Miller and John Warfield.
(3) Law of Requisite Saliency
The Law of Requisite Saliency states that the relative saliency of observations can only be understood through comparisons within an organized set of observations. The Law of Requisite Saliency is attributed to Kenneth Boulding.
(4) Law of Requisite Meaning
The Law of Requisite Meaning states that meaning and wisdom are produced in a dialogue only when observers search for relationships of similarity, priority, influence, etc., within a set of observations. The Law of Requisite Meaning is attributed to Charles Sanders Peirce.
(5) Law of Requisite Autonomy and Authenticity
The Law of Requisite Autonomy and Authenticity in distinction-making demands that during the dialogue it is necessary to protect the autonomy and authenticity of each observer in drawing distinctions. The Law of Requisite Autonomy and Authenticity is attributed to Ioanna Tsivacou.
(6) Law of Requisite Evolution of Observations
The Law of Requisite Evolution of Observations states that learning occurs in a dialogue as the observers search for influence relationships among members of a set of observations. The Law of Requisite Evolution of Observations is attributed to Kevin Dye.
(7) Law Requisite Action
The Law Requisite Action predicts that any action plans to reform complex social systems designed without the authentic and true engagement of those whose futures will be influenced by the change are bound to fail. The Law of Requisite Variety is attributed to Yiannis Laouris.
The Six Methods to Build Consensus in SDD
Nominal Group Technique
Interpretive Structural Modelling
DELPHI Technique
Options Field
Options Profile
Trade-off Analysis
The Seven Patterns of Graphic Language in SDD
Elemental Observation
Problematique
Influence Tree
Options Field
Options Profile/Scenario
Superposition Pattern
Action Plan Pattern
The Four Stages of Interactive Inquiry in SDD
Definition or Anticipation
Design of Alternatives
Decision
Action Planning
What Do We Mean by Dialogue?
In project management, when the project management team deals with stakeholders, the team must talk to stakeholders. Stakeholders simply cannot be ignored. “If we don't find stakeholders, stakeholders will find us!”
So, we must organize a dialogue. But what we mean by “dialogue”? Generally we mean the following:
Facilitated, structured verbal examination of problem area
Mixed-location, both collocated AND virtual
Committed participants seeking understanding and action
Stakeholders have diverging agendas and power differences
Cannot be easily solved by management decision
Complex problem or domain, unresolved by usual means
Risk or complexity requires discipline and structure
Dialogue is generative, constructs a shared outcome
Balances power and generates agreement based on quality
Dialogue is essentially democratic
Purposes and Uses of Structured Dialogue
Generally the purpose and use of structured dialogue is to:
Resolve issues among diverse stakeholders that affect project objectives
Democratic large-group decision-making with involved stakeholders
Policy design and decision-making
Complex problem solving
Strategic planning and effective priority setting
Portfolio and business asset allocation
Problem identification and root cause analysis
Of course, the main use of structured dialogue in project management is to have stakeholder agreement on major or minor project issues.
How Do We Conduct Dialogic Design to Engage Stakeholders
After the identification of stakeholders and stakeholder engagement, stakeholder decision making is a must follow process. Of course, engagement of stakeholders is the primary responsibility of the sponsor. But how the engaged stakeholders take decisions using SDD?
The model for structured dialogue is:
1) Define scope of inquiry, scope of participation
2) Divergent dialogue:
a. Selection of triggering question for involved stakeholders
b. Open-ended responses (NGT method)
c. Clarification of factors
3) Convergent dialogue:
a. Affinity clustering of responses
b. Voting paired relationships (ISM method)
4) Continue convergence toward design
5) Continue with action planning dialogue
The dialogue begins with the triggering question. All stakeholders must be involved in the process. The facilitator is the key person during the dialogue in order to get all the ideas about a specific issue and drive stakeholders to consensus.
Summary
Stakeholders are an integral part of project management. The earlier we locate stakeholders in any project, the easier to get their requirements and their expectations. But in many cases we have conflicting requirements from different stakeholders. How do we tackle these issues? Can we bring stakeholders to a consensus?
Structured dialogic design (SDD) is a deeply reasoned, rigorously validated methodology for dialogic design, which integrates knowledge from mixed participants in strategic design settings about projects.
So, using SDD as a systemic tool we can better manage project stakeholders. More specifically, we can advance stakeholder engagement, stakeholder management, and stakeholder decision-making for improving project delivery results.