Running Head: Lab 4 STAT User Manual User Manual Prepared by: 411 Blue Team Date: 12 December, 2013 Version 3
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 2 Contents 1. Introduction (Christian)... 5 1.1 Background... 5 1.2 Methodology... 6 2. GUI Elements (Kech)... 10 2.1 Menu Bar... 10 2.2 Main Window... 11 2.2.1 The Stakeholders Tab... 12 2.2.2 The Classifications Tab... 13 2.2.3 The Actions Tab... 13 2.2.4 The Influences Tab... 14 2.2.5 The Relationship Map Tab... 15 2.2.6 The Management Plan Tab... 16 3. Getting Started (Brian)... 17 3.1 Stakeholders Tab... 17 3.2 Classifications and Actions Tab... 19 3.3 Influences Tab... 21 3.4 Relation Map Tab... 22 3.5 Management Plan Tab... 23 3.6 In closing... 24 4. STAT Tasks (Ezra)... 25 4.1 Create a new project... 25 4.2 Open a project... 25 4.3 Save a project... 25 4.4 Encrypt a project... 26
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 3 4.5 Exporting... 26 4.6 Exit the program... 26 4.8 Add a stakeholder... 26 4.9 Edit a stakeholder... 26 4.10 Remove a stakeholder... 27 4.11 View the classification diagram... 27 4.12 View the recommended action matrix... 27 4.13 Set stakeholder Relationships... 27 4.14 Using the relationship map... 27 4.15 Using the management plan... 28 5. Glossary... 29 REFERENCES... 30 [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 4 List of Figures Figure 1. Manual Stakeholder Analysis... 6 Figure 2. Stakeholder Classifications... 7 Figure 3. Stakeholder Attitudes... 8 Figure 4. Recommended Actions Based on Classification and Attitude... 8 Figure 5. The Menu Bar... 10 Figure 6. File Menu Functions... 10 Figure 7. Main Window Elements... 11 Figure 8. Stakeholder Tab Elements... 12 Figure 9. Edit Window Elements... 12 Figure 10. Classification Diagram Elements... 13 Figure 11. Action Diagram Elements... 13 Figure 12. Influence Table Elements... 14 Figure 13. Relationship Diagram Elements... 15 Figure 14. The Relationship Map Tool Box... 15 Figure 15. Management Plan Elements... 16 Figure 16. Adding a Stakeholder... 17 Figure 17. Viewing the List of Stakeholders... 18 Figure 18. Editing a Stakeholder... 19 Figure 19. Viewing by Classification... 20 Figure 20. Viewing by Recommended Action... 20 Figure 21. Defining Stakeholder Relationships... 21 Figure 22. The Relationship Map Key... 22 Figure 23. Opening a Project File... 25 [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 5 1. Introduction (Christian) STAT (Stakeholder Analysis Tool) is a program to analyze and manage stakeholders during project development. It is a standalone tool programmed in Java that is compatible with multiple operating systems. It was commissioned in 2013 by NCSOSE (National Center for Systems of Systems Engineering) and built by computer science students from Old Dominion University. STAT has been designed to incorporate the concepts of stakeholder analysis that have evolved over the last century and have been perfected by NCSOSE. 1.1 Background When taking on a project, problems will arise. Where problems exist, stakeholders are involved. Stakeholders are defined as Someone who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization s objectives. This someone can be anybody or any entity that is involved in the project. CEO s, transportation companies, chip manufacturers, and politicians are all examples of various stakeholders that could affect possible outcomes. The key to success is to analyze the various stakeholders involved and engage them accordingly until project completion. The current method of common stakeholder analysis is very primitive. It is done manually, with teams brainstorming and analyzing the stakeholders of a project while physically copying their thoughts down on paper or whiteboards. As you can imagine, this scenario can get very hectic and information may easily get lost in a flood of thoughts and ideas. Another problem lies in the consistency of maintaining stakeholder information. Throughout a project s duration, stakeholder information will change and new potential stakeholders may be recognized. Trying to keep an evolving project organized is not impossible, but accuracy can prove to be very difficult.
