Question

NorthWestern Energy was confident its US$350 million infrastructure upgrade project would improve the reliability of service to its customers. But the company also knew the project would change customer rates and require major construction activities that would disrupt traffic and tear up yards for months at a time. So before the project even broke ground, NorthWestern launched an aggressive communication plan, including a community outreach program. First, it assembled a cross-functional community stakeholder group composed of local politicians, not-for-profit group leaders and community members and business leaders to talk through project goals and collect their feedback. Project team members met several times during the project planning process, educating the group about why the project was needed, what it would entail, where the money would go and how the company would communicate about the project to the rest of the community. “The stakeholder group helped us understand how to bring people into the conversation,” says NorthWestern Energy’s Ms. Schroeppel. The group also offered valuable feedback on the project plan, says Claudia Rapkoch, director of corporate communications and leader of the community stakeholder management effort. “They challenged a lot of our assumptions, and as a result we changed some aspects of what we are doing.” Most notably, NorthWestern found community stakeholders were far more skeptical about the benefits of smart grid technology than the company had anticipated. The group agreed it made sense to integrate the technology into the infrastructure backbone, but questioned the value of spending millions of U.S. dollars to put a smart meter on every house, Ms. Rapkoch says. As a result, the company altered the project plan so meters would be prepped for future deployment “if and when it made sense.” The company also discovered stakeholders largely supported the socialized model of pay rates, with crowded urban centers covering more of the cost of energy for the sparsely populated rural areas. “This realization didn’t change the plan, but it impacted the way we talked about these elements of the project with the community,” Ms. Rapkoch says. Eighteen months after the meetings began, the construction phase of the project kicked off in 2010. Now in its third year, the project still has a dedicated communication representative who uses the group’s feedback to shape the company’s public-outreach efforts. These include messages about construction delays, including road signs designed to reinforce the project benefits through slogans such as: “This project will provide safe reliable energy for today and tomorrow.” Communication: The Message Is Clear December 2013 ©2013 Project Management Institute, Inc. 5 The result: Despite tearing up roads, digging ditches in yards and pulling up underground cable across the region, NorthWestern Energy has had virtually no complaints, Ms. Schroeppel says.

Write one paragraph ,  Provide the following for :

• Summary of the project
• What was the major challenge in the project
• What was the lesson learned from doing the project.

Answer 1

To improve the reliability of service to its customers Northwestern energy started a 350 million dollar upgrade project.To make the project work they started an aggressive communication plan which helped them to plan about the project with the community because it requires major construction.By working closely they the started first phase after 18 months and after 3 years in 2013 it is still working even there are tearing up of roads and underground cable are seen.

2)It is a costly project which required the help of community.And communication is the major challenge in this project.

3)The lesson learned from doing this project is that communication is the key to success as it enables as to work together.It organises people which helps them to function effectively.