‘EIA Project Managers focus on project targets and processes, EIA Leaders focus on Project outcomes’
I believe EIA leadership to be one of the fundamental mindsets that the accountable EIA professional must possess. No matter how technical thier knowledge or how good thier management of EIA processes are, only with strong EIA leadership skills will they (and the EIA they are responsible for) move up a gear in performance and influence.
Good EIA leadership in the environment of today’s project management world is critical in providing project teams with a clear path and vision for attaining organizational as well as sustainability goals.
EIA at its heart is a practical tool for helping meet today’s needs without compromising the opportunities of future generations. It is also dependent on its practitioners being able to aspire for that greater future. In EIA and in the infrastructure development world, it is also about the need to create agile teams (EIA and the wider Project team) with S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely) goals backed up by effective team management skills. EIA Leadership is required to execute this desired outcomes effectively. Without the wider goal of sustainability, an inherent care for people and their environments and ta willing ness to tackle difficult issues head on, it becomes very difficult in EIA -infrastructure related projects to handle environmental and social uncertainties within infrastructure development and its related assessments.
Leadership in EIA is ultimately measured on one parameter — the results that you deliver within the project scope. Given this ultimate measure and its wider importance to local communities and society in general, it is vital that you are outcomes focussed from the start.
So what are the key benefits of adopting an outcome focussed mindset in EIA Leadership? As I see it there are 5 key benefits.
Good EIA leaders are good communicators. If you are crystal clear what you want and where you want to take the project, issue or project team during the EIA, it becomes much easier to communicate this to those that will aid you in this ambition, and for those you have to take with you on this journey.
If you can communicate an inspiring vision for the future, tactical justification for its benefits, and the veracity of your claim. Then you are much more likely to get Project managers, clients, engineers and team members to support you in translating this into design options and ultimately project reality.
No one has ‘too much’ time in projects! Time is a rare luxury for any profession involved in infrastructure and construction. It is how as EIA leaders that we use that time, that makes the critical difference. When you are outcomes focussed, you spend your time on those areas that are likely to leverage the greatest benefits for yourself as a leader, for the EIA and for the wider project.
Many EIAs are commissioned too late to be effective as preliminary engineering and site plans become fixed. EIA leadership involves the strength to align the information flows of the EIA process with the active project windows and decisison maig events of the project.
It is all too easy, especially in times of project challenge to become obsessed with the detail of finishing a task, and not what that task achieves! During these periods it is easy to lose sight of the big picture – an authentic and transparent assessment of the development, a reduction in residual impacts if it proceeds, and promoting sustainable development.
Being outcome focussed helps you remember the big picture and what you want to achieve for the project, the project team, your organisational reputation and for you personally as an advocate of sustainable development.
They say that failing to plan is planning to fail. This modern-day proverb is widely attributed to Alan Lakein, the writer of several self-help books on time management from the 1970s onward. I have no doubt that few infrastructure projects set out to fail, but it is surprising how many do ultimately fail, and at such a significant cost to organisations and Governments.
Common reasons around too many priorities (such as time, cost and quality conflicts) and too often a failure to consider the wider social and physical environment until too late in the programme. It is easy toi understand the commercial pressures behind the scenarios, but it still amazes me how many professional Environmental and Engineering & Environmental companies are willing to put aside and sacrifice their brand and professional ethics by undertaking projects with a high likelihood of failure when following a pre-determined project option before undertaking some early form of EIA. Often all it takes is the self-discipline of making a simple site visit between all the key disciplines to discuss the site in situ.
On site they focus on evaluating the potential social, environmental and engineering constraints presented within the local environment (poor ground conditions, sensitive habitats, human activities, etc) and consider their impact on Project Deliverability and the Project’s Life cycle rather than optimising the time and cost elements of the Design and Build phase. This can make all the difference between success and failure.
In pushing such site visits personnally I have seen projects significantly amended in scope, the EIA given a much higher priority as the ‘politics of delivery’ become clearer for stakeholders, and in a few occasions cancelled as other alternatives are found. Have you created your EIA plan so you can impact early within the project or are you likely to be playing catch up with the engineering team and viewed as a blocker as valid issues arise thorough the EIA’s information gathering, scoping and consultation phases?
If you are clear about what you want to accomplish, it becomes much easier to plan what you are doing, when you are doing it and how you (and your EIA project team) will achieve it. When you sit down to work out EIA priorities you can simply ask yourself – ‘will this move me closer to the outcome I want?’.
EIA leadership that focus on the outcomes will achiever more, get more done and as a result deliver better EIA outcomes for society. As you achieve one result, it will act as a reinforcement and motivation to achieve more – this helps start and reinforce the leadership cycle within you.
In order to deliver an outcomes-focused approach as EIA leaders, we need to be aware of, and tackle, potential barriers both externally and within ourselves as EIA practitioners. This involves taking action and professional development in five areas.
One of the hardest elements I come across in many young EIA practitioners whilst conducting examinations for IEMA’s EIA practitioner registration scheme is the being aware of how your own core values and beliefs as an EIA practitioner. Many seek for others to infom them as if EIA was just a role to be played, others who understand the vocational elements of EIA struggle to identify thier own amongst the organisational cultures they inhabit.
