Rebuilding the Foundations: Why India’s Architecture Ecosystem Needs a Developer–Authority–Education Reset

How data, digital accountability, and education reform can rebuild the profession’s credibility — and our cities.

The Context: A Profession Outpacing Its Infrastructure

India’s architectural profession stands at an inflection point.

Over 120,000 registered architects, thousands of schools, and a construction sector growing at nearly 9% annually — yet the architecture–education–practice loop remains broken.

Students graduate fluent in design jargon but ill-prepared for real approvals.

Developers navigate code interpretations rather than design excellence.

Authorities rely on outdated paper trails while being blamed for inefficiency.

The result? A system that produces frustration instead of innovation.

Three Islands That Don’t Talk

India’s built-environment ecosystem is structured around three power centres:

Pillar Current Role Typical Gap

Developers Drive urban growth and private capital Focused on timelines, not long-term compliance intelligence

Authorities Custodians of public safety and code enforcement Understaffed, procedural, reactive rather than data-driven

Education Providers Produce future professionals Detached from regulatory reality and emerging digital tools

Each works in isolation.

There’s no structured feedback loop between what gets approved, what gets rejected, and what gets taught.

The Visible Cracks

1. Graduates unfit for compliance reality — they master rendering but not the NBC.

2. Developers chasing permissions rather than performance.

3. Authorities overburdened with manual checks — no AI, no digital trail.

4. Academia teaching legacy syllabi — still focused on hand drafting over data logic.

5. Accountability collapses under pressure — leading to failures and illegal constructions.

Design education is detached from development logic, and development is divorced from digital governance.

Why This Matters Now

India is entering a massive redevelopment era — Dharavi, Motilal Nagar, Bandra, Ahmedabad.

RERA and GDCR are raising compliance expectations, but enforcement remains manual.

Global investors demand ESG metrics and digital audit trails.

Meanwhile, education still lags decades behind.

If this gap persists, we’ll keep building faster than we can regulate or sustain.

The Missed Opportunity: The Developer–Authority–Education Interface

Every project approval generates priceless data:

which codes caused rejections, what design oversights repeated, what clarifications delayed progress.

That data is usually discarded.

But what if it were anonymised and fed back to architecture schools as learning content?

Authorities could highlight recurring design/code conflicts.

Developers could share constructability and compliance lessons.

Academia could teach code literacy, BIM auditing, and accountability ethics using real-world material.

When governance becomes pedagogy, education starts solving real problems.

From BIM = IT 2.0 to Education 2.0

Interface Reform Direction

Developer ↔ Authority Digital audits, anonymised compliance data

Authority ↔ Education Data-sharing to teach compliance, not just design

Education ↔ Developer Internships on live BIM projects + regulatory exposure

Together, these create the Accountability Loop — a feedback system where every project teaches the next generation.

Leadership’s Role

Large developers like Adani Realty, L&T Realty, and Godrej Properties already possess the digital infrastructure to lead this change.

By collaborating with universities and local councils, they can institutionalise digital governance as learning, creating a shared knowledge commons that strengthens public trust and professional competence.

From Projects to Policy

India doesn’t need more buildings — it needs better systems to build them.

Architects must evolve from gatekeepers to governors.

Developers must see governance as a collaborator, not a hurdle.

And education must stop teaching architecture in isolation.

If we can link these three worlds through data, design, and accountability, we can finally transform architecture from a regulatory challenge into a nation-building profession.

 “This isn’t about teaching architecture — it’s about teaching how architecture governs lives.”

Urban Morphology: The hidden map behind redevelopment

When we speak of redevelopment, the conversation too often narrows to land availability, FSI, and finance. But anyone who has walked through an old neighborhood in Ahmedabad, Dharavi in Mumbai, or a historic settlement in Kigali knows this: redevelopment without reading the morphology is like designing blindfolded.

Urban morphology—the layers of history, community, infrastructure, regulation, and economics—is the silent blueprint that decides whether a project thrives or fails.

