Institute of Management
Membership | West Midlands Region | Programme | Project Management
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Welcome
to the West Midlands Region .......
Region Officers
Region Chair: John Hopkinson
Secretary: Julian Cutler
Deputy
Secretary: Gillian Holloway
Treasurer: Brian Coley
Membership Development Officer: Ray Postings
Delegate to the North Staffs Professional Bodies Association: Brian Coley
Other members of the Region Board:
Bill Acres
Owen Williams
Stop Press! - News
Update - Spring 2004 Programme
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Spring Programme 2004 - West Midlands Region
The West Midlands Region is offering a wide ranging and interesting Spring Programme and we look forward to your support.
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On Saturday morning 17th January there was a presentation on the ‘History of Cadburys’ at the Badger’s Sett, Hagley. Cadburys in addition to being a major employer for over a century, have also been a significant social influence on Birmingham and the West Midlands, for example through the Bourneville Trust. Following the presentation there was the Region Annual General Meeting.
An afternoon visit and conducted tour of Armitage Shanks production facilities at Armitage, Staffs is being planned. Armitage Shanks is a major producer of bathroom and sanitary ware in an increasingly competitive World market. This is an opportunity to see how a British based manufacturer is responding to increased world competition. Members please register for the visit and we will advise you of the final details.
During March there was a very interesting afternoon visit to Morgan Cars, Malvern to see the production methods still used to hand build the world famous Morgan sports cars. This proved a very interesting visit.
On Saturday 24th April there will be guided walking tour of the Jewellery Quarter and old Birmingham, combined with a visit to the Birmingham Pen Museum.
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On
Saturday 22nd March 2003 a large party of members and guests assembled at
the historic Gloucester docks for a very interesting tour, buffet lunch and
trip on the canal. A full report was included in the Institute’s Journal and below is some of the photographs from the visit..
Historic
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Companies are leaving major projects to chance
"Planning? What planning?"
Recent research indicates that despite the government’s encouragement for organisations to use methodologies such as PRINCE 2, many companies are still leaving the running of major projects to chance, with little effective thought or planning going on before or after the event. As a result only 18 per cent of companies say their projects run to time and to budget. Furthermore, a staggering 80 per cent of companies said at least one in 10 projects ends up being shelved.
The research also revealed that a massive 75 per cent of companies have no process in place to examine the reasons behind a project's failure. It is important for senior management to understand why projects turn out the way they do - especially if a project has run over time or over budget. Too often many companies seem to regard projects running over time and over budget with a "that's life" attitude. Companies need to have the processes in place to work out why this situation is arising before it is critical and what action can be taken.
The research findings seem to suggest that the principal reason projects are running late or breaking the budget is due to poor planning which means timescale and budget are often woefully inaccurate.
The most common quoted reasons for projects running into trouble were constantly changing requirements, cited by 36 per cent of respondents and badly defined requirements (31 per cent). The project planning process must ensure everybody is 'singing from the same hymn sheet' and that all decisions are properly recorded to avoid misunderstandings and ambiguities, which later cause problems. Companies need to have a system in place where all the people involved are viewing the same information.
Surviving a crisis
1.
Is the Crisis Real
2. Anticipate Trouble Spots
A real crisis is anything which can seriously or fatally undermine the credibility of an individual or the organisation. So attempt to identify areas under your control were minor problems could escalate into major problems and a crisis situation. Consider worse case scenarios and how you could alleviate or overcome the problems, carefully monitor potential 'hot spots' so you can take early action before things become critical.
3. Picking at the bones
In most organisations there are vultures only too willing to pick over the bones of those who are in trouble - it diverts attention from any problems or missed deadlines that they are experiencing. And all the better if they can heap the blame for their short comings on the poor individual who is already suffering problems. Identify your organisation's vultures and how they operate, and anticipate how they might turn your drama into a crisis.
4. Points of detail
In a crisis people notice little things, so if you are in the midst of a major problem, behave as if everything is under control. If you rush round looking in a panic and out of control you could undermine your remaining credibility and bring about your own early career crisis. In the absence of fact, people will focus on detail and read more into them than reality should allow.
5. Have a rescue plan
In the best 'Blue Peter' tradition have a plan which you prepared earlier. In a crisis there are many pressures and little time to think so ideally you will have identified potential problems and the worst case scenarios with your team and produced at least an outline plan which should help you to minimise the impact and help you recover the situation.
6. After the crisis
When the situation has been recovered, get back to your normal work. But do review the situation and identify what lessons can be learnt and make sure that if actions are required these are put into place, and hope that your credibility has survived the test.
