Examining challenges of project stakeholder management on government projects in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

c projects. Project managers must have the knowledge and skill to detect potential challenges early and use the appropriate or tailored strategies to address these challenges in a timely manner in order maximize the potential positive impact and in effect minimize the potential detrimental impact that these challenges can have on the outcome of projects. Interactions with the stakeholder community must be frequent throughout the project to reduce or eliminate risk and build trust which in effect leads to cost reduction and increased success for projects. The objective of the study is to identify and analyse the challenges project managers face with stakeholder management on Government projects or public private partnership (PPP) projects across the country using Ashanti Region as a case study. The sample for this study was selected through the use of purposive sampling. A sample size of 35 was selected for the study comprising 20 Project Managers, 10 frontline project staff and 5 key resource persons. Through the use of a structured questionnaire, secondary and primary data sources were collected from the field. Quantitative data were collected from the primary and secondary data sources. Stakeholders on Government projects may be within or outside the performing organization may include but not limited to: the Project manager, Project Team, Functional management, Sponsors, Customers/ End users, Government and its agencies (regulators and service providers), Traditional councils, Creditors/ Financial Organizations, Suppliers, Unions, Lobby groups, the Community and the Media. The work looked at the challenges faced by project managers in stakeholder management, theiv effects of the challenges on the projects, strategies for improving stakeholder management on government projects and the findings and discussions. Challenges identified in the study included narrow consideration of stakeholders, high cost of stakeholder management, spontaneous and casual stakeholder management practices, lack of appropriate stakeholder planning mechanisms, communication difficulties/ineffective communication, unidentified stakeholders and limited/poor understanding of issues. The study concluded that there are several challenges faced by project managers on government projects when managing stakeholders, which are mainly limited/poor understanding of issues and communication difficulties/ineffective communication. The following recommendations were made; identified stakeholders on projects should be educated extensively about the projects through the use of clear communication (feedback should to taken to confirm if communication was clear), adequate budget should be made towards stakeholder management, there should be units or departments in performing organizations purposely for the complex task of stakeholder management, terms necessary for effective stakeholder management should be put in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) showing clear cut relationship, responsibilities and expectations of all relevant stakeholders should always be identified from project inception and engaged at the appropriate project stages to obtain, confirm, or maintain their continued commitment to the success of the project

Source: KNUST