1. Historic Patterns 🏛

Every city carries a memory in its streets and built forms.

• In Ahmedabad’s pol houses, the narrow lanes are not inefficiency—they are a climate response.
• Redevelopment that bulldozes these patterns risks erasing identity and alienating residents.

2. Community Networks 👥

People don’t just live in buildings—they live in social ecosystems.

• Displace them without rebuilding trust and networks, and you inherit resistance, litigation, and half-empty towers.
• Successful rehabilitation acknowledges these invisible bonds.

3. Infrastructure Spine ⚙️

Beneath every settlement lies an infrastructure map—often unseen until it fails.

• Drainage alignments, transit nodes, and service corridors determine long-term livability.
• Ignore them, and you invite chaos, cost overruns, and demolitions after occupation.

4. Regulatory Overlay 📜

Development Control Regulations (DCRs) and GDCR in Ahmedabad define what is permissible.

• Yet, too often they are seen as obstacles rather than frameworks for safety.
• Shortcutting compliance means liability, unsafe structures, and eventually, demolitions.

5. Economics of Viability 💰

No redevelopment survives without viable economics.

• Density, land value, and ROI must balance affordability and incentives.
• But when economics drives everything else, projects stall or lose public trust.

A Comparative Lens 🌍

• New Zealand: Urban codes actively integrate morphology—producer statements, compliance-linked insurance, and enforceable council approvals give the system teeth.
• Middle East: Mega-projects once ignored morphology but are now learning—integrating community, culture, and identity to avoid sterile outcomes.

Why This Matters

Redevelopment is not a one-dimensional exercise. When all five layers align:

• Authorities grant faster approvals.
• Communities accept change with less resistance.
• Developers reduce litigation and risk premiums.
• Investors see long-term stability.

Urban morphology is not academic theory. It’s the hidden map behind every successful redevelopment.

👉 In your city, which of these layers do you think is most overlooked—history, community, infrastructure, regulation, or economics?

I’d love to hear your perspective.

Sustainability - What it means to me... 4 of n

Food

When I look back at my childhood in the seventies and eighties, I can still smell the aromas wafting from my mother’s kitchen. Every meal—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—was prepared at home, lovingly cooked by mothers and grandmothers. There was no special treatment, no "kids menu," and certainly no endless buffet of alternative cuisines. The rule was simple: eat what was cooked, or go hungry.

Restaurants were rare, and even when they did exist, eating out was seen as a luxury that few families indulged in. For most Indian children of that time, the concept of pizzas, burgers, or Thai curries was completely alien. What we had was wholesome, balanced, home-cooked food—simple, yet nourishing.

The Shift to Convenience

Fast forward to today, and the story is very different. On average, families now eat out or order takeaway at least once a week. Food delivery apps have made it possible to access an endless choice of cuisines at the tap of a finger. Children today are spoilt for choice—Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Indian, Thai—you name it, it can be delivered in under 30 minutes.

But this convenience has come at a cost. We are slowly abandoning the tradition of cooking at home in favor of restaurants and takeaways. The result? A rise in obesity, lifestyle-related diseases, and a disconnect from the very food that sustains us.

Why Eating at Home Matters

Home-cooked meals aren’t just healthier; they also represent sustainability in action. Cooking at home means:

• Less packaging waste compared to takeaways.

• Controlled portions and ingredients, reducing excess and promoting health.

• Connection to tradition and family, as cooking often brings people together.

The Value of Leftovers

Another sustainable practice we often overlook is the value of leftovers. In earlier times, leftovers weren’t wasted—they were reinvented into new meals for the next day. A simple dal could become a paratha filling; rice could be transformed into fried rice or curd rice. Today, leftovers are often thrown away, contributing to food waste on a massive scale. Embracing leftovers is not just about frugality—it’s about respecting the resources, energy, and effort that went into producing that food.

A Call Back to the Kitchen

Sustainability isn’t only about solar panels and electric cars—it begins in our kitchens. Cooking at home more often, making creative use of leftovers, and reducing dependency on processed, restaurant-prepared food are small but powerful steps. They improve our health, lower our environmental impact, and preserve the traditions we grew up with.

