Navigating Stakeholder Dynamics as a Construction Project Executive

The project executive (PX) plays a unique role in construction companies. They provide oversight and direction for all parts of a project or group of projects, which include supervising project management, managing client interactions and overseeing members of the project team. They’re often a firm’s highest-ranking position that still plays a role in the field, which makes them a liaison between the project team and high-level company leadership. 

However, the role of the PX is ultimately about people. Fulfilling their wide-ranging responsibilities depends on their ability to cultivate and maintain relationships with nearly every stakeholder on the project. Navigating stakeholder dynamics is foundational in being able to make decisions, solve problems, assess progress, manage operations and generally ensure project success. It goes beyond their direct interactions as well, towards establishing a culture of collaboration that helps everyone feel understood and valued, even when the PX isn’t present. 

But pulling all this off — navigating the needs, expectations and interests of so many shareholders — isn’t easy.  As part of a series about the responsibilities and best practices of project executives, this article explores managing stakeholder relationships, including strategies for effective engagement and how to overcome common challenges.

Identifying Common Stakeholders

Project executives usually need to establish and maintain relationships with most people playing a part in project success. Navigating these dynamics starts with understanding who the stakeholders are and their importance to a project. 

Owners and Clients

The project owner or client is the person, business or organization that contracted the project, is often funding it and has legal authority and final say on most decisions. Project executives often serve as the primary liaison between their firm and owners, making sure everyone’s needs and expectations are met. Strong relationships with owners and their representatives can facilitate smoother approval processes, improve problem-solving and even increase the likelihood of doing more business with the client in the future.

Design Team

The design team generally includes architects and designers who conceptualize plans for a project, design it and make sure it gets done satisfactorily. The PX and design team often work together from the beginning of a project, ensuring the design is aligned with client expectations, budget constraints and regulatory requirements. The design team is often a key player in workflows the PX oversees, such as submittals and RFIs. Throughout the project, the PX and design team communicate and collaborate to address issues, make changes and manage the budget, the schedule and the quality of the final product.

Project Team

The project team includes a variety of people who manage a project and guarantee its successful completion. The PX often directly manages senior project managers, project managers (PMs), superintendents and engineers. The PX provides guidance, assists in solving problems, measures and defines success for tasks and projects and helps develop professional skills. 

Trade Partners

Trade partners can refer to subcontractors responsible for performing specialized work such as HVAC, concrete or roofing. The PX is often responsible for directly or indirectly — by guiding members of the project team — interacting with foremen to negotiate terms, resolve conflicts and making sure everyone is aligned with project goals. 

Authorities Having Jurisdiction

An Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) is essentially any organization or office that’s responsible for ensuring a building is safe by enforcing standards and codes. Project executives often interact with local authorities and regulatory agencies throughout the project as part of obtaining permits, managing site logistics and coordinating inspections. A positive relationship with an AHJ can be a huge factor in determining the ease of the handover process. 

Other Stakeholders

There are many more stakeholders a PX might directly or indirectly have relationships with, such as suppliers, legal counsel, cost estimators, health and safety officers and the innovation team. A good relationship with each stakeholder helps to solve problems, consistently improve systems and move projects forward.

Strategies for Stakeholder Management

There are a few strategies that usually help strengthen relationships and execute projects successfully.

Build trust through open communication.

Ultimately, relationships are about trust. In professional settings, trust is usually best established through transparent and honest communication. A PX is often charged with effectively delivering updates and fostering dialogues, whether the information is exciting or disappointing, inconvenient or urgent. Deliberately build systems and routines for regular communication. This might take the form of standing meetings, one-on-one check-ins or regular visits to jobsites.

Establish a culture of collaboration.

Culture, in its simplest form, is what happens when leadership isn’t around. Fostering a culture of collaboration means stakeholders aren’t just working together to achieve goals, prioritize tasks and resolve issues — they value the opportunity to do so. 

A collaborative culture often starts with establishing a shared vision for success. When a PX takes time to convey their vision, they give stakeholders things to work towards and ways to understand how their actions impact the team and project.

