Outline

Overview

Effective stakeholder management and communication play a vital role in the success of projects. Project managers and leaders often express that stakeholder management, leadership and communication are often the most sought-after competencies. This unit of study focuses on the process of stakeholder identification; defining their roles and responsibilities; understanding their organisation mission, vision and overall strategic objectives; alignment and prioritisation of specific project needs and requirements; with emphasis on stakeholder engagement/analytic methodologies such as analysing stakeholder influence, reliance, collaboration and communication networks. The unit of study will also cover aspects of psychology, emotional intelligence, communication techniques and leadership qualities required for effective performance in project management roles.

Details

Academic unit	Project Management
Unit code	PMGT1852
Unit name	Facilitation and Stakeholder Engagement
Session, year ?	Semester 2, 2020
Attendance mode	Normal day
Location	Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Credit points	6

Enrolment rules

Prohibitions ?	None
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	ENGG1850
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff and contact details

Coordinator	Ken Chung, ken.chung@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Niccolo de Briganti , niccolo.debriganti@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Alireza Mersad, alireza.mersad@sydney.edu.au
Administrative staff	Natalie Chan

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Presentation	Group Project: Video Presentation	10%	-	N/A
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Group Project: Report	35%	Multiple weeks	N/A
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Reflection Reports Due in weeks 4, 8 and 12.	25%	Multiple weeks	N/A
Outcomes assessed:
Tutorial quiz	Short MCQ Held in week 9, this in-class assessment will be a MCQ.	5%	Week 09	30 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
Small test	Short Answer Questions Short answer type question-answer format coverings weeks 1-9 inclusive.	25%	Week 09	50 minutes + 10 minutes reading time
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment ?

Group Project (Report): The topic and detailed instructions for this group project will be provided from week 2 of semester. You will work in a team on a case-study where your team will have to produce a project deliverable for the project sponsor. This deliverable will be in the form of a product, result or process. For the purpose of the group report, the key deliverables are:
1. Stakeholder identification report (worth 5%, due Week 5)
2. Stakeholder assessment & facilitation report (worth 30%, due Week 12)
Group Project (Video presentation): A video presentation showing the process for achieving key group project deliverables 1 & 2 above. This may include showing how you identified stakeholders, engaged with them, set up agendas for meeting, how it was facilitated, questions asked, requirements gathers, thought process, project execution, etc. Unleash your team`s creativity here - the video may be a full movie, documentary, simple powerpoint show, images and text, etc. (worth 10%, due Stuvac).
Short MCQ: There will be a short multiple choice questions assessment which will cover content from weeks 1-9 (worth 5%, due week 9).
Short Answer Questions: The short-answer questions assessment will cover the application of stakeholder management and facilitation principles and relevant content will be from weeks 1-9. In order to prepare, students are encouraged to review stakeholder theory, management practice, and analytical techniques/frameworks. (worth 25%, due week 9).
Reflection Reports: Reflections are an important part of any project practice as it allows for self-evaluation on practice and learning during project delivery. As you learn about communication, facilitation and stakeholder engagement, you are encouraged to complete reflection reports based on reflection of learning of past weeks. There will be three reflection reports due (worth 25%, due weeks 4 (covering learning from weeks 1-4), 8 (covering learning from weeks 5-8) & 12 (covering learning from weeks 9-12)).

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100
Distinction	75 - 84
Credit	65 - 74
Pass	50 - 64
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

For every calendar day up to and including ten calendar days after the due date, a penalty of 5% of the maximum awardable marks will be applied to late work. The penalty will be calculated by first marking the work, and then subtracting 5% of the maximum awardable mark for each calendar day after the due date. Example: Consider an assignment's maximum awardable mark is 10; the assignment is submitted 2 days late; and the assignment is marked as 7/10. After applying the penalty, marks will be: 7 - (0.5 x 2) = 6/10. For work submitted more than ten calendar days after the due date a mark of zero will be awarded. The marker may elect to, but is not required to, provide feedback on such work. Refer to section 7A of Assessment procedures policy available at: http://sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2012/267&RendNum=0

Special consideration

If you experience short-term circumstances beyond your control, such as illness, injury or misadventure or if you have essential commitments which impact your preparation or performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Ongoing	There is an expectation of around 10 hours per semester week of independent study required for this unit. This broadly encompasses activities of self-learning such as watching pre-workshop video lectures, textbook chapter readings, etc.	Independent study (120 hr)
Week 01	Introduction to Project Facilitation & Stakeholder Engagement - Overview and Important concepts (Eskerod: Chaps 1 & 2)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 02	Stakeholder motivations to contribute: Theoretical perspectives (Chap 3 - Eskerod)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 03	Project Stakeholder Analysis I: Models, Approaches & Techniques (Chap 4 - Eskerod)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 04	On Facilitation: Asking Questions & Communicating Supportively (Chap 2 - Wilkinson)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 05	Preparing for Facilitation Success (Chap 3 - Wilkinson). Self-read: Planning towards Stakeholder Management & Ethical considerations (Chap 5 & 6 - Eskerod)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 06	Project Stakeholder Analysis II: Advanced Techniques	Online class (2 hr)
Week 07	Interpersonal Communication: Developing Self-Awareness	Online class (2 hr)
Week 08	Getting started on Facilitation (Chap 4 - Wilkinson)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 09	Network Thinking & Analytics for Stakeholder Analysis	Online class (2 hr)
Week 10	Focusing the Groups (Chap 5 - Wilkinson)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 11	Using the Pen (Chap 6 - Wilkinson) & Information Gathering (Chap 7 - Wilkinson)	Online class (2 hr)
Week 12	Closing the session (Chap 8 - Wilkinson) + Course overview & debrief	Online class (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

As this unit of study is taught in blended learning style, you will have access to most of the learning content via pre-recorded mini-lectures and e-books that are available for free from the university’s library. You must cover each of these in your time (e.g. viewing the lectures and reading the chapter readings for the week) prior to attending the workshops. During the workshops, you will be engaged in activities with your groups and there will also be time allowed for you to work towards your group project and for consultation with the facilitators and lecturer.

Past evidence shows that failure to meaningfully engage with the learning content and workshops provided correlates highly with very poor grades that result in a failure of the unit of study.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

All readings for this unit can be accessed through the Library eReserve, available on Canvas.

Pernille Eskerod and Anna Lund Jepsen – Project Stakeholder Management. Gower, 2013. 978-1-4094-0437-8
Michael Wilkinson – The Secrets of Facilitation : The SMART Guide to Getting Results with Groups. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2012. 9781118228579

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University’s graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. explore, select and apply facilitation techniques
LO2. facilitate and engage stakeholders upwards, downwards, sidewards and outwards through formal and informal mechanisms of influence
LO3. observe, build, provide feedback and coach team through the facilitation process thereby building cooperation amongst team members
LO4. develop awareness and reflection on how embedded values and mental models affect how you and others see and react to the world, when facilitating stakeholders
LO5. develop an understanding of the project stakeholder management process from identification, analysis and prioritisation as well as potential impact on project
LO6. develop and maintain a stakeholder strategy, risk matrix and communication plan
LO7. develop an operational understanding of stakeholder analysis and the use of applications for analysing stakeholder engagement.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Closing the loop

Feedback from the last cohort was used in modifying the learning content and assessment in this unit.

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Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Details

Enrolment rules

Teaching staff and contact details

Assessment

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Special consideration

Academic integrity

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Closing the loop

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

PMGT1852: Facilitation and Stakeholder Engagement

Overview

Details

Enrolment rules

Teaching staff and contact details

Assessment

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Special consideration

Academic integrity

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Closing the loop

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect