Scarborough Subway Extension

Managing the permits that enable construction

June 2021 - December 2023

Agenda

Background
The Challenge
My Approach
Key Learnings

Background

Shortly after starting at Dillon, I joined the permit acquisition and management team for the Scarborough Subway Extension (SSE) project.

Being a major transit project, many stakeholders were involved. Below is a simplified version of the stakeholder relationships:

The Challenge

Each stakeholder had varying timelines, responsibilities, and interests

Each permit application required a variety of supporting documents that often required coordination between multiple teams

With permitting relying heavily on the upstream activities of others, how could these factors be managed to stay on schedule?

My Approach

#RoadToSuccess

1 - Established lines of communication

Identified who was responsible for what, the best ways to reach them (ie. formed my mental model of the project "org chart"), and established myself as the permit team's representative.

2 - Built rapport

Spoke to people like they were humans and not just mysterious beings on the other side of the screen. People are much more willing to work with you when you treat them with kindness and empathy.

3 - Aligned multi-disciplinary teams

I led weekly meetings to get teams aligned on permitting activities and establish responsibilities. These consistent check-ins also fostered a sense of unity and trust with the project owners (Metrolinx) .
Outside of these multi-team meetings, I tailored my communication approaches to each stakeholder to align with their unique interests.

Key Takeaways

Through this project, I grew tremendously both professionally and as a person. I learned that...

Investing time in understanding stakeholder relationships and team dynamics fosters collaboration and trust

The ability to be assertive and persuasive is highly valuable when managing conflicting interests and priorities

Effective planning must be adaptable to accommodate changes caused by multiple upstream factors