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 6 Figure 1. Manual Stakeholder Analysis STAT looks to alleviate the currently primitive physical methods of stakeholder analysis by applying an electronic solution to emulate these methods in an organized fashion. This solution encompasses identifying, prioritizing, and managing stakeholders in a user friendly, graphical environment. The dynamic essence of stakeholder analysis is easily maintained in this simple, intuitive program. STAT provides a dynamically changing visual environment that portrays the various stakeholders as the project progresses. The design is non-linear and creates a workflow where identification and attribute editing does not compromise precision. Most important of all, STAT implements the stakeholder analysis research of NCSOSE that feeds into a proprietary algorithm which determines a stakeholder s overall influence on the project. 1.2 Methodology STAT s analysis and management methodology is comprised of five key areas. They are stakeholder identification, individual classification, attitude recognition, relationship association, and stakeholder management. Although some of the steps are dependent upon one another, the
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 7 entire SAM (stakeholder analysis and management) process is basically non-linear. STAT allows modification of any step as changes occur. Obviously, to analyze and manage stakeholders, they must first be identified. This is the initial step and must be at least partially completed to continue the other portions of the process. The identification of stakeholders may become chaotic (see figure 1) so ideas must be able to be recorded quickly. Second guesses and edits should be set aside to gather all potential stakeholders while they re still fresh thoughts. Further refining the list of stakeholders can always be completed later. Once project stakeholders have been identified, they are placed in one of eight categories based on three criteria. They are whether the stakeholder has power, legitimacy, or urgency towards the project. For simplicity purposes, either a stakeholder has an attribute, or does not. Throughout the project, these factors can change and must be able to be reflected in a manner where the classification will remain accurate as further SAM steps will utilize the classification a stakeholder has been labeled. One small undocumented change of an attribute can alter the outcome of the project s analysis. Figure 2. Stakeholder Classifications
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 8 To be a stakeholder of a project does not necessarily mean the stakeholder supports the objective. The way a stakeholder feels towards the project is best defined as the stakeholder s attitude. In the SAM process, this is based on two criteria with either a high or low potential. These criteria are: the stakeholder s potential of cooperation towards the project and the stakeholder s potential of threat towards the project. Knowing a stakeholder s attitude is essential to project management in regards to the future actions that should be taken in order for the project to succeed. Attitude Cooperation Threat Supportive High Low Mixed High High Marginal Low Low Non-supportive Low High Figure 3. Stakeholder Attitudes Figure 4. Recommended Actions Based on Classification and Attitude As projects are comprised of multiple stakeholders, it is safe to assume that many of these stakeholders will have associations with one another. Affecting one stakeholder may start a chain reaction that indirectly affects others. Therefore, it is important to recognize the relationships that exist between them. Relationships have influence directions as well as strength. A stakeholder
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 9 with multiple strong relationships with others may require extra attention as a positive project attitude may spread among its constituents. On the same note, a negative attitude may kill a project in the same manner. The management portion of the SAM process is the step that will continue on until the success or demise of the project. Stakeholders will need to be engaged to accomplish objectives. Changes in stakeholder statuses will change and project accuracy is imperative. Information needs to be organized and up to date to ensure prompt effective responses to project obstacles. [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 10 2. GUI Elements (Kech) STAT is GUI (Graphic User Interface) driven. All operations will be performed through various mouse clicks and labeled text entry areas. This section will define the different GUI elements of STAT. 2.1 Menu Bar Figure 5. The Menu Bar The menu bar is at the top of the frame and is present throughout the project. When clicked, the file menu item will display drop downs with other functions. The functions performed are identified in figure 5 and figure 6. Create a new project Open a project from file Save the current project Configure STAT Project Security Export the Management Plan Exit STAT Figure 6. File Menu Functions [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 11 2.2 Main Window STAT is set to an automatic size