So maybe it’s time to reintroduce that old rule: eat what’s made at home—or go hungry. In doing so, we may just rediscover a healthier, more sustainable way of living.

Some images of Revit work - Classical French Renaissance facade study Part 2

The first image is the 3D view of the level plans and the Elevation in CAD to work as background.

All the windows and columns are individual families and customizable.

I developed individual profiles for the cornices.

The second image is the Elevation view of the VIP entrance of the Vendome mall in Doha, Qatar

The aim of the model was to demonstrate the buildability and help the design-build contractors.

The detailed views of the portico are at the link below.

Google Maps Link to the site

https://juxt-a-position-ap.blogspot.com/2015/09/some-images-of-revit-work-classical.html

10 things Indian visitors should know about NZ

1. Water from the tap is considered fit for human use. No filters or RO's required
2. Food is incredibly expensive - Expect to pay about 150Rs for a single large eggplant when they are in season. A cyclone or a storm can push up the price to 250Rs. A head of cauliflower can cost up to 500 Rs. (I am not kidding),
3. Toilet paper - unlike India where your backsides are washed with jetsprays, here you need to use toilet paper
4. ‎No pissing on streets or the bushes - Toilets are well and decently placed. And clean. Look for them
5. ‎No litter on streets - Literally. If your frontage of the house on the street has grass growing on it, you are responsible keeping it like a cricket pitch.
6. Beaches are clean. You are expected to pick up your dog poo after it does the job and any rubbish or plastic you generate is to be collected and binned by you.
7. ‎Trash costs money - On preset timings, the trash truck will come and collect the trash from the street outside your house. They have to be in preassigned plastic bags or bins. The preassigned bags cost you some dollars for a packet of five
8. The Police are actually polite - They will address you as "Sir" and ask you for your license or whatever they are after. If everything is fine, they will just let you go about your way. Just don't get caught drunk - you will get a free ride to the Police station and tested for alcohol.
9. There are 4 seasons in a day - Auckland especially is famous for changes in weather. You could go from Sunny to soaking wet in a matter of minutes and sunny right after.
10. 24 deg C is "Warm" - Your regular A/c temp is considered warm. Summer in the Indian sense does not exist. The highest temperature during peak summer is about 30 deg c with NZers screaming bloody murder and going out in the street with chaddis and ganjees

Working Smart - 3

Search emails in Outlook 2016

Finding that elusive email from someone can become a life and death situation for us in Outlook. Multiple projects, client emails, and a swamped email box with 50+ emails received on a daily basis can be difficult to track. You know the mail was from X with an attachment but several emails over months make it impossible to zero down on the particular email especially if it was sent several months back

This version of Outlook can make your life easier if you are willing to spend some time reading this post. Follow the 9 easy steps below and you can quickly search for that elusive email

1. Open Outlook and go to your Inbox. Click your mouse on the “Search Current mailbox”.

2. The moment you click in the search bar, the cursor will start flashing in anticipation of your search

3. Your tab will change as per the screen above.4

4. Now go to the dropdown box as per the black arrow

5. The dropdown box should display all the fields you could possibly search from

6. Click on the fields you want and they will start stacking up below the search bar as you click on the fields. These will then drop down every time you put your cursor in the search bar - ready to aid you in a search.

7. Typically you would need the subject, cc, To, Attachments(Yes/No) and From.

8. You can also use Body which is quite useful when you want to search by a word in the body of the email.

9. This can be done in your “Sent” folder as well.

Work Smart and Happy Searching!

Also Read:

Working Smart - 1 Finding that Directory

Working Smart - 2 Save your files with a date

Working Smart - 2

Saving your files with a date

On an average, you would be creating and accessing at least 10-12 documents, spreadsheets etc. Soon there would be hundreds if not thousands of documents piling up in your directory with different file names. Accessing it alphabetically may be an option but prefer to name my documents with a yymmdd_filename format which lists the documents in the directory in a nice organised way starting with the most recent ones on the top.

