Contextual analysis is based on the principle that all action or behaviour occurs within specific contexts. It includes all the factors that affect sustainable delivery of the infrastructure services a community desires and needs. These factors can be both internal and external, and positive or negative. An AM practitioner would identify and analyze these influences and effects. Examples of AM contextual factors include the community’s assets and their condition, internal and external stakeholders, current and desired levels of service, population and demographic trends, regulatory conditions, climate change, and budget.

Effective Behaviours:

• Identifies and maintains an understanding of the community’s stakeholders, interests and interactions, including influencers, leaders, groups, culture, background, history, politics, legal basis, incentives and motivations, and appropriate communication channels. Assesses the socio-economic factors that influence community demands, needs, expected service levels, and service affordability. Analyzes the environmental context of the community, including how it interacts with the built environment and the services natural assets provide.
• Identifies and maintains an understanding of the organization’s stakeholders, interests and interactions, including influencers, leaders, departments, organizational culture, legal basis, regulatory requirements, roles and responsibilities, organizational structure, processes, information flows, risk appetites and allocations, and decision-making processes. Appropriately applies knowledge of asset requirements, processes, and procedures involved in AM life cycle activities in day-to-day work.
• Recognizes, assesses and considers relevant interrelated aspects of a problem’s context, including people, places, events, systems, processes, and the interactions, interdependencies, and relationships between them. Selects and applies appropriate strategic analytical techniques, both qualitative and quantitative (including appropriate statistical methods), to understand aspects of community context. Identifies potential hidden biases or assumptions in analyses. Balances the need for a holistic understanding of context with the need for identifying the most pressing or immediate considerations or contextual factors.
• Applies stakeholder engagement principles and best practices to the analysis of context. Assesses how citizens interact with the organization’s assets, people, and processes. Identifies where improvements can be made to meet citizens’ expectations for service and service experience, and how to achieve those improvements. Applies this knowledge to improve the community and organization’s operations, plans and tasks.

Go to the AM Functional Areas pages to see what proficiency in this competency is expected for each AM Role.

Go to the Competency Assessment page to learn how to assess your proficiency in this competency.