that can be expanded to full screen or minimized just like any other desktop program. This section defines the various GUI elements found in the main window. The program opens with the Stakeholders tab selected by default. STAT view tabs Figure 7. Main Window Elements Minimize window Maximize window Close window [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 12 2.2.1 The Stakeholders Tab Stakeholder editing window Add new stakeholder button New stakeholder attributes Current list of project stakeholders New stakeholder wants text box New stakeholder name text box Figure 8. Stakeholder Tab Elements Edit selected stakeholder button Save changes button Selected stakeholder s attributes Selected stakeholder s wants Remove stakeholder from list button Selected stakeholder s name Figure 9. Edit Window Elements
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 13 2.2.2 The Classifications Tab Lists of Stakeholder Classifications Figure 10. Classification Diagram Elements 2.2.3 The Actions Tab Stakeholder Recommended Action Lists Figure 11. Action Diagram Elements
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 14 2.2.4 The Influences Tab Save influence changes button Selected relationship information The stakeholders being influenced The influencing stakeholders The strength of the relationship drop down Figure 12. Influence Table Elements [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 15 2.2.5 The Relationship Map Tab Influence representation Graph Tool Box Stakeholder representation Figure 13. Relationship Diagram Elements Click the Blue Border to View the Map Key (Figure 22) Mini Relationship Map Representation Organic Style Relationship Map Circle Style Relationship Map Hierarchical Style Relationship Map Redraw the diagram Redraw the connections Save a copy of the Relationship Map Pan and Zoom wizard Figure 14. The Relationship Map Tool Box
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 16 2.2.6 The Management Plan Tab Non-editable columns Editable columns Figure 15. Management Plan Elements Columns: Name Name of the stakeholder Wants A stakeholder s true desires in relation to the project Classification Classification of the stakeholder based on attributes Attitude Attitude of the stakeholder based on attributes Influence The overall amount of influence the stakeholder has on the project Strategy Recommended action towards stakeholder based on classification and attitude Method of Engagement The manner in which the stakeholder will be engaged Last Engaged The most recent date the stakeholder was engaged Responsible Party The team member(s) tasked with engaging the stakeholder Notes Any other notes a project member may want to add about the stakeholder [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 17 3. Getting Started (Brian) Double-click the STAT.jar file to open STAT. STAT will open to the Stakeholder Tab and have a new project that is blank. At this point you may use this blank project to make a new project or open an already existing STAT project. To open a STAT project that has already been created, click File on the menu bar on top, then click Open (alternatively you may type Ctrl+O on your keyboard). 3.1 Stakeholders Tab A new project always starts at the Stakeholder Tab. This is where you will add all of the stakeholders that belong to this project. *Before going to any of the other tabs, you should add your stakeholders first* Figure 16. Adding a Stakeholder To add a stakeholder, fill out the Name and Wants text fields and click the appropriate Yes / No and High / Low choices for each of the five corresponding selections. By default they will be set to No and Low. After filling out these fields click the Add
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 18 button and you will see the name of that stakeholder appear in the Stakeholder List to the right. Figure 17. Viewing the List of Stakeholders You may edit a stakeholder that you have already added to the project anytime in this tab by clicking, first, on the stakeholder that you would like to edit in the List of Stakeholder, then by clicking on the Edit button in the Yellow Panel at the bottom of the Stakeholders Tab. Make changes to the selected stakeholder as you see fit, then click save to store the changes to that stakeholder back in the list. See the STAT Methodology (Section 1.2) to understand what each classification means for a stakeholder.
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 19 Figure 18. Editing a Stakeholder 3.2 Classifications and Actions Tab After you have added a stakeholder to the project, you may view which classification or action a given stakeholder belongs to. *Each stakeholder that is added is guaranteed to belong to one and only one classification. The same goes for actions.* Click on the Classifications Tab and view the various lists to see which classification a stakeholder belongs to. Each list represents one of the eight different classifications. This is helpful to determine if the identification process described in section 3.1 was accurate. For example, if most of the stakeholders happen to be in a particular classification, there is a chance that they were assigned the wrong attributes.