When I create documents in such numbers, I often forget the name of the document which I have created. Sometimes, I don’t access a document for several weeks which removes it from the recent documents list of word and excel. That’s where I end up using the search function in the Windows explorer. Explorer searches all the directories and subdirectories and highlights all the filenames starting with the year and month - if you have been saving all your files starting with the yymmdd prefix.

Work Smart and share your experiences of Working smart.

Working Smart - 1 Find that Directory

Working Smart - 3 Find that email

Working Smart - 2

Saving your files with a date

On an average, you would be creating and accessing at least 10-12 documents, spreadsheets etc. Soon there would be hundreds if not thousands of documents piling up in your directory with different file names. Accessing it alphabetically may be an option but prefer to name my documents with a yymmdd_filename format which lists the documents in the directory in a nice organised way starting with the most recent ones on the top.

When I create documents in such numbers, I often forget the name of the document which I have created. Sometimes, I don’t access a document for several weeks which removes it from the recent documents list of word and excel. That’s where I end up using the search function in the Windows explorer. Explorer searches all the directories and subdirectories and highlights all the filenames starting with the year and month - if you have been saving all your files starting with the yymmdd prefix.

Work Smart and share your experiences of Working smart.

Working Smart - 1 Find that Directory

Working Smart - 3 Find that email

Working Smart - 1

Over the years as we have transitioned from a traditional workplace with physical files to the networked environment with information being stored virtually. With numerous people working on projects from multiple locations, information cannot be kept on individual machines and needs to be saved on servers. Information needs to be accessible instantly and to everyone.

Most companies have IT protocols in place instructing people of the do’s and don’ts. But rarely will you find tips about how to work smart and these posts are all about working smart and having information at your fingertips. 

Finding that directory

A large part of my work is to update the various documents, reports, and registers that need to be maintained in a Project Management environment. I prefer to use a shortcut on my desktop with the link to the directory saved and I am ready to go. 

This way, I access the correct folder every time and I do’t have to remember the long path to the directory.  which more often than not would be nested several levels below your project folder. These links can then be safely saved on your desktop. 

If you have too many links – create a word document on your desktop and use the function available in word to hyperlink to your directory/directories and you will panic less when you need that information quickly.

Work Smart and share your experiences about Working Smart

Also Read:
Working Smart - 2 Save your files with a date
Working Smart - 3 Find that email

Immigration Blues – India

Having moved several countries since 2005, four countries and two continents, I am penning down my experiences with immigration authorities of various countries starting with India

ECR

An oddity with the Indian system of issuing passports is the famous ECR. This can pop up when you are checking in for your international flight out of the country for a job. If you are just visiting a friend, this may not be an issue.

What is ECR?

Bureau of Immigration states that,
As per the Emigration Act, 1983, Emigration Check Required (ECR) categories of Indian passport holders, require to obtain "Emigration Clearance" from the office of Protector of Emigrants (POE), Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs for going to following 18 countries.
United Arab Emirates (UAE), The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Brunei, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon, Thailand, Iraq (emigration banned).
However , the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (Emigration Policy Division) have allowed ECR passport holders traveling abroad for purposes others than employment to leave the country on production of valid passport, valid visa and return ticket at the immigration counters at international airports in India w.e.f. 1st October 2007.
If the RPO has issued Indian passport either with endorsement of “Emigration Check Required” or no endorsement of “Emigration Check Required” in the passport, POE clearance is required only when there is “Emigration Check Required” endorsement in the passport.
It stands for Emigration check required. Its a well meaning check put into place by the Indian authorities to ensure that the droves of labourers who work in various countries are not cheated and are employed by genuine employers abroad.

When does this stamp appear on your passport?  

At the time of your passport application, if you have not presented your graduation certificate or you were still in the process of acquiring a degree, then the Indian authorities would have put this stamp on your passport. The authorities deem that you are likely to be conned by some unscrupulous tout who has lured you into a job with some sweet talk and promises.

