So the FEMA head was removed due to problems with the deployment of assets into the hurricane Katrina disaster area. This really makes no sense as Florida was hit with back to back to back hurricanes a few years back and they were able to fend for themselves while FEMA geared up. Could it be that the local government could use a few lessons in project management and preparation!
Trying to manage a project in 2 areas is tough enough but what about changes that need to occur over continents or countries? Here is a list of potential problems that may impact the success of an international project.
1.Language barriers
2 Time zones especially important the farther away the areas are from each other
3. Distance from each other. It’s almost impossible to “pop over” to Australia for a few hours or for a meeting. and be back for dinner with the family.
4. Work Ethic. Some cultures are driven for the benefit of the business while others are more focused on a laid back type of business ethic.
5.Communication. Words mean different things to different people. The assumption that others understand the inferences of American English is a potential problem source
6. Etiquette. Asian countries take position and etiquette very seriously. This extends to the point where even a verbal agreement may not actually BE an agreement in understanding but simple politeness.
7. Trust. Many countries do not have the same level of appreciation or laws to protect copyrights or intellectual property. This can create a difficult situation as these type of products cannot simply be sent to these countries without serious consideration of the potential consequences.
Project Management Truisms by Marios Alexandrou, Project Manager
Friday, August 26, 2005
I stumbled on a long list of tongue-in-cheek project management truisms the other day. These were meant to be funny, but they sure hit the nail on the head.
Here are the first 21 from the list:
Nothing is impossible for the person who doesn’t have to do it.
You can con a sucker into committing to an impossible deadline, but you cannot con him into meeting it.
At the heart of every large project is a small project trying to get out.
The more desperate the situation the more optimistic the situatee.
A change freeze is like the abominable snowman: it is a myth and would melt anyway when heat is applied.
A user will tell you anything you ask, but nothing more.
Of several possible interpretations of a communication, the least convenient is the correct one.
There’s never enough time to do it right first time but there’s always enough time to go back and do it again.
The bitterness of poor quality lasts long after the sweetness of making a date is forgotten.
I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
What is not on paper has not been said.
A little risk management saves a lot of fan cleaning.
If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs, you haven’t understood the plan.
If at first you don’t succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.
Feather and down are padding, changes and contingencies will be real events.
There are no good project managers - only lucky ones.
The more you plan the luckier you get.
A project is one small step for the project sponsor, one giant leap for the project manager.
Good project management is not so much knowing what to do and when, as knowing what excuses to give and when.
If everything is going exactly to plan, something somewhere is going massively wrong.
Everyone asks for a strong project manger - when they get one, they don’t want one.