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 20 Figure 19. Viewing by Classification The Actions Tab is very similar to the Classifications tab in that each stakeholder is located in a list that corresponds to STAT s recommended action for that stakeholder. The recommended action is based on a stakeholder s classification and attitude. Figure 20. Viewing by Recommended Action
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 21 3.3 Influences Tab After you are done viewing the Classifications and recommended Actions of your stakeholders, click on the Influences Tab to enter how each stakeholder influences each other. Every stakeholder in the current project will have one row and one column in this table. This table represents a directed adjacency graph. For each cell, the row will determine which stakeholder does the influencing and the column will determine which stakeholder is being influenced. Each influence has a magnitude for how much influence a stakeholder has on another. The diagonal is blacked out because a stakeholder should never influence themselves (unless they are an egotistical jerk, but that is unfortunately not supported in STAT). Clicking on a cell will deploy a drop-down box with a choice of influence magnitudes. A magnitude is 0 for no influence or Low, Medium, or High for low, medium, or high influence, respectively. In the example Error! Reference source not found., we are setting Central Radio to have a High influence on Central Radio Employees. Figure 21. Defining Stakeholder Relationships
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 22 After you have set all your influences, make sure you click the Save Updates button before navigating away from this tab or saving your project. It is very important that you click this button; otherwise your changes will be lost. 3.4 Relation Map Tab After entering the influences in the previous tab, continue on to the Relation Map Tab. This tab gives a visual demonstration of each stakeholder and how they affect each other. Click anywhere in the blue border to view the Relationship Map Key. The key to the sizes and shapes of each element are shown below: Figure 22. The Relationship Map Key You can switch between the Organic, Circle or Tree automatic layout to automatically distribute the nodes locations on the graph. We recommend the Organic layout for smaller projects that only involve a few (ten or less) stakeholders. Any more than that should use the Circle or Tree layout. The Tree layout typically places nodes
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 23 that have the most edges directed to other nodes at the top and nodes that have the most edges directed to themselves at the bottom. This does not take in to account the magnitude of the edges. The Mini Map in the Graph Tool Box can be used to zoom in and out and can also be used to pan around. This is useful for very large maps that have many stakeholders Stakeholders that have no relations are still graphed, but have no edges going to or from them. The Organic layout does not handle stakeholders with no relations very well, we recommend using Circle for graphs that have many stakeholders like this. After leaving this tab, the only change that will be saved is the layout. No changes to the stakeholders can be made in this tab. 3.5 Management Plan Tab This is the final Tab of STAT. It displays all of stakeholder s information in the different columns You may add your own Method of engagement, Last engaged, Responsible Party, and Notes to each stakeholder by double clicking on their respective cell, then filling in the information as you see fit. This does not affect any other steps in the stakeholder management tabs and is only used for your personal interest or organization. At this step you may export the Management Plan to a CSV (comma separated value) file of your choosing. This is a widely accepted file format that is readable by many programs. In our case the most notable of these is Spreadsheet programs (such as Excel). If you have one installed you may open up the exported file in the spreadsheet and further edit and format it to prepare it for presentations or display purposes.
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 24 3.6 In closing The tabs can always be visited in any order you want so you can make changes accordingly. This is great if you would like to make changes to an existing project. Remember, when creating a new project, it is best that you follow the tabs from top to bottom. 1. Identify stakeholders in the stakeholders tab 2. Confirm stakeholder attributes in the stakeholders tab 3. Associate stakeholder relationships in the influences tab 4. Proceed with project management in the management tab These steps can be revisited and edited at any time. The classification tab, action tab, and relationship map tab are all for informational purposes only. Although they cannot be directly modified, they will reflect any changes made in the stakeholders tab and influences tab. To better understand the SAM (Stakeholder Analysis and Management) methodology, please refer to section 1.2. Be sure to save the project before exiting the program. [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 25 4. STAT Tasks (Ezra) 4.1 Create a new project From the menu bar, choose File >> New. This will clear any project data currently in STAT. 4.2 Open a project From the menu bar, choose File >> Open. This will open the file chooser window (Figure 15) where a STAT project file can be selected. STAT project files have a.stat filename extension by default. If the STAT project file was encrypted (See 4.4 Encrypt a project) a dialog will pop up requesting the password that the project was saved with. In order to open the project the correct password must be supplied. Figure 23. Opening a Project File 4.3 Save a project From the menu bar, choose File >> Save. This will open the file chooser window where a STAT project file can be saved.