What to do if you have ECR?

If you already have a job then follow the following steps before trying to board your flight otherwise you will be turned back from the check-in counter. No amount of talking or convincing the person will work.

1. Get a translation of your visa (if its not in English) from a Government approved translator. If you are in Delhi, then you could try the underground Palika Bazaar for the translators. At least, they were there in 2005 but could have moved
2. You will be required to present an affidavit which will say that you will not hold the Indian government responsible if something goes wrong with your job abroad.
3. Present both of these to the Protector of Emigration, Ministry of Overseas Indian affairs. Please refer to the POE offices for details

For more details please refer to the Bureau of Immigration website

In my next post I shall be writing about my experience with the various Indian embassies in the countries where I have worked.

Is politeness at work important?

Impossible deadlines, a mountain of deliverables and meagre resources – a reality of our times. Rudeness and bullying are a way of life. Especially if you work in a multicultural workplace where you have expats working for a living. The Gulf or the Middle East is once such region where you will encounter these situations.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When you are under pressure - always - to deliver against impossible deadlines, its difficult to be polite with your juniors.
Scenario 1
"Just do as I say and I don't care how you do it - I need it by tomorrow" How often have you said this to your juniors or people who report to you? If this sounds like you in a stressful situation then you are just setting yourself up for a disaster. You may get your stuff sent to you on time but chances are that it may not be great quality or full of mistakes as it has been completed more out of fear than a sense of ownership of the deliverable. You have successfully passed on your stress to the person who is performing in fear rather than a sense of ownership.
Let's replace this by an alternative
Scenario 2
"Look, there is this issue with the deliverable that has gone to the client. There are a few mistakes that should have been picked up but we could not do it at the time. I need to know what is the best possible time frame we can do this correctly and send it out. I appreciate your current workload but this needs to be done as soon as possible. When do you think we can send this out?”
Chances are your junior will really appreciate your politeness and may even surprise you by turning it around in record time – even quicker than you anticipated in Scenario 1. In the first scenario you have unthinkingly transferred the stress without inspiring ownership. You have also ascribed blame and fault to the person indirectly. In scenario 2 you are seeking an answer as a leader rather than seeking to transfer the blame. “We” is the operative word here and a team spirit is established. More often than not, you may just hear the words – “I will do this right away because you have shown me the respect and are asking politely”
Its easy to be a bully at work by being inconsiderate and thinking you are the only responsible person around. That is never the case. Assign responsibility and allow people to take ownership.

Some images of Revit work - Classical French Renaissance facade study Part 1

See the second part of this post

Sustainability what it means to me.. 3 of n

Old Notebooks

As a school going boy, the empty pages in the notebooks at the end of the year were removed carefully and assembled in a stack. Several such notebooks yielded some significant amount of ruled paper which then got carefully bound with a thread and ended up as a rough note book for the next school year.  

When I started doing this for my daughter, twenty years later, she was reprimanded by her teacher to use a new notebook for her rough work.  What has changed from the past? Is it just a fad or fashion to be called sustainable but not practice it from the core?

Image courtesy bplanet / FreeDigitalphotos.net

Computer stationery

In the times when I was a tenth grader, computers were a luxury and PC's did not exist. They required large rooms and were a source of envy for most. Printers were huge and they used reams and reams of perforated paper for the output - (the monitors as we know then today also did not exist.) The backs of these papers were blank and the printed side was ruled. It could have been other way around but I cannot recollect now. Dad would bring these home after the computer department would be finished with these printouts and they were "raddi" or waste for them and Dad would collect them from office and I would practice my math sums on them.

To this day, I insist that the prints taken from the printers today are at least used on both the sides before they are discarded as there is at least a 50% saving on the paper consumption. Down the line this saves trees and forests.

