Human Resource Management in a Project Organization versus an Operations Organization

Within last week, I received the sad news regarding two colleagues’ lay off from my former project organization. This was not a surprise due to the fact that all the major projects that the company was dealing were completed since months now and the company had lost all the prospective biddings in a very confined and limited telecommunications market. Of course, without a new project in visible future, the company had to cut its losses at some point and minimize the manpower overhead. The really sad thing is, these two colleagues were experienced, smart and loyal employees who will be hard to replace should the business bounce back. So, the question is, how can a project organization retain key employees in the absence of a prospective project?
Projects, by definition, are unique undertakings with a definite start and end dates. Projects don’t last forever, operations of a company does, of course, as long as the profitability is sustained. Is transferring the key project employees to operational departments like Sales, Marketing, Finance and Administration the solution for retention? Can the company still utilize these proven project employees in these operational domains?

I think the answer is “hardly”. There are several reasons for that, but primarily, the project people have the project mindset. They are used to work under strict deadlines, for defined tangible outputs and most of the time under high pressure. This is high adrenaline environment and as we all know, adrenaline is addictive. On the other hand, the operational departments are quite different habitats. In departments like Finance and Administration, the tasks are repetitive and expectations are predictable. In departments like Marketing, mindset is completely different, creativity and deadlines are not the best friends. And in Sales, yes, the presssure is there but at specific intervals within specific targets. At the end, when the sale is done, product delivery, acceptance, support becomes somebody else’s problem and that is always a relief for the Sales team. Project people hardly fit into these roles. And then, there is the fundamental question, do they really need to fit? Do companies need project managers with sales skills? I am a strong believer in specialization and expertise so, I seriously doubt that.

Bottomline is, companies need projects to retain their key project people. Or else, those who live by the sword, will always die by the sword.

Written by Kaan Bora on October 29th, 2006 with no comments.
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Trip to Canadian 1000 Islands and Brockville, Ontario

The story “Speed and shadows on the St. Lawrence River” in the October’06 issue of Sport Diver was the first reason for a weekend day trip to 1000 islands area. I never thought that St. Lawrence waterway had such good diving spots until I saw the photos in the magazine. The idea of diving wrecks with a visibility of more than 60 ft was simply thrilling for a person living in the 3 hours proximity of the area. So, before attempting the dive, I wanted to have a first person impression of the dive shop and the people running it. Besides, it was the Canadian thanksgiving weekend so Monday was off and I’d had this urge to test my new car on the 401 since some time now. Knowing that snow is only couple of months away and weatherman forecasting for a sunny day in high 20’s were also convincing reasons.
We took off early in the morning and drove a little bit more than 3 hours till our first stop, Gananoque (Pronounce it as Ghana-nock-way). This is the small town where we took the 3 hour Thousand Islands tour boat. We enjoyed breathtaking views enhanced with the colors of fall and we had plenty of sunshine. I shared some of them in My Photo Gallery.

When the tour was over, we finally drove over to Brockville, 52 km’s norteast of Gananoque along the banks of the St. Lawrence River. It took us less than 5 minutes to locate the Dive Brockville Adventure Centre and couple of minutes later, we were discussing about the dives, equipment and rates with Helene, the very friendly lady who runs the shop. When we left the shop, I was convinced that this would be the place I would spend couple of weekends next summer. Brockville not only has a fantastic dive shop, it also has many places to eat. We were handed out a pamphlet, “Downtown Brockville Restaurant Guide” by the dive shop which listed many good eats within walking distance. Among the many local favorites circled by Helene, we opted for number 12, the Keystorm Pub. At the pub, the menu offered many choices, but we settled for a suggested hamburger which has proven to be the right choice.

On the way back to Toronto, we stopped by Kingston. Apparently, the city has a lot to offer for the history and nature lovers. We got our caffeine load in a local coffee shop on the main street and then off we go, back home to Toronto. Trip back took again around 3 hours with no difficulties. Certainly, it was a pleasant trip done most probably at the last warm weekend day of this year.

And finally about testing my new car, highway driving was a pleasure and occasionally speedy. Later on, I read in the newspaper that, during that weekend, Ontario Police ticketed 5500 drivers for speeding. Luckily, I was not one of them.

Keep discovering and drive safe…

Written by Kaan Bora on October 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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Weekend trip to Puerto Galera

Last year these times, I was preparing to leave the Philippines for good. My project was over and it was time to move on after two beautiful years. Just two weeks before the final departure, we went for a weekend diving trip to Puerto Galera on Mindoro island. We did some excellent dives and we all had great time. A close friend, Cai Feng was visiting from China so we also used the occasion to certify him as a PADI open water diver thanks to Daniel Burgaud, the Master Scuba Diver Trainer, our diving hero and close friend.

I posted some photos from that weekend in My Photo Gallery. While I was uploading the photos, it suddenly appeared to me that all the participants of that trip are scattered around four continents now. Daniel is still in the Philippines, Cai Feng is back to China, Pascal is now in Paris, Bora is somewhere in African continent and I am in Toronto. Of course, we all keep in touch and make plans about diving somewhere sometime together but then again, we all know that it is quite unlikely that it will happen that soon and that easy.

It is amazing that how quickly life can change. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean it in a bad way. I did some great stuff with some great people last year and I am doing the same this year but within a different environment. It is completely a different experience and yes, it is fun as usual.

About diving, Canada so far has not been the best place, but there is some positive signs. I will go into details in my next post.

Until then, for the ones who are able, keep diving, and for the rest of the flock, keep dreaming.

Written by Kaan Bora on October 11th, 2006 with 1 comment.
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