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So, are things changing in the MENA “One thing for certain, Notice here, the project manager does Admittedly, there are many companies “However, there don’t yet know the extent of the damage
Region or they will always be the not have the luxury of referring to pre- with very effective BoD but, you would this viral war will exact on our world.
same? is that the project defined standard procedures and he be surprised how many more could do are enough clues to However, there are enough clues to
Yes, they are changing but, very slowly, or she can only rely on the collective with an objective external perspective. suggest that this is unquestionably a
and often in an untimely manner, manager cannot, as a experience of the project team to major ‘game changer’, if not the biggest
when it is too late to rescue the identify the nature of the problems The service provided can be around suggest that this is game change in living memory; much
business from its destructive owners. matter of routine, look and how to resolve them. One thing strategic planning but, the duties of a bigger than the Millennium Bug or
Having said that, change is moving at for culprits to blame for certain, is that the project manager modern BoD are considerably more unquestionably a major the financial crash of 2008. Look at
a much faster pace in certain business cannot, as a matter of routine, look for diverse and complex. The composition the Nine-Eleven of 2001 incident and
sectors such as insurance, banking, instead of looking for culprits to blame instead of looking of the Bod of executives, shareholders ‘game changer’, if not how much of an impact it had on our
and investment as these are heavily for solutions to fix. Once the project and independent is one dimension all of our lives from social, business,
regulated internationally and wherever solutions to fix. Once the is concluded, it is an excellent practice but, the diversity along the lines of the biggest game change international relations and state control
your business is based, you have to to conduct a project post-mortem in age, gender, ethnicity and intellectual standpoints. Some of the changes were
follow the same rules and regulations as project is concluded, it order to identify lessons learnt and perspectives are also important elements. in living memory; for the good because we no longer
all other insurers, bankers and investors is an excellent practice where necessary apportion praise or Articulation of the organisation’s value take safety and security of travel for
throughout the world. In many cases, blame to individuals. system is fast becoming an important much bigger than the granted. Other changes were not so
they don’t like it but, they have no choice to conduct a project criterion for judging the effectiveness positive like bunching many countries
other than follow the international I have been involved in too many of a company’s strategies and business Millennium Bug or the together as terror state, making them
rules. Those who don’t, sooner or later post-mortem in order to projects where these rules were not plans. Installation of corporate legitimate target for sanctions and
find themselves in big trouble. observed because someone high up governance best practices are also key. financial crash of 2008. ” invasion, causing millions of ordinary
identify lessons learnt wanted blood and demanded guilty Lastly, effective communication with all people to suffer.
In your recent article “The Blame and where necessary parties. The end result is that the project stakeholders (shareholders, employees,
Game” published in the latest loses its team spirit, politics becomes clients, suppliers, legislative or regulatory bodies, as well As far as the Coronavirus pandemic impact on the business
issue of Diva International, you apportion praise or prevalent and the whole thing becomes as the communities the business operates within, is the world, this will bring in some retrograde changes but mostly,
discuss and contrast the nature of a survival game, at the expense of the responsibility of the BoD. I am optimistic the changes will be for the better. Many
project management with, let us say blame to individuals.” project and ultimately the project is companies already practice remote working, thus saving
‘departmental management’. Why do doomed to failure. As you can see, the BoD being at the apex of a company on unnecessary travel of staff, use of expensive real estate
you think this is such an important issue to bring out and pyramid demands that such a body to provide active and in prime urban locations. If this new practice is applied on
draw attention to? Projects are very expensive if they do not deliver the benefits effective leadership. The consultancy I set up is called permanent basis, there will be significant cost-cutting in
If you go back to basics, a business is mostly run according hoped for and to ignore this aspect is, to my way of thinking ‘Ducibus Consultancy Services’. In case you are wondering, business running and a bonus reduction on the environment.