Printing

I remember the day I bought my first printer twenty years back. Since then, I have always been conscious of how and when to print. One of the more “sustainable” ways that I use is

• Use the other blank side of printed paper.
• If you are just printing for reading, try printing two pages on the same page. This way you actually end up saving much more than 50% but I won’t bother you with the math.
• Use refilled cartridges for your everyday printing. I know the printer companies are going to frown on this but then it is more sustainable as the cartridges don’t end up in a trash can and someone gets a job refilling your cartridges and you get a cheaper print.

Sustainabilty is not a fashion or a plaque on a building, its a way of life and an attitude

Sustainibility - What it means to me.. Part 2 of n

I have often had people look at me weirdly when I use the unused blank side of a paper which has been printed. In my opinion its a perfectly justifiable use of paper for sketches or making small notes. This attitude has been with me since my teenage years.
In this post I am going to write about the Indian attitude towards "Paper" in general and how we have been traditionally sustainable - long before the email signatures of today "Do you need to print this?"
The first part of this series is here.

Newspaper

As a child, I remember there was a special place in the house where all the old newspapers were accumulated for a whole month. Bhaiyyaji would come at the end of every month with his usual sing-song voice calling out - "paassti -paper". Pasti - is a vernacular gujarati word meaning "waste paper".  He would have a fixed rate per kilogram for English and a slightly lower rate for the vernacular - gujarati papers. Probably the english newspapers used a different quality of paper.

A few months' old newspapers would get you the money for about half month's worth of subscription money. But that was never the point. The newspapers ended up getting recycled in various ways. 

The neighbourhood retailer would probable buy the old newspapers from the bhaiyyaji and the old newspapers would end up as wrapping paper for your monthly rations which you would purchase from him. 

These wrapping papers also ended up being recycled ! Mom would carefully unwrap them and empty the contents into a steel container with a lid (dabba) and remove the creases from the paper and store them separately. These would then emerge from the storage place when the veggies were being peeled or the poha or flour was being dehusked to gather the waste remains. Only then would these land up in the waste bin. 

This became a system year after year and a routine to be followed. Bargaining with the raddiwallah bhaiyyaji became a passion and a pastime. It rarely yielded more than 50 paise more than the rate but it was definitely no mean achievement.

Another use for  the newspapers that was quite common, was to use them as shelf liners or backing sheets. These helped in absorbing the moisture and probably the smell of ink from the newspaper kept the insects away. The shelf lining was changed every few months and it used to be fun to read the old news and reminisce the past. We still follow this inf our home wherever we go. I get teased by my colleagues when I take the old newspapers from them for such insignificant uses. In my city in India, this tradition has now been modernised and one can have your old newspapers picked up at a pre decided price. Talk about being conveniently sustainable!!

More on paper in the next post

10. Entertain the team with emails written in (im)proper English

Image courtesy rakratchada torsap / Freedigitalphotos.net

As the last post in the series 10 (un)common mistakes to avoid in Project Management, I conclude the series with this post. here are some lines extracted from emails written. The lines have not been modified and I will leave it to the reader to interpret some of the meanings. If this becomes impossible or if you end up doubling in laughter or both, go to the end of the post where I have put in some hints about the lines. I have highlighted the faux pas in bold and italics. Some of them are really priceless nuggets. Have fun

1. … let us give pleasure to the client …
   
2. I don't what you to advice or work on any problem......
   
3. If [Person] what any information from your end or what your input for any …...
   
4. Let's discusses in detail when we come there......
   
5. I thought much , now can a they say the submission is on [day of the week] . All the tender which you see in [Place], they is no fixed date for submission. Anyways we will submit the same on [Date] .
   
6. I don't what you to work on your …....
   
7. How whats the problem …...
   
8. we have haired him has [Designation]. I what him to do that...
   
9. he what's [Place] team to make a ….
   
10. I what this to be done before …..
    
11. they what Engineers full time....
    
