Good News, Other Project News, Not So Good News, BREXIT and Singing with Monty Python
REPORT
By Miles Shepherd
Executive Advisor & International Correspondent
Salisbury, England, UK
INTRODUCTION
No prizes for guessing the topic of this month’s report – BREXIT rules! However, not in the way most readers, especially in UK would have predicted. As the deadline for departure draws inexorably closer, minds should be concentrating on what this all means for those of us who make up the Project World.
GOOD NEWS
There is precious little good news to report this month but there is always something positive in most situations. Broadly speaking, Project People should be in a good position come the dreadful day as we are the ones who bring beneficial change. Actually, we should have been in a good position with our skills ever since Article 50 was triggered in 2017. BREXIT is by far the largest programme we have faced since the last World War. We will see many changes, some expected, like the trading rules under which the nation operates and the movement of people in and out of the country; some will not be anticipated either because no-one bothered to think the situation through clearly or because the risk simply did not occur to anyone.
OTHER PROJECT NEWS
I reported last month on the review of the business case for High Speed 2. The future of Europe’s largest infrastructure project hangs in the balance as the planning for the go – no go review takes place. Douglas Oakervee will undertake the review with a remit to report by the end of the year. Oakervee has previous form in chairing reviews as he reviewed the case for the Mayor of London’s proposal for a new airport on an island to be constructed in the Thames estuary. Curiously the Mayor was a guy called Boris Johnson…It will be interesting to see the results as Oakervee was also the Chair of Crossrail in 2009 and of HS2 from 2012 – 2013. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the association for Project Management. (photo: Ben Gurr)
And there’s more to celebrate as a £10 million project cuts drug misuse in British jails. The introduction of body scanners, metal detectors and extra staff has resulted in a major reduction in assaults and drug use.
Other successful projects include the construction of more Type 26 frigates by BAE Systems…
More…
To read entire report, click here
How to cite this report: Shepherd, M. (2019). August 2019 UK Project Management Roundup, PM World Journal, Vol. VIII, Issue VIII, September. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/pmwj85-Sep2019-Shepherd-uk-project-management-roundup.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 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 is currently 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. 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/.