Project Management in Times of Crisis
Authors: Kesavan Sreejith 
Published: November 2016

The GCC economies are currently passing through a period crisis which is a combined effect of the drop in oil prices and the increase in government spending.

National Oil Companies (NOC) and their international partners (IOC) are being asked by the governments to cut spending in all possible ways to increase the profit contribution to the national treasury. Due to the socio-political nature of the GCC states, it is extremely risky to try and remove the subsidies and other provisions of the welfare state.

Oil companies and downstream operators have slowed down capital intensive projects and are increasingly moving towards external funding for CAPEX and to the extent in some cases for the OPEX. The cash crunch and lack of funding at the level of owners and operators are being passed down to the supply chain including contractors, service providers and suppliers. Contractors have lost their bargaining power as the clients are not hurrying up the projects and there is a lot of hunger and competition between the contractors in the market to secure projects and to sustain their businesses.

Contractors are now under pressure to deliver at a much lower cost without lowering the high standards which were set over several years.

The first question to be asked in this context is whether Project Management in crisis is different from the Project Management during boom or as usual normal scenarios. Another question worth asking is whether any specific ‘crisis oriented’ Project Management philosophy or tools are to be used (or available?) for this phase in the global economy.

The objectives of this paper are: To analyse the knock-on effects of recession and financial downturn on projects in the regionTo suggest the tactics and methodologies for managing projects during the times of crisisTo analyse how an economic downturn can assist the industry in assessing the ‘real market demand’, developing cost effective project management models and improving productivity within the organisations

The paper starts with analysis of the typical /traditional tactics employed by the organisations in handling a financial crisis. The author then tries to challenge the shortcomings of such measures and then suggests a set of best suited tactics to handle the economic down turn and its effect on projects. The author follows the key processes of Project Management and tweak them to suit the ‘crisis’ environment to arrive at a set of most suited tactics for rescuing projects and organisations affected by financial downturn.

The paper lists the shortcomings of the typical / traditional tactics/methods used by the senior managers and executives to handle a financial downturn. The paper suggests areas where extreme care and caution are to be taken while handling a financial crisis. The author then lists twenty five powerful practical tips for successfully managing the projects under times of crisis. This ‘tried, tested and successful’ tips and methodologies offer unique benefit for the Project Managers to weather the effects of current financial crisis and to drive their businesses to competitive and profitable level.

Finally, the paper demonstrates how an economic downturn can help the industry in assessing the ‘real market demand’, developing cost effective project management models and to improve productivity across the organization.

This paper tries and addresses the growing demand of training the professionals in managing projects in tough financial scenarios and tight budgets. As there are not many Project Management literature available in the scholarly world which address this topic, this paper is an attempt to fill that gap.