MANAGING STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT FOR LINEAR ASSET INTEGRITY PROJECTS

Aging infrastructure assets require occasional inspections and maintenance to ensure their integrity. Whether you’re working on a highway, railway, pipeline, or electrical grid, you’ll need to periodically communicate with affected stakeholders to make the necessary arrangements and keep people informed about potential impacts of these activities. 

Before any sort of maintenance activity, teams need to contact different groups of stakeholders for a number of reasons. They might need to:   

  • negotiate right-of-way (ROW) agreements
  • document landowners’ conditions for accessing land
  • inform occupants about upcoming work and provide safety information
  • ensure compliance with applicable laws
  • secure regulatory approvals and acquire necessary permits
  • arrange any necessary inspections
  • coordinate with external suppliers and contractors
  • document issues, concerns, or complaints

When data is stored in different places and populated by different teams, it can be incredibly difficult to compile the information you need. And when processes aren’t integrated between different sites or departments, it can become burdensome – if not virtually impossible – to see and understand the big picture.

That’s a lot to manage! Fortunately, Borealis is designed to address these challenges and support you every step of the way.

Let’s look at an example.

One of Jeanine’s primary objectives is to reduce the time it takes to get the maintenance team into the field.
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Before adopting Borealis, identifying the stakeholders for a project like this was a long and arduous task. Jeanine’s team had to comb through dozens of spreadsheets to assemble the list, then manually identify and manage duplicate records. This time, Jeanine will use Borealis to quickly generate a line list report. She can identify stakeholders along the relevant section of pipeline in several ways. 

Quickly identify the people you need to talk to

The integrated GIS mapping functionality in Borealis helps teams manage stakeholder engagement for their projects more efficiently.
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GIS mapping allows Jeanine to:

  • clearly identify impacted land areas,
  • overlay social and environmental data, and
  • cross reference stakeholders with infrastructure assets.

Shapefiles in Borealis can be automatically imported and updated using the API to ensure consistency with other systems.

Teams can leverage this geographic information to identify stakeholders they need to engage with, based on specific land parcels or stakeholder groups (e.g., landowners, occupants, etc.). 
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Borealis provides different options to help Jeanine build line list reports. She can:

  • Draw points, lines, or polygons on the map to define a region. 
  • Copy and paste a list of coordinates (typically supplied by an engineering team) to generate a point, line, or polygon. 
  • Choose existing company assets (or specify the relevant chainage range of a linear asset) and define a buffer zone around the affected area
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Plan and delegate engagement activities

Now that her line list is ready, Jeanine will start planning engagement activities. In Borealis, she can easily coordinate these efforts from her Stakeholder Engagement Plan.

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Jeanine’s line list for this project includes more than 500 people. Some prefer to be contacted in person, while others want to be contacted by phone, email, or SMS.

Jeanine creates activities to contact stakeholders using their preferred method.

Next, she filters the line list and links stakeholders to the appropriate activity.

Finally, she enters a deadline (or frequency), and
assigns these activities to members of her team,
who will contact the stakeholders accordingly.

Create custom dashboards
 to monitor activities in real time

To ensure that she always knows how the project is progressing, Jeanine configures her home page in Borealis to monitor important KPIs.

For this project she wants to make sure she always knows:

  • how many stakeholders the team has interacted with,
  • what topics have been discussed,
  • who the key influencers are, and
  • which engagement methods are used.

While Jeanine is primarily concerned with the bigger picture, members of her team need to focus on their personal assignments.  

Jeanine creates personalized dashboards for her team that show:

  • each person’s to-do list (tasks and activities),
  • information about their key stakeholders, and
  • a shared calendar, so everyone can see the schedule of upcoming engagements.

Use integrated communication tools
to document interactions

Rodrigo is a Community Relations Specialist on Jeanine’s team. He works in Borealis every day.

Rodrigo’s primary responsibility is reaching out to stakeholders to provide information, answer questions, and address any concerns that arise.

When Rodrigo interacts with a stakeholder he uses a number of time-saving tools to quickly document his interactions. His favorite features are the  Outlook add-in – which lets him record emails and calendar events in Borealis without ever leaving Outlook – and the Borealis Mobile Application.

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Rodrigo uses integrated communication tools like Smart Communications and the SMS messaging add-on allow him to send (and record) messages that are sent to groups of stakeholders, along with their replies.

