Global

By Dr. Shree Nanguneri • May 3rd, 2013

Managing Projects Overseas – Part III – Simplify the Process We just spoke of global perspective of managing projects overseas, followed with how PMs can minimize culture gaps in these situations. We now conclude with a value-based sequel relating to simplifying the process as we successfully manage our project (s) overseas. Meeting Your Timeline Objective: [...]

Managing Overseas Projects – Part I – A Global Perspective All of us have had a fair share of success in managing projects either in our own cities and/or across our country. While some of us on a few occasions have had the fortune of also engaging in projects that are overseas (the meaning of [...]

(This article is part of a series originally published in Japan by ALC Press English Journal, and is written in “Global English”. CLICK HERE to see the accompanying video, spoken in “Global English”.) QUESTION:  “My subordinates are younger than me, but they seem much more global-minded. I know I need to change, but I’ve never worked abroad, and I’m [...]

Electrical Audit Excellence – Project Manager’s Gold Mine to Business Opportunity - PART II Co-Authors: Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Mr. Rao, G This sequel to Part – I deals with solving problems and leveraging opportunities in the field of electrical audits, where project managers working within or outside their project scope in their organizations, can make a [...]

The Electrical Audit Process - PART I Co-Authors: Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Mr. Rao. G Electrical Equipment Audit Abstract Organizations throughout the world invest time, energy, and efforts to comply with standards in different areas such as ISO, OSHA, and other areas. One of the critical areas for any infrastructure or business operating unit is being in [...]

As business leaders strive to leverage technology and communication platforms to conduct business globally, working in global teams is becoming increasingly prevalent.  Clearly, we can acknowledge the upside of working in global teams – as our local U.S. team sleeps at night, there could be a global team working diligently elsewhere in their normal business [...]

In my last post, Low Hanging Fruit, Part I, I outlined some quick and ever-so-easy tips that make communicating on global projects a bit smoother. These are things we know but just may not do as we are running so fast:  Share the pain of time zones (easier said than done, admittedly,) share photos even [...]

I spent much of my time with global project managers who are sometimes a bit overwhelmed juggling their daily work in addition to time zones, cultural missteps, countless communication challenges and holidays at all the wrong times. Sometimes all they want is a quick fix, something to smooth the wrinkles in their global communication. To [...]

Part II – Effect of High School on Final Board Examination –The Analytical Treatise Dr. Shree Nanguneri and Co-Author-Project Lead Contributor, Ms. Reethika S. Iyer*     Background: In Part I, we shared our experience on how parents make decisions to selecting high schools. Once the students graduate they are then again faced with the [...]

In the last 5 years or so, we have realized that comparing these two roles is like comparing Apples and Oranges. Not many companies now overlap these roles. These roles over the time have evolved from being janitors of products and projects to management of them. Product management has learned a lot from project management. Let us examine what project management can learn from product management?

About one generation ago, management styles focused on the concept of a “happy worker is a good worker.”  Organizations focused on providing employees the amenities they needed to feel valued, in hopes of it leading to higher productivity.  The Hawthorne experiments by Elton Mayo found that changes in the workplace were welcomed and improved morale.  [...]

In my timezone I’ve got just a bit over one more day to go in 2011. Personally I always welcome the end of one year and the beginning of the next. It feels like a fresh start to me. It’s been a great year in many ways, but now that I have worked with people [...]

How might we apply the observations Richard Nisbett made in his book Geography of Thought to the project-driven workplace? Is there a Workplace of Thought? And, if so, can our understanding of the Workplace of Thought help us manage our project stakeholders more effectively? During my career, I made the transition from engineer to project [...]

Recently one of my clients sent a team of engineers to Japan. For most of the team this was their first visit to that country. Before going, they asked me to brief them on some of the cultural issues they might encounter. There is a long list of things to watch out for, from beer [...]

Did you know Project Management is having a birthday? Well, sort of a birthday. It was 100  years ago, in 1911, that Frederick W. Taylor published Principles of Scientific Management. Early pioneers of project management, such as Henry Gantt, were followers of Dr. Taylor. Now, for historical accuracy, it should be noted that Dartmouth College [...]

Project managers work on various projects, sometimes traveling to various clients’ sites. You juggle many emails, calls, faxes and meetings during the week. When do you find time and how to prepare yourself mentally to learn something new like a foreign language? You’re on the road and you think you can’t learn a foreign language [...]

1.  If I just use music and media, may I give up studying grammar and vocabulary and quit my language classes? If you are still a beginner or intermediary student, you absolutely have to keep learning grammar and vocabulary. They are the foundations of any language. Using music, TV, radio and film as additions to [...]

Do you think of foreign language learning as sitting in your boring, stuffy high school Spanish class repeating “Yo me llamo. Tú te llamas. Él se llama” in Spanish? Boring, right? Having labored through many dull language classes, I have seen how ineffective rote memorization techniques alienated and discouraged students. Foreign language learning, as discussed [...]

Unfortunately, in many countries, especially English-language ones, foreign languages have not been taken seriously by educational institutions, parents and children. People who learned to speak a foreign language were few and far between and sometimes couldn’t use their languages professionally. This is changing. More and more students are learning “hard” languages like Mandarin and Arabic [...]

Time is running and we’re all focused on getting the job done. When working on international projects, the speedometer is going 24/7 as distance and time zones create a relay race around the world. As the global project manager and tour guide, you have your project check list in hand. Clear objectives? Check. Roles and [...]

New advances come up all the time, even in the area of “do-it-yourself”. The combination of the internet, wireless connections, and powerful search engines allow people access to more information with little effort or time investment. Armed with this information, people are more likely to “do-it-themselves”. Unfortunately, the consequences are as bountiful as the information. One of the consequences to small businesses may be a loss of a potential client.