12. Please advice , so that we don't what 100 idea in between. I what every one.....
    
13. Please note - Team is busy with Project can waste time in training every day. Let's do it once and close it asap.

Hints

• For the first one read pleasure as pressure
• Read what as want
• Now and how are interchangeable
• they and there are interchangeable

Links to the previous posts
9. Don’t govern by threats
8. Support the team on the Ground
7. Provide Mission Critical information to the Project Team
6. Resource appropriately
5. How to (not) do your budget in five easy steps
4. Read the contract you just signed
3. Don't promise the impossible in a ridiculous timeframe
2. How (not) to win a contract
1. New Business Areas

9. Don’t govern by threats

Image courtesy Stockimages / Freedigitalphotos.net

As a cherry on the cake, complete the circle by threatening employees by a variety of threats and bully them into submission. Completely politicise the working atmosphere by turning each employee against the other and follow through by asking each employee to “report” about the others privately. Although these may be stone age tactics, these are used effectively by managers in dealing with a new and superbly qualified professional team. 

International organisations world over recognise bullying to be detrimental to the work process. Some of the signs of bullying are :

• Micromanagement at all stages of the work process hamper the flow of the work and indirectly question the integrity of the employees. This effectively reduces an experienced employee to a rookie who needs to ask for instructions at every stage
• Intruding privacy with phone calls at odd hours and clear threats to answer emails received on hand held devices within minutes of receiving them. Not answering phone calls or emails would lead to a “dressing down” in front of other employees – another clear bullying tactic.
• Displaying intimidating behaviour about specific employees in front of other employees in their absence by threatening to fire them – incessantly and constantly.
• Constantly deflecting requests for personal time off which is contractually due to the employee thereby traumatising employees.

To top it all, none of these “rules” are available in the company rule book or available from the Human Resource department.  The employee has little or no choice but to fall in line with the bullying tactics of the boss. The employee can

• Establish ground rules and areas to allow the “micromanagement” to slowly metamorphose to a stage where it becomes redundant or even stupid
• Gradually and firmly, establish the limits of office time and private family time.
• For the intimidating behaviour, the employees could unite against such behaviour and stand up to the bully. After all, one can’t “fire” the team all at once.
• For the requests of leave, if it is clearly due and official, the employees should stand up for their rights. Eventually, the bully will back down.

In the tenth and concluding post, look forward to an entertaining piece on email writing. Links to the previous posts are below

8. Support the team on the Ground
7. Provide Mission Critical information to the Project Team
6. Resource appropriately
5. How to (not) do your budget in five easy steps
4. Read the contract you just signed
3. Don't promise the impossible in a ridiculous timeframe
2. How (not) to win a contract
1. New Business Areas

8. Support the team on the Ground

Image courtesy:  africa / Freedigitalphotos.net

Mistakes happen. Sometimes several of them at once or in a sequence. The team on the ground, under most circumstances at least has the strong support from the core team which is experienced and has encountered many such difficult project situations. Not So.
The core team is busy with other projects or is simply interested in churning out the monthly invoices to protect the bottom lines and manage salaries of the team. Support and advice in the form of a conference call can become difficult to organise.  In strictly hierchical firms, independent decisions by project teams are vigourously controlled where the project delivery becomes a risk.
Looking back at such situations, one could:

• Draw up clear protocols for raising project related issues all the way to the top of the hierarchy of the firm. Even top management including owners should remain accessible for project related issues. The access can of course be controlled and monitored so as to involve them in only crucial issues.
• Regular contact with the project team in forms of conference calls or meetings.
• If meetings or calls do not become possible, regular reports should be scrutinised and advice given for crucial, unanswered issues

In the next post, I shall be discussing the ninth point in the series – Don’t govern by threats.
Links to the previous posts
7. Provide Mission Critical information to the Project Team
6. Resource appropriately
5. How to (not) do your budget in five easy steps
4. Read the contract you just signed
3. Don't promise the impossible in a ridiculous timeframe
2. How (not) to win a contract
1. New Business Areas

