This is the second installment of a fictitious article, written by Migrators.  The article was originally serialised in the June and July 2000 editions of the UK journal Project Manager Today. 

The article follows the adventures of Ali during a major international assignment. This includes encountering and resolving a variety of problems that can occur in any international project. The first  installment ended with Ali encountering a major problem. An opportunity is then provided for the reader to reflect on the the issues surrounding the problem and consider potential solutions. 

A potential solution is provided in this installment. During Part 2 Ali encounters more problems which can occur in international projects. Finally, this installment leads to a free to enter prize competition, run in conjunction with Project Manager Today. Details are provided at the end.

The Package
Ali is still wondering why she has received details of the software operating system interface so early, when the signal types and volumes have only just been agreed. More of a concern, she has not yet received the information on the signal interface data she urgently needs. She reluctantly concludes that she was may not have been specific enough in the discussions she had with Henri, the interface team leader, also he may not have fully understood what she was saying. She should have sent him an e-mail detailing what she required and when.

Ali telephones Henri, to resolve the situation. Ali explains that the data she received was not what she needed and explains details of the data she needs. Henri is surprised, believing he had supplied everything she needed, even though it was difficult to get some of the data, because a lot of the requirements were not yet specified. Henri had tried several times to contact Ali for more information, but she had been on leave. As a result the supplier, Pronto SA/BV, had to make a number of assumptions regarding the system parameters. Ali queried the involvement of Pronto, she was not aware that they specialised in this area. However Henri was clear that Ali’s last request stated that the supplier of the system data was Pronto. Ali resolved not to use colloquialisms and to be confirm all requests for data in writing.

Because of the urgency of the situation, Ali decides to contact the other interface team members and data suppliers directly. With the agreement of Henri, she composes a detailed e-mail, to all members of the team, explaining the information she requires and why. Then, Ali finds out that some of the team members do not have their own e-mail address.

Ali telephones the remainder, but finds out that some of the partners and suppliers are not working, due to national holidays. Eventually, she is able to get through to some of the suppliers, but poor connections and language problems indicate that it is not possible to have a detailed conversation. Ali decides to obtain the fax numbers and send them the requests instead. She is able to fax most of the remaining suppliers, although she has to arrange for a few of the requests to be sent by courier, due to fax problems.

Some of the responses indicate that individual members prefer not respond on their own, they would rather respond through the team leader, once all the partners had agreed the status. Others indicated that they could not respond within the requested timeframe, because their managers were not immediately available. Although Ali had assumed that the team members had been fully empowered to represent the partners on all relevant aspects.

The few technical responses often used formal grammar to provide a fragmented response. Ali thought it was almost as if some of the original responses had been edited. Some of the partners also placed different emphasis on the results, often stressing that work had proceeded, even though the procedures used had not been formally agreed by some parties. Evaluating the detailed responses, the actual progress appeared to be unclear, or slower than expected, with no indication of a completion date.

Meeting the Team
Ali is increasingly worried about the lack of interface data. As a result, she decides to discuss the situation directly with the interface team and suppliers. Unfortunately, the next team meeting will not be held for several weeks. Ali decides to visit the key members and suppliers, on site, to obtain more information. The meetings must be arranged quickly otherwise the UK element of the project will be delayed.

Ali has some difficulty in arranging the meetings. Some of the members are not available at such short notice. Others prefer to wait until the next team meeting, even if it means delaying the project. Some members have to gain permission from their managers for the site visit. Occasionally, there is some luck, some of the members are visiting a supplier and Ali is able to joint them.

Eventually, Ali organises a timetable to allow a number of discussions with some of the key members and suppliers. Ali then has to arrange transport and accommodation. This is not easy at such short notice. Some of the flights are only available at inconvenient times, resulting in a few difficult connections. Hotels are a little easier, although in some cases, Ali has to take more expensive ones than normally allowed.

When she arrives, there is a delay to the start of most meetings, which also last longer than scheduled, often causing Ali to nearly miss her next flight. Although a few of the meetings are much shorter than expected, providing Ali some much needed time to evaluate the discussions, and to shop for souvenirs.

During the meetings Ali often meets different people than she expected, sometimes not even meeting the team members. Usually the manager attends from the partner organisations, which seems to restrict the discussions. However, the managers are often able to provide a different perspective, explaining where the project lies within the needs of the local organisation, and how important it is. Although the explanations sometimes indicate that the project does not really have a high priority, providing a reason why the work has not been done on time.

Occasionally Ali had difficulty at the meetings, because the suppliers English is not fluent, and Ali does not understand their language. Ali then uses simple language and draws lots of diagrams to get her points across. Ali sometimes feels overwhelmed by the technical explanations and thinks it may have been better to bring technical experts with her. Ali also felt that there was occasionally some surprise, even resentment, that she should be attending the meetings, rather than a man.

On the last day of the visits, Ali is delayed at the hotel checkout, by the large party of Japanese tourists also checking out. Ali then has another nerve wrecking taxi journey, arriving at the site about 20 minutes after the scheduled start.

French Affair
The meeting was difficult. Nicole the French representative responsible for compiling the signal interface specifications, described in detail the processes involved, the many sources of data required and the effort put into developing the interface specifications, but not when they would be ready. During lunch, Nicole disappeared for a long while, leaving Ali on her own in the staff restaurant. Ali took the opportunity to contact her base and was told that the interface data was needed immediately, otherwise a sub-contractor would start imposing penalties and possibly cancel the contract.

After lunch Nicole told Ali that the final draft of the documents had been completed. Ali was delighted and asked if she could take the documents back with her. Nicole told Ali that she could not have them. Whilst the drafts were complete, they had had not been approved by Nicole’s managers and the French partners project directors. The managers would need to review the completed documents thoroughly, any amendments would probably need to be incorporated into another draft. Furthermore the managers responsible for approval were working on other projects, with higher priorities. Because of this, the approvals could be not be completed within two weeks, although in practice this would probably take four to six weeks.

This was too long for Ali. The contract penalties would probably start next week. If there was to be a delay of six weeks in obtaining the data, the contract would almost certainly be cancelled. Ali wondered what to do. Ali has just 2 hours before her flight left, she must do something before she returned. But what where her options ? what was the most appropriate action to take ? What should Ali do ?

Competition
In the Project Manager Today serialisation, a prize competition was held, for readers to provide their own solutions and advice for Ali. This competition closed early August 2000. However, the details of the competition are still provided here. This provides an opportunity for readers to consider their own ideas for solutions. 

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