Blog #11 — Last Week in Santa Fe
This week has been a whirlwind as we’ve been preparing for our final client presentation, finalizing our deliverables, and rehearsing our executive summary presentations for the closing ceremony.
In the end we produced two deliverables. We realized early on that while our client had a clear vision for the InterPuertos Multimodal Logistics Park, as well as a comprehensive technical design, they lacked the operational expertise to bridge the gap between between strategy and execution. To address this gap, the first deliverable we provided was a Project Analysis and Management Plan, including sections on Market Analysis, Stakeholder Management, Integrated Operations, and Key Performance Indicators.
For the Market Analysis, we reviewed case studies of how other Multimodal Logistics Parks have contributed to economic development in both developed (Germany) and emerging (India) markets. Our clients were especially interested in the value that can be generated from emerging technologies such as Blockchain and IOT in the Transportation sector. Personally, I learned a lot from their eagerness to learn these solutions despite the additional challenges they are sure to encounter from implementing them in a developing country.
I led the Stakeholder Engagement section, and was shocked to find that there are 50 different stakeholder groups for the InterPuertos project. There is certainly a wide range in the level of impact and involvement across these many stakeholder groups, and my goal was to put some structure around how they are categorized (challengers, neutral, and supporters) and managed. The concept of proactive vs. reactive stakeholder management was new to my client, and I am hoping that this new approach will enable them to shift their mindset to a new way of thinking.
The Operations Plan included a Governance Model, the recommendation of a project manager role to coordinate across the dozens of stakeholders, and leading practices on the management of dependencies, risks, and issues. If the client chooses to commit to the recommendations we proposed, I expect that this component will be the most impactful. It will require a major change in the way they think about project execution, but if they begin using the tools we provided, I expect it will be a game changer in accelerating the project’s completion.
The final section of the first deliverable was supposed to be a Financial Plan and ROI calculation; unfortunately we were unable to track down the data required to complete that exercise. Instead, we took advantage of IBM’s tools for analyzing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Benchmarks for the transportation and logistics industry. It was a good lesson for our team on aways finding ways to add value for the client, even when things don’t go as planned. Given that process efficiencies and non-financial outcomes are not typically measured in the local business culture, it was an incredibly educational exercise for our clients as well.
Our second deliverable was a Business Proposal that tells a story about the short term and long term benefits of the InterPuertos Multimodal Park. As I mentioned, there are extensive technical plans for the park, but nothing has been documented from a business perspective. Specifically, we included a call to action for increasing involvement in the project from the perspectives of different stakeholder groups. Our hope is that by telling a compelling story about the economic development InterPuertos will bring to Santa Fe, we can enable our clients to secure financial and other forms of investment in the project.
As with any consulting engagement, I am looking forward to staying in touch with my clients and seeing the impact that our recommendations will have on the progress of the InterPuertos project.
Photo with the client and local newspaper article about the closing ceremony.