There is great professional advantage in being aware of how your own values and beliefs will impact on and influence ‘outcome conversations’ in infrastructure project meetings and discussions. You are on the project to make a difference, and not just complete a regulatory challenge. Skew the setting of objectives towards what you think is desirable and realistically achievable rather than the Project Manager’s personal preferences and preferred goals.
Understanding your own biases and the biases being exhibited around you in complex development projects, Are assumptions and decisions being viewed through a far-sighted or short-sighted lens regarding sustainability, responsible management, ethics, human rights or eco-centric practices.
Are you and the team following the professional standards outlined by your professional bodies, and equally are the decisions regarding outcomes reflecting the clients own sustainability policy aspirations and goals.
Finally are you placing enough emphasis on your colleagues as a resource to enlighten your own learning and worldview. helping to build up project team relationship with the other disciplines to understand their aspirations, sustainability goals , help build the delivery team’s confidence and aid in resolving the inevitable dilemmas that arise.
Do you have the skills and influence to take others with you in the direction you wish to set. Have you developed internal strategies that both recognize that other professionals (stakeholders and clients) can also be bound by an outcome driven approach and mindset that they will use to opt for the known and the reliable rather than the challenge of environmentally inclusive design. It is not uncommon for other project team members to view the EIA process as a way of restricting access to recognised engineering ‘best practice’ approaches, particular where results are achieved in project terms and not in sustainability outcomes. It takes time and a variety of communication approaches to help you get your messages across.
Arguments and disagreements arise when personal stands over competing objectives arise. This can be beneficial or destructive to the overall project culture if these tensions are not creative or the team is unable to emotionally resolve them. Whose outcome wins? It may be easier for an autocratic project leader to determine their desire outcome, but infrastructure projects are now so complex that they require the input and professional insights of a wide range of professional disciplines. If your mindset does not take into account the views of others or understand their reasons for raising issues then conflict is likley!
Today’s EIA leaders require the leadership skills inherent in conflict resolution and the confidence to apply them around the project table. This may entail re-consideration of your own preferences or a re-evaluation of the ‘risk management’ into ‘risk enablement’ approaches that all can ascribe to.
EIA is built on the cornerstone that the views of other parties can enhance the final decision-making outcomes in large infrastructure projects. A greater level of successful outcomes can also be achieved through the careful consideration of input from internal and external stakeholders to the project. In fact many outcomes will only be achieved through the the active co-operation of communities and other professional/agencies.
The term ‘groupthink’ describes that inertia in creativity that often arises in project teams and organisations through mental tiredness, a sense of persecution externally or a preconceived sense of how they are expected to act collectively as a team. Its danger is that it leads to extreme consensus seeking tendencies. The risk for EIA leaders is that they are repeatedly coming to the meeting table with the views of external consultees and the rest of the project team mindset is resistant to any further ideas that challenge group unity or previous decision making.
The groupthink ‘danger zone’ for EIA-infrastructure projects is when the internal project team’s desire to reach an agreement is greater than the desire to think creatively or find the most logical solution. The risk is potentially more likely when preliminary designs become fixed before the EAI starts. Subsequently the EIA starts to erode the validity of earlier professional decissions, or instructions given to external support providers demands payments for alterations, or where innovation or flexibility threatens group cohesiveness.
An outcomes based leadership approach is not about streamlining resources or costs, however in an era of pressure on budgets and increasing infrastructure demand. An outcomes based approach in EIA should encourage lateral thinking and a more creative approach to eco-centric development and a focus (particularly when using public sector investment budgets) on a wider gain across economic, social and environmental outcomes – the triple bottom line. Such an approach may conflict with project teams who have a strong attachment to the ways thinks should be done.
There are three main areas that an outcome focussed leader can prioritise on in EIA. Firstly, the Quality of Environmentally Inclusive Design Outcomes. The outcomes that support an optimal balance between the project objectives and the wider environment, in essence those parabeters that whilst acknowledging the developments residual impacts also align with additional sustainability elements. Secondly, outcomes that deliver quality of life. The outcomes within a project’s delivery that reflect on its impact or contribution to eco-system services (the protection of valued services, their remediation or enhancement, and finally the restoration of lost services) . Finally Process Outcomes, not just in EIA delivery improvements but the way in which individuals in the project have learnt, adapted to and now consider sustainability in thier professional disciplines.
EIA leadership must take into account the way current and future development progresses and evolves, the human aspects that value the internal and external contributions of people into projects, and way in which decisions are support through changes.
The take away message — Being outcomes focussed can lift your EIA performance and your own brand of EIA leadership to a new level. So start considering the formal and infomal roles that EIA leaders fulfil in projects and what steps can you can personally take to re-focus on outcomes?
At Leading Green, our approach to EIA leadership training and mentoring encourages our private and public sector clients to look closely at their own internal leadership strengths and goals. Helping them adopt an inquisitive state of mind and supporting them in how sustainability can support their long-term business strategy.
We run the only EIA approved leadership course that has been accepted for delivery by the Internation Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) at their annual conferences in 2019 and 2020..