Module 03: Planning & Organising

3.2 What are the key steps?

Summary of Actions:

A. Plan and agree the process of stakeholder consultation
B. Select a management team and task force
C. Plan and agree a process
D. Select and appoint transaction advisors

A. Plan and agree the process of stakeholder consultation

It is necessary for the municipality to first identify who the key stakeholders are from the list of potential actors in the partnership arrangement [Tool 2]. It will also need to provide answers to the following questions:

◊ Which stakeholders will be consulted?

◊ When will they be consulted?

◊ How will they be consulted?

◊ How will these views be compiled?

◊ How will final decisions be made?


The methods that can be used for the identification of stakeholders and collection of the above information include those listed below.

◊ Stakeholder analysis – a method used to acquire an understanding of the power relationships, influence and interests of stakeholders involved in the development of a PPP project [Tool 9].

◊ Key informant interviewing – a method of data collection involving an interviewer asking questions of another person (a respondent). Interviews are good for getting subjective reactions, opinions and insights into how people feel about an issue. Interviews could be structured or open-ended.
a. Structured interviews take place once with a pre-defined set of questions and responses. A structured approach can provide more reliable, quantifiable data than an open-ended interview, and can be designed rigorously to avoid biases in the line of questioning.
b. Open-ended interviews permit the respondent (interviewee) to provide additional information, ask broad questions without a fixed set of answers and explore paths of questioning which may occur to the interviewer spontaneously during the interview. An open-ended approach allows for an exploratory approach to uncover unexpected information; it is used especially when the exact issues of interest have yet to be identified.
Structured and open-ended approaches may be combined. For instance, an interviewer can begin with structured questions then, once the quantifiable data has been covered, open up the discussion with the interviewee into other areas.

◊ Workshop – a planned event often involving residential stays, an agreed agenda or format, participatory activities, logged actions and the publication of a workshop report. It covers a wide range of intention from consultation and advocacy to the development of specific outputs, including stakeholder identification.

B. Select a management team and task force

Government agencies have primary responsibility and are accountable for the delivery of public-private partnership projects within their portfolio. Agencies should establish:

◊ a task force (committee) to oversee the development and implementation of projects; and
◊ a management team responsible for day-to-day project management.

The task force
is the central coordinating body for the ongoing development of the public-private partnership policy and guidance material and its application to projects within other agencies. The objectives of the task force include, but are not limited to, the following. To:

◊ advise and monitor the PPP project;

◊ raise awareness and maintain momentum toward the PPP arrangement;

◊ coordinate the implementation of commercialisation by individual authorities at the policy level;

◊ provide clarification on any policy issues; and

◊ design performance improvement indicators for specific activities.

The members of the task force will be drawn from a range of interested stakeholders, and may be from the public, private and/or the civil society sectors. Working groups could be established to report on progress in particular sector areas.
A task force should not be too large and its membership should not include individuals who have too many routine responsibilities.

The PPP management team
is established by the government agency to manage the partnership over the life of the service delivery. Senior municipal managers should identify the specific members of a “core” team that will work towards the setting up of the PPP.
A “project champion” should become part of the management team. As described in Tool 1, a champion (or leader, pioneer) can be a government official, an NGO representative, a business person or a citizen who – through his/her personal motivation make partnerships happen. The champion’s role in the management team could vary depending on his/her knowledge and skills; however, usually he/she remains as a project driver throughout the PPP process.
The team should be multi-sectoral, combining the skill sets of:

– community and poverty specialists;

– technical professionals (such as engineers);

– financial experts (perhaps from the treasury); and

– legal experts (perhaps the chamber secretary).

While the need for each skill will vary throughout the overall process, it is essential that the various disciplines all be represented. In addition, the work of the core team should be accompanied by capacity development relevant to its responsibilities. The skills of each member of the team should be noted down and compared with the skills that are actually required. The capacity development can then be targeted to ensure that the management team’s skills pool covers all the necessary requirements.
Team members should be allocated specific responsibilities and must be advised clearly on their lines of accountability – for example, are they accountable to their heads of department or to their team leader?

The management team works closely with all partners to ensure smooth and efficient delivery of project outcomes. Its day-to-day activities include, but are not limited to, performance monitoring, contract renegotiation, problem solving and conflict resolution.

C. Plan and agree a process

The first task of the management team and task force is to prepare an outline of the process. This should address the issues listed below:

◊ What will be done? – They need to establish a programme of steps that need to be taken to set up the PPP.

◊ When will it be done? – They must establish a schedule.

◊ Who will undertake this process and the specific steps? – Tasks need to be allocated.

◊ What are the milestones for decision-making?


This process must then be agreed with the municipality (or other relevant government structure).

D. Select and appoint transaction advisors

It is unlikely that all the skills needed for the development of the PPP will exist within the municipality. An important part of the planning stage is to determine what technical (and financial) support is required. To do so, the municipality should:

i. identify the additional skills that need to be brought in from advisors outside the municipality;

ii. estimate the cost of these advisors;

iii. identify the funding for these advisors;

iv. select the advisor(s); and

v. programme their inputs in relation to the overall process.

It is important that this process is initiated as soon as possible to ensure that hold-ups in this area do not discourage the process.

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