to a specific set of rules / procedures / standards. Managers is extremely dangerous to any organisation. Ducibus is Latin for leadership and guidance so, it is quite Already, we are seeing and experiencing cleaner air, less light
are charged with part of the business such as marketing, fitting. There is a website which covers in more details all of and noise pollution, recovery of wildlife and so on. Of course,
sales, finance, I.T, and so on to conduct business successfully, Are you saying that in a project situation you would avoid the above: www.ducibus.co.uk some of these benefits are temporary until the world business
lawfully and cost-effectively. Managers have at their disposal blaming individuals, leaving to the end, even if by the machine is kickstarted again but, I am convinced that many
budgets, skilled and competent resources which they are end they might have made things worse? Think of what is The international community and the specialised agencies people will not return to the ‘bad old days’ of disregard and
supposed to utilise to the best of their abilities. When things happening in certain countries in the way they dealt with are often a little disconnected from the business world. What disrespect of our precious planet.
go wrong either because rules / procedures / standards have the Coronavirus, when experts give politicians wrong or can be done to improve this relationship?
not been followed or, political conflict occurred within the badly timed advice, people lose their lives. That is often true, I am sad to admit. If you think of these And what about the philosophical argument going on
one department or across more than one department. It’s the That’s a very good point, in the way you put it and indeed specialised agencies as businesses, once they achieve success, between the American centralisation versus the European
managers’ responsibility to identify the source of the problem you should act immediately if the source of information is they grow lazy; just like any commercial business from and Far Eastern globalisation model?
and act accordingly, from making changes to the standards, a bad one. However, things are hardly ever that simple and restaurants to airline manufacturers. This is suicide really. I am not a fan of the Trump doctrine which advocates
resolving the politics, up-training members of staff at the inn the chaos that prevails during a pandemic, everyone is Every organisation, even not-for-profit ones must always seek ‘America First’ and the rest of the world can take a jump in the
heart of the problem, to the drastic out-placement of certain learning as they go along, and action taken is not always an to improve what it has to offer. It must keep in touch with the ocean. If a supplying nation is unwilling to give the USA the
people, hoping the measures would bring the business ship exact science. What I am observing is a number of people outside world and establish whether or not what it provides best commercial terms, then they will either take it elsewhere
back on the right course. who feel the best way to contribute is to stay on the side lines is still relevant. You can do market research, assemble focus or even repatriate the production to the USA.
and wait for those busy trying to deal with the pandemic groups, introduce pilot services, gather data, analyse the data
However, projects are entirely different creatures. They so they can blame them for making wrong decisions. Very to death and so on. However, the simplest and most effective However, I think there will be an amalgam of the two
are meant to be for a finite period of time to bring about a often the decision is not so critical that it may have disastrous way is talking to your client base; better still, listen to your models. The idea of business globalisation will have to
business change / improvement. So, investment is dedicated consequences. client base and have the humility to accept harsh and painful be fundamentally re-defined. In my younger days, I lived
to such a project to accomplish the overall objectives, feedback. through globalisation as it was applied and misapplied across
within the agreed timescales, and allocated budget. Suitably Setting Coronavirus epidemic aside, you recently planned various business sectors with mixed results. For example, just
qualified individuals are temporarily recruited from various on returning to London to provide business consultancy in Sorry, but I want to go back to the Coronavirus, if you don’t in Time ‘JIT’ principle in the supply chain was and remains
department or as external contractors and they are charged London. Can you tell us what services you had in mind to mind. Do you think the business world will look markedly successful. However, devolving low skill-based services (e.g.
with delivering the project according to the three criteria focus on providing? different after the pandemic from what it was like say, on 1st customer help centres) or manufacturing of component
above. For whatever reason, this is an extremely difficult In a way, I gave many clues in my previous answers. Put January 2020? If so, which are the business sectors, countries elements, proved to be less successful. When the pandemic
task to accomplish and before long, problems arise, and simply, when the pandemic has been concurred, I am and regions most likely to suffer badly, and which are those arrived, it favoured countries which were self-sufficient or
corrective measures must be put in place to rescue the offering a service to company boards of directors (BoD) most likely to come out intact? specialised in the production of certain types of equipment
situation. to help them improve their ability to lead the organisation. Of course, as we are still in the middle of the pandemic, we (medical like ventilators, and testing kits), food and other

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