Enhancing project stakeholder communication under insufficient knowledge of project management concepts
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 18 August 2022
Issue publication date: 28 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Although the literature is clear on what comprises effective project stakeholder management, communication between key stakeholders and project managers is often ineffective. Research is silent on stakeholders' insufficient knowledge of project management terminology, which is a barrier for such effective communication. This paper aims to identify the project management concepts that key stakeholders should understand to improve effective communication.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs a three-step research design. In the first step, based on threshold concept theory, the authors identify the key project management concepts through interviews with 20 project management practitioners, trainers and trainees. In the second step, the authors confirm the findings from the first step and identify effective approaches to enhance project stakeholders' communication through seven additional interviews with project stakeholders. In the third step, the authors construct a functional model of the research findings by employing a system-level modeling tool.
Findings
This research identifies five project management threshold concepts (TC) that are challenging for project stakeholders to understand (1) project benefits, (2) the iron triangle, (3) the critical path, (4) uncertainty and (5) project leadership. Following these knowledge barriers, the paper proposes unique approaches to develop effective project stakeholder communication.
Originality/value
This paper advances project stakeholder management research by identifying knowledge barriers and providing project managers with more effective approaches to better engage with their stakeholders.
Keywords
Citation
Zwikael, O., Salmona, M., Meredith, J. and Zarghami, S.A. (2023), "Enhancing project stakeholder communication under insufficient knowledge of project management concepts", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 30 No. 10, pp. 5007-5029. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-02-2022-0154
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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