Category Archives: Project Management

Successful Project Management at the Executive Level

November 10, 2014 By in Project Management Tags: ,

The dream: A management team meets to deal with an opportunity or challenge. After some discussion a decision is made. Goals are decided. A project leader is appointed. A short number of weeks later the project leader calls a management meeting to present his deliverables. Management agrees that the deliverables have been met. The project is closed.

The reality (you know where this is going, don’t you?): A management team meets to deal with an opportunity or challenge. After some discussion a decision is made. Goals are decided. A project leader is appointed. Time passes. Nothing happens. The opportunity starts fading, or the challenge gets worse. More management meetings are called. The team leader gives his excuses. Management update the goals. This cycle is iterated until the opportunity disappears or the challenge becomes a crisis. Continue reading →

My Zawya Story: Negative Cash Flow Lessons

October 29, 2014 By in Project Management Tags: , ,

This post is part of the My Zawya Story series.

Negative cash flows are a standard feature of any start up and most SMEs when they go through a negative economic cycle. Anyone who has been through that knows well the sheer terror of wondering what he will tell his team on pay day when he does not have the funds to pay their salaries, or what he will tell suppliers, or how he can explain to his shareholders that he needs more funding. It is a sobering experience. Continue reading →

Extracting Value from Consultants

October 23, 2014 By in Project Management Tags: , 1 Comment

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A standard joke in business is that consultants work by asking existing employees for the solution and then packaging it nicely, rubber stamping it and presenting it as their solution to senior executives. The pervasiveness of this joke in business points to the the deeply held belief that this characterisation of consultants is true. Although the frustrations that businesses have in working with consultants is clear, the implication that consultants cannot add value beyond providing a stamp of external approval is false and quite unfair.

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