Managing multiple stakeholders in the briefing process

Briefing is the first and the most important step in the design process, where the requirements of clients are defined and the objectives of the projects are identified. The briefing stage of construction projects has become the focus of design management research in the last two decades. It is because the briefing process is both critical to the successful delivery of construction projects and problematic in its effective. One of the problem areas is the inadequate involvement of relevant stakeholders. However, little attention is given to the management of multiple stakeholders in the briefing process. This paper introduces stakeholder management in the briefing process. It describes the importance of managing stakeholders in the early phase of the project and presents the methodology of analysing stakeholders to identify stakeholders, assess their needs, wants, commitment, interest and power as well as how to manage them. It concludes that managing multiple stakeholders is essential to the success of the briefing process. By so doing, the needs of all the stakeholders including the clients can be identified and clarified, making the briefing process more effective and efficient.