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 26 4.4 Encrypt a project From the menu bar, choose File >> Security. This will prompt a window where encryption can be turned on and off as well as setting a password. NOTE: If the password is lost the project cannot be recovered. 4.5 Exporting Management Plan: Click on the Management Tab (Figure 14). From the menu bar, choose File >> Export Plan. This will open the file chooser window where a CSV file can be saved containing all the information from the Management Plan. Relation Map: Click on the Relation Map Tab (Figure 12). When the Relation Map Tab is clicked the Graph Tool box opens. In the Graph Tool box click on the Export to PNG button. This opens the file chooser window where a.png file can be saved containing the Relation Map. 4.6 Exit the program From the menu bar, choose File >> Exit. This will exit the program. 4.8 Add a stakeholder Click the Stakeholder Tab view (Figure 7): 1. In the name text box, enter the stakeholder s name. This cannot be blank nor be similar to an already existing stakeholder. 2. In the wants text box, enter the stakeholder s wants (optional). 3. Below the wants text box, choose the attributes that best describe the stakeholder. 4. Click the add stakeholder button. 4.9 Edit a stakeholder From the Stakeholder Tab view (Figure 7) choose a stakeholder from the stakeholder list. The stakeholder information will appear in the edit window (Figure 8). In that window: 1. Click the edit button. 2. Change the stakeholder s information (name, wants, attributes)
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 27 3. Click the save button to save any changes. 4.10 Remove a stakeholder From the Stakeholder Tab view (Figure 7) choose a stakeholder from the stakeholder list. The stakeholder information will appear in the edit window (Figure 8). In that window click the remove button. 4.11 View the classification diagram Click the Classifications Tab view (Figure 9). Examine the various labeled lists to view the stakeholders of that classification. NOTE: If no stakeholders exist in the project, the classification diagram lists will all be empty. 4.12 View the recommended action matrix Click the Actions Tab view (Figure 10). Examine the various labeled lists to view the stakeholders of that recommended action. NOTE: If no stakeholders exist in the project, the recommended action lists will all be empty. 4.13 Set stakeholder Relationships Click the Influences Tab view (Figure 11). The leftmost column lists the stakeholders that influence the stakeholders listed in the topmost row. Click the intersection point where the influencer (row) meets the stakeholder being influenced (column). A drop down will appear with the options of 0, low, med, or high. Click the magnitude that best describes the relationship. If 0 is chosen, this means that the two stakeholders have no relationship. All cells are set to 0 by default. Click the Save Updates button to save any changes to the Influence Table. 4.14 Using the relationship map Click the Relationship Map Tab (Figure 12). The Relation Map is displayed in the viewing window. The Relationship Map is redrawn every time you click on this tab from another tab. This means that any drag-and-drops you make with the nodes will not be saved after switching out of this tab. To move the stakeholders click and hold on the stakeholder node and drag to the area the stakeholder is to be placed. Now let go of the mouse button. After moving nodes that have parallel edges (meaning that node A has an edge going to B and B has an edge going to A), the edge may appear to be contorted or only half of the edge follows the
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 28 nodes new location. To fix this, click the Re-render Lines button. This will snap the edges back into place without moving any of the nodes. Switch automatic layouts by selecting the desired layout in the Pop-up Graph Tool Box. The current layout will already be selected. After selecting the desired layout you must either click the Re-render Layout button or go to another tab then click on Relation Map tab again this will distribute the nodes according to the automatic layout. (**When switching from a Tree layout to a Circle layout, you will have to redraw the graph via clicking off and on the Tab instead of using the Re-render Layout button. For some reason it will not re-render the lines correctly and they will jumble all over the place. Re-render Lines will not fix this either, you must switch tabs to re-draw it properly after this switch**) To view the Relationship Map Key (Figure 22), click anywhere in the blue border. 4.15 Using the management plan Click the Management Plan Tab (Figure 14). The first six columns (name, wants, classification, attitude, influence, and strategy cannot be modified. They dynamically change as the project changes. The rightmost four columns can be edited. To edit, simply click on the cell. The contents will be highlighted with a cursor. New text information can be added. Simply click away from the cell to finish editing. [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 29 5. Glossary Attributes: Qualities that describe the stakeholder. In the NCSOSE methodology stakeholders attributes are power, legitimacy, urgency, potential cooperation towards a project, and potential threat towards a project. GUI: Graphical User Interface NCSOSE: National Center for Systems of Systems Engineering Project: A collaborative effort to accomplish a common goal. Relationship: The manner in which two entities are associated. SAM: Stakeholder analysis and management. Stakeholder: An entity who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization's objectives. STAT: Stakeholder Analysis Tool. [This space intentionally left blank]
Lab 4: STAT User Manual 30 REFERENCES All Background Information derived from: Hester, P. T., Adams, K. M. "STAT development meeting." 2 April 2013. Hester, P. T. "STAT development meeting 2." 26 April 2013. Hester, P. T., Bradley, J. M., & Adams, K. M. "Stakeholders in Systems Problems. File last modified 3 April 2013." 2013. Microsoft Powerpoint File. Hester, P. T., Bradley, J. M., & Adams, K. M. "Stakeholders in systems problems." International Journal of System of Systems Engineering, 3(3/4) (2012): 225-232.