His team also uses the Online Grievance & Feedback Portal to collect anonymous feedback from stakeholders.

Rodrigo can review and respond to messages submitted through the portal right from Borealis.

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Review recent interactions before reaching out

Rodrigo has one important stakeholder he needs to contact today. Her name is Kathleen Niles, and he knows from their previous interactions that she owns several land parcels close to the pipeline.

As a landowner, Kathleen might be contacted by other teams about other issues (such as inspections, compliance agreement, or right of way negotiations).

Before contacting Kathleen, Rodrigo checks the history of communications in Borealis to see if anyone else from his organization has interacted with her since their last conversation.

He reviews any recent communications to make sure he engages with her in an appropriate, informed way.

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Rodrigo can see Kathleen’s land parcels on a map, together with information about the land itself and about any agreements that have been signed with her.

GIS overlaps let him see if her land parcels overlap other relevant areas, like county borders, protected areas, or electoral districts. 

Any conditions for accessing the land and any agreements with the landowner can be linked to the land parcel itself for easy reference.

This lets teams monitor the complete history of engagements related to a specific parcel of land, including:

  • interactions with a previous owner,
  • prior commitments, and
  • any complaints or grievances they should be aware of.
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Rodrigo can see that there are two conditions to access Kathleen’s land: she must be contacted by phone 48 hours beforehand, and the gates on her property must be left as they were found.

Attach documents and photos to records

Users can easily add documents and photos to communications, land parcels, and stakeholder records. This makes it easy to demonstrate compliance when they need to provide evidence of consultation, or proof that landowners conditions were respected.

For example, when a maintenance team accesses Kathleen’s land, they can include a photo to prove that the gate was properly closed when they left the property.

The Borealis Mobile Application lets users access, create, and modify records to answer questions, enter communications or grievances, or add photos to a record.

The app includes an offline mode, which lets the team enter communications even when they don’t have a reliable internet connection, and the data will sync with Borealis the next time they connect to a network.

Users can also enter a location based on their phone’s GPS coordinates, which can be extremely helpful when referencing a specific position on a large land parcel.

Generate meaningful reports on demand,
in just a few clicks 

This project involves a significant amount of data, but the advanced reporting tools in Borealis help users extract meaningful, up-to-the-moment insights in just a few clicks.
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Borealis Analytics lets Jeanine instantly generate reports to:

  • inform strategic decisions,
  • prioritize activities, and
  • help her answer tough questions on the spot.

The Community Relations uses Analytics to:

  • easily monitor areas where they have and haven’t engaged,
  • track the status of easement or property tenure on the map, and
  • gauge stakeholder sentiment to identify potential hot spots or concerns.
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Users can click on any chart, graph or widget to drill down into the underlying data.
Reports can be exported in a variety of different formats to share outside of Borealis, and can be emailed to interested parties at regular intervals so the team can see that project activities are on track.

Congratulations!

Jeanine’s team has contacted all of the project stakeholders and made the necessary arrangements to send the maintenance team into the field in a fraction of the usual time. Community members have been informed about the project, and Jeanine’s team is aware of their concerns so they will be prepared to track, mitigate, and respond to any issues that arise.

Want to learn more? 

Find out how Borealis can help you fast-track stakeholder engagement for linear asset integrity projects.  

ASSET MANAGEMENT WITH BOREALIS

Any project that involves siting, constructing, maintaining or decommissioning assets needs to keep its stakeholders in mind throughout the project lifecycle to gain or maintain public approval.

Building a power line?

You need to pull the abutters list and obtain the right of way from various stakeholders along proposed routes, demonstrate you’ve engaged landowners and continue to manage their concerns about the project.

Need to schedule a maintenance activity on one of your assets?

You have to communicate with the right stakeholders and make sure they are informed about the potential impact of these activities.

Planning the route for a pipeline transmission project?

Getting a social license to operate and stakeholders’ approval is crucial for your project to move forward.

See how Borealis helps you every step as you work towards social acceptance.

Your project

There are many factors to consider when planning maintenance activities or the right path for a linear utility project. Having the right tools to assess, track, and understand these factors will directly impact the success, safety, and reliability of your project.

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Borealis Assets and Land Management functionality

Define your options

When the engineering team gets on board to determine various options or your team of experts needs to make decisions about an upcoming maintenance activity or proposed route, your map becomes a handy tool for viewing the impacts on that area.
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Automatically import and update various shapefiles in the system using Borealis’ API to obtain a clear view of impacted land areas, natural resources, assets, and infrastructure

Ready to announce your project?