Stay adaptable.

It’s inevitable that unexpected challenges pop up. Staying flexible and ready to adjust plans isn’t just a way to stay sane. It’s also a way of building relationships with stakeholders by adjusting to their needs, addressing their concerns and demonstrating your shared interests. 

Prioritize effectively.

The intentions and goals of different stakeholders can sometimes be at odds. The PX navigates these conflicts by regularly assessing project priorities to define what’s most important and make sure issues are resolved. Project executives need to stay up-to-date on the critical path and the tasks assigned to subcontractors, trade partners and project managers.

Explain priorities and share progress.

Transparency helps stakeholders manage their exceptions, understand the project vision, remain solutions-oriented and see how their work fits into the larger project. Regular meetings can be a place to communicate how the project is going, what the priorities are and the decision-making behind them. 

Tailor all communication.

Customize your communication style to fit the preferences and needs of stakeholders. Understanding how individuals like to communicate, what makes them feel understood and how they prefer to receive feedback can make all the difference in keeping each stakeholder invested, engaged and on the same page.

Be visibly present.

Regular meetings and regular visits to jobsites help a PX stay informed, but they also help strengthen bonds with the team and stakeholders. When a PX is regularly present, it helps stakeholders become familiar with them, see that they’re part of the team and foster open communication. 

Have important conversations as promptly as possible.

When issues, conflicts or misunderstandings emerge, address them promptly by facilitating conversations between people impacted by the issue. This turns issues into opportunities to deepen relationships and help manage and resolve conflicts before they escalate. 

Use feedback to drive improvement.

Regularly seek and incorporate feedback from stakeholders to improve processes and relationships. Openness to feedback enhances stakeholder engagement while often leading to improved efficiency and communication.

Common Challenges When Navigating Stakeholder Dynamics

An effective project executive is relentlessly building relationships, but it isn’t always easy. Work relationships often take longer to build than personal ones, so they require patience and persistence. There are a few common challenges that are important to understand and anticipate. 

1. Managing Conflicting Priorities

Stakeholders often have competing interests and priorities. Project executives must skillfully balance these demands to ensure project objectives are met without compromising stakeholder satisfaction. This requires a lot of in-the-moment problem solving and communicating, but is built on a foundation of trust established over a long time.

2. Managing Stakeholder Expectations

Project realities don’t always align with what stakeholders want or were expecting, especially for people who aren’t regularly on-site such as owners or executive leadership. Clear and consistent communication helps avoid surprises while also proactively addressing issues. A PX needs to understand the needs of their team, the goals of their company and what an owner wants so they can identify when the project reality differs from what stakeholders expected or desired.

3. Ensuring Regulatory Compliance

Meeting the standards of regulatory bodies can sometimes lead to project delays or additional costs. This can be frustrating for stakeholders, but codes and regulations must always be met. Transparent communication makes stakeholders feel respected and demonstrates a commitment to excellence, even when people are upset. 

4. Different Styles of Working and Communicating

Different people have different ways of collaborating, especially when working on teams of people with different backgrounds and expertise. Project executives must understand these differences and, whenever possible, accommodate them to facilitate effective communication and clear the way for people to do their best work.

5. Managing and Resolving Conflict

Conflicts between stakeholders can arise because of differing opinions, conflicting interests or misunderstandings. A PX needs to have a command of conflict resolution skills and demonstrate a commitment to understanding people’s concerns and finding mutually beneficial solutions.

Courses about construction.
For construction.

Unlock your career potential with our free educational courses on Health & Safety, Data in Construction, and more.

Learn More

The Key Mindset for Project Executive Relationships

The most effective project executives find ways to move beyond simply managing stakeholders. They inspire and engage people to work towards shared goals and visions. The mindset behind this type of leadership sees the role of the PX as serving each stakeholder as they pursue success. Servant-leadership shifts the focus from project outcomes to the people working toward those project outcomes. This facilitates trust, collaboration and, in the long run, professional relationships that can span decades.

Written by