Change Management (for Crown & Kingdom),
Not So Good News, Good Covid News,
Bio-Medical Projects, AI,
Project Finance Matters and
Corporate Risk at the House of Commons
REPORT
By Miles Shepherd
Executive Advisor & International Correspondent
Salisbury, England, UK
INTRODUCTION
The last month proved to be quite remarkable here in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We have come to the end of the Silly Season as the ladies and gentlemen of the Fifth Estate find novel and contentious things to report while the Great British Public (GBP) have witnessed events both sad and joyous. I will make brief mention of events you may have noted in your daily newspaper before passing on to consider issues of project finance, innovative projects, a couple of problem projects and ponder the future of project management. I try to keep the same headings each month so you can test yourself by working out which of the items I just mentioned fit into the usual headlines.
GOOD NEWS
Starting with the weather, as we usually do in these parts, greetings from a sunny UK. I say sunny because where I live has been in the grip of a drought for about a year and we had wonderfully blue skies for weeks on end. That in itself can be considered good news but even better, our illustrious government has actually noticed and declared it officially. Sharp as a rubber bucket as ever, some wonder whether this glance away from their collective navels in Westminster is the result of Our Illustrious Leader, known to all in the project world as OIL to avoid confusing him with a Project Manager (PM), departing Downing Street to allow our third woman Prime Minister to take up occupation. Some see no connection between these events and others view this as unmitigated good news so I leave you to take your pick.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
OK, I know, this is a new headline but the story did not fit any of the old ones – so I was forced to add this. September is a month of change in the northern hemisphere and despite rumours to the contrary, we do embrace change here. I’ve already mentioned the change of OIL (not to be confused with servicing of motor cars) but far more significant was the transfer of the Monarchy. As the world knows only too well, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle on 8 September. We were all taken aback and mightily cheered by the outpouring of grief and expressions of sympathy from around the world. The Beatles summed it all up in one of the four songs they wrote that mentioned her.
As one chapter in our history closed, another opened and this was marked by a programme of projects that had long been planned.
Leaving Scotland – Image AP & Daily Mail
First, the Queen returned from Scotland to London, with a long drive in convoy through the southern part of the Highlands to Edinburg and a night of repose at St Giles Cathedral.
After a flight south and a remarkable journey from RAF Northolt to Buckingham Palace for a last night. The journey saw traffic on the route stop in the pouring rain to allow people to line the roads to pay their respects to the Monarch.
The next project, the lying in state in Westminster Hall, a part of the Palace of Westminster, followed, marked by queues stretching at times for up to 5 miles as the more than a quarter of a million people filed past the coffin…
More…
To read entire report, click here
How to cite this report: Shepherd, M. (2022). UK Project Management Roundup, PM World Journal, Vol. XI, Issue X, October. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/pmwj122-Oct2022-Shepherd-UK-Regional-Report-2.pdf
About the Author
Miles Shepherd
Salisbury, UK
Miles Shepherd is an executive editorial advisor and international correspondent for PM World Journal in the United Kingdom. He is also managing director for MS Projects Ltd, a consulting company supporting various UK and overseas Government agencies, nuclear industry organisations and other businesses. Miles has over 30 years’ experience on a variety of projects in UK, Eastern Europe and Russia. His PM experience includes defence, major IT projects, decommissioning of nuclear reactors, nuclear security, rail and business projects for the UK Government and EU. Past Chair, Vice President and Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM), Miles is also past president and chair and a Fellow of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). He was a Director for PMI’s Global Accreditation Centre and is immediate past Chair of the ISO committee developing new international standards for Project Management and for Program/Portfolio Management. Miles is Chair of the British Standards Institute’s Committee on Project, Programme and Portfolio Management and has been involved in the development of Uk’s BSI 6079 for more than 25 years. He was involved in setting up APM’s team developing guidelines for project management oversight and governance. Miles is based in Salisbury, England and can be contacted at miles.shepherd@msp-ltd.co.uk.
To view other works by Miles Shepherd, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/miles-shepherd/.
