Zeeshan AhmedProject Manager| KSMCJubail, Easter Region, Saudi Arabia
Do climate and environmental changes has effect on performance of project stakeholders particularly project teams and PMs in both co-located and off-shore model? How to keep ourselves motivated during uncomfortable climate/weather? Saving Changes...
This comes under Enterprise Environmental Factors and may differ from project to project. Climate definitely affects the project performance. If you see performance of project teams in extremely hot or cold climates, the timelines may be very different from moderate weather locations. Even if an unforeseen climate change occurs during conduct of a project, stakeholder / team performance will be affected, this then would be treated as a risk and would be responded to. Anyways, howsoever weather or climate affects a project, timelines would be disturbed and have to be updated accordingly. Saving Changes...
Dominic LawProduct Manager| PCCW GlobalHappy Valley, Hong Kong
It firstly depends if the works are mainly outdoor or indoor. If outdoor obviously weather or climate can affect performance, for example when there is extreme heat or cold, raining or strong wind. The project manager should understand the typical climate and plan accordingly, for example critical tasks should avoid monsoon season, and also have appropriate risk management.
If indoor work sometimes poor weather such as heavy snow or monsoon can affect traffic to or from work. Can staff have option of remote work?
Well, in some countries during the long cold winter people may concentrate more on their work, while in beautiful summer people may look out of window and wish to take vacation. Again the Project Manager needs to be aware of such human behavior in project plan! Saving Changes...
arlene trimbleAssistant IT Director| Local GovernmentAlamo, Ca, United States
Good question!
Yes, definitely, climate affects the performance of project team members especially if you have remote team members in varying parts of the world. This is where cross-cultural IQ comes into play in project management.
As project or program managers, we need to be sensitive to local weather, conditions, and time when scheduling project meetings or deliverables. We need to make sure that if the project is an 'indoor' type of activity, we include the temperature requirements to insure that the members will be a comfortable situation. If it is an outdoor type of project, we need to make sure that we have the appropriate breaks or conditions so that team members are comfortable. Personnel departments should have guidelines as well in terms of working conditions. If we are dealing with labor unions, we need to abide by the agreed conditions.
Your question is very timely as I thought of the Project Manager for the Qatar World Cup. He/she need to have considered climate during the project planning phase of the World Cup. If the PM has an iterative planning approach, he can still include mitigating efforts around climate and talent management. Saving Changes...
Regarding real time climate issues, my project faced wildfires and we ran for cover for a week to win back project delay by fast tracking.
Regarding project environment, the climate can be changed by first talking with important stakeholders to promote PMI knowledge training sessions OR following stage gate process in an existing PMIS environment. Saving Changes...
Diego FerrerManaging Principal| Quant16Chicago, Il, United States
We've had projects where snow storms in the Midwest of the United States interrupted team members' commute. Some were stuck in traffic and others in public transportation, hence unable to work for several hours and sometimes days. Storms that interrupt Internet access are also a factor. So definitely climate is a performance factor. Saving Changes...
Zeeshan AhmedProject Manager| KSMCJubail, Easter Region, Saudi Arabia
Thank you gentlemen for your replies.
We do not have control on climate and in-case of bad weather, should not it be considered as “Force Majeure”? If yes, in my opinion, the delay should not be count as “delay” because almost every contract has a clause about force majeure. So, why we need fast tracking and crashing? Can’t we add these wasted days or hours (more than buffer) to the final deadline? (Ideally project should complete within the agreed timelines even in case of storms.)
Saving Changes...
I agree it is Force Majeure but then we cannot attribute our loss to Force Majeure. As you have rightly brought out, we try at our best to cater for such natural contingencies by building reserves or buffers in our project. Be mindful of the fact that because this is a Force Majeure, there is no guarantee about the size of the loss it may cause. That's why I used the words "at best". Saving Changes...
Eric LamySenior Project Manager| Keurig Green MountainNewbury, Ma, United States
The nature of the project itself should also dictate how the contractual language treats Force Majeure. Outside of our control such events may be, but preparing contingencies for such events is within our control, so a failure to do so is our loss. To Suhail's point, there's no way to know the extent of the loss incurred by such events, so where possible there should be agreement beforehand on how to handle Force Majeure events of varying scale. Saving Changes...
Michael AdamsSolutions Architect| LANLLos Alamos, Nm, United States
No one has mentioned the impact that climate can have on team-members' motivation and temperament. Some people who want to seem hard-nosed will say it shouldn't make much of a difference, but it does. If the weather is incredibly hot, people may be sleepy, they may sweat excessively causing an unpleasant odor in work environments. They could be in a bad mood when arriving, due to extreme discomfort.
If the weather is overcast and rainy for months, they could be depressed or sleepy.
People who first move to Alaska have a very difficult time during Alaskan summers due to the extended hours of day-light. This can make sleep nearly impossible for some. Extended dark could have a negative impact as well.
Climate could have a huge impact on performance and attitude and happiness of the team. Saving Changes...