Not so fast!

Identify your key stakeholders and impacted people

In land-based projects, stakeholders are often defined by land parcel and location within your project. Using geographical information technologies (GIS) and being able to link your commitments, communications, and engagements to these parcels is crucial. Plus, you’ll be sure no one is forgotten

  • Link the comments or sentiment of public hearing attendees to their parcel and your assets.
  • See which assets or infrastructure are at risk and take action in a timely manner.
  • Track project sentiment and trends.
buffer-zone

The buffer zone enables you to define an area around your assets to determine which parcel owners you need to talk to.

shapefile

Merging maps and geographical information (like shapefiles) in Borealis will highlight which parcels are impacted by a route or other linear asset.

Who are your key stakeholders? What do you need to tell them? How can you contact them? When is the right time?

Build a solid engagement plan

You now have all the information you need to build a strong preliminary engagement plan. Keep in mind that projects change; so do stakeholders and their opinions. This plan will need to be reviewed and refined over time.

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Be super efficient with Borealis project management functionalities. Create multiple engagement plans related to your objectives & milestones, preset all tasks, and assign them to your team.

Start engaging! Centralize your data and access it at all times.

Borealis lets you follow the evolution of your engagement activities in real time, parcel by parcel.

  • Centralize all communications with stakeholders in Borealis without leaving your Outlook environment with the Outlook Add-In.
  • Use the mobile app to collect stakeholder sentiments, take pictures of issues to address, and prepare for face-to-face meetings. You can also add stakeholders to Borealis right as you meet them.
  • Link the comments or sentiments of public hearing attendees to their parcel and your assets.
  • See which assets or infrastructure are at risk and take action in a timelier manner.
  • Create and manage commitments with stakeholders.
  • Link easement agreements to stakeholders and track which right of ways have been signed in real time.
  • Access stakeholder data during public hearings to quickly address tough questions.
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Multiple data entry applications. User-friendly interface, mobile application, Outlook Add-In.

How far from public approval are you?

Improve decision making with real time & precise data

By this point, you will have a mountain of actionable data. Gain clear insight in no time on how quickly you’re advancing toward project approval. Our Analytics modules allow you to:

  • Be proactive rather than reactive.
  • Track project sentiments and trends.
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Demonstrate compliance

Easily prove compliance with industry regulations and investor requirements by extracting information showing who you have been communicating with, and when.

See if there are any hot spots or specific concerns that require more attention from your team.

 

Track data in real time and the history of your team’s engagements.

Build trusted relationships

After you have analyzed your data, you’ll be able to plan strategic actions that take into account both your operations and your stakeholders. This will ensure smoother and quicker approval for your project, avoiding wasted funds.

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Drilling down
directly from your map lets you access the right information intuitively in a fraction of the time.

Congratulations!

You can demonstrate to regulators that you’ve done your due diligence. Community members are informed, you’re aware of the issues and can respond to, track, and mitigate future problems.

Keep on engaging

Once your project is approved and ready to move forward, continue to maintain positive relationships with stakeholders. Chances are you’ll need to re-engage them as things evolve, and their continued support will be essential. Stay on top of your compensation commitments using Borealis’ land access functionality.

Key features

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Mapping assets and stakeholders

  • Drill down information directly from you map
  • See issues, grievances, and communications at a glance
  • Communicate with the right stakeholders
  • Link stakeholders to various assets
  • Access up-to-date information when you need it most
  • Import or create shapefiles
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Mobile application

  • Know what your stakeholders think before you meet them
  • Avoid being blindsided
  • Input data directly into Borealis while working in the field
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Buffer zone

  • Define a buffer zone around assets
  • Know who you need to engage with
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Multiple options for entering data

  • Use API to communicate with existing software
  • Add information from anywhere with the mobile App
  • Easily import and export data in batches
  • Upload images
  • Track emails
analytics

Analytics

  • Report
  • Track
  • Improve your strategies
  • Demonstrate compliance

Our software is great. Our customer success team is even greater.

As part of our service, a member of our customer success team will visit your business to understand your internal methodologies, day-to-day challenges and stakeholders. We take the time to find out how we can ease system adoption and optimize the way you build relationships with stakeholders. Get a confident start now.