7. Provide Mission critical information to the project team

Image courtesy Stuart Miles / Freedigitalphotos.net

After all the mistakes listed so far, an employee would definitely expect to start the project with all the critical and important information necessary for the project. Not likely. The team who has put together the project does not deem it necessary that the Project delivery team has all the critical information required for the timely delivery of the project. This is often due to lack of trust while passing on the information and mistaking the delivery team to be a an adversary rather than an important part of the project delivery process. When members of the team come from several different cultures, countries and time zones this often becomes a major problem to the delivery of the project.
Important milestones in the contracts are missed consistently because of this lack of communication. This affects the overall project delivery and in some serious cases this has led to the entire contract being terminated and the teams of the stakeholders entering into arbitration. This is a messy, time consuming affair which can be avoided.
Simply put,

• Communicate with your team about the key milestones of the projects
• Ensure that the team is “on the same page” and everyone is not following their own agendas.
• Communication protocols should be clearly established especially when teams from various nationalities, cultures, educational backgrounds and disparity of ages is coming together to deliver the projects in countries of the Middle East or Africa. This becomes critical when people are working across several time zones at once.

In the next post you can look forward to Support your team on the Ground.
Links to previous posts
6. Resource appropriately
5. How to (not) do your budget in five easy steps
4. Read the contract you just signed
3. Don't promise the impossible in a ridiculous timeframe
2. How (not) to win a contract
1. New Business Areas

6. Resource appropriately

To recruit the right person for the job is an an extremely rare expertise for companies to have in today’s fast paced world. A lucrative package with a fancy tag in an exotic sounding location sounds great but comes with its own pitfalls. By promising  a stable, lucrative position in today’s unstable job market, an employee is led to believe that past experience and expertise has helped him/her get the post but in all likelihood one is being set up by the employer. This becomes a necessity when all the mistakes listed in the past five posts have happened – either by conscious design or by an unnatural twist of fate.

While your employer may have signed a milestone based contract, they may have provided resources based on a timesheet based contract. Needless to say, resources that may be required at construction stage are not useful at early design stages. Construction Management resources adept at handling complex sites end up twiddling their thumbs while Design Coordination struggles due to lack of resources.

Several such situations like this may have arisen where such challenges in some form or the other present themselves to Project Managers. Under such situations, choices are limited to:

• Adapt to the challenge by accepting the situation as it unfolds in a new job situation
• Be pro active and raise a flag about the inadequacy and wrong type of resources which could potentially backfire.

A compilation of experiences on similar situations may add to our body of knowledge and will improve Project delivery to clients and modify our working methods.

Links to previous posts

5. How to (not) do your budget in five easy steps

4. Read the contract you just signed

3. Don't promise the impossible in a ridiculous timeframe

2. How (not) to win a contract

1. New Business Areas

5. How to (not) do your budget in five easy steps

Image courtesy patpitchaya / Freedigitalphotos.net

If you have reached to the point where you have to give the budget for your project after you have systematically made all the four mistakes listed previously, you are either plain lucky or a sitting duck. More likely the latter!
Here’s how to (not) do a budget. Imagine the scenario in the Post # 3. For that scenario, do the following:

1. Get the rates for a single house from a local contractor. Extrapolate the rates to 1500 houses. Simple
2. Cross check the rates against your home country rates. Rest in the comfort that they are much higher than your home country rates.
3. Ridicule all the advice by your own staff related to employing qualified Quantity surveyors by saying “That’s how we do it here.”
4. For the rates that are not available locally, use your home country rates, multiply them by some factor and build them up. Simple. Not rocket science is it?
5. Float your budget to the client

The fact that the project is the first of its kind in a less developed place, in a ridiculously impossible time frame, should not matter. Armed with this “budget” go ahead and float your tender to international contractors.
Obvious lessons from this post are

• Budgets prepared by such rudimentary methods can not be the basis to go to tender. This clearly misguides the client into believing a budget which will not stand the test when the bids come back.
• The Project Manager’s budget – if prepared at all, should not be shared as a Cost Plan document to the client.
• Do not hesitate to employ local professionals who will give you a correct picture of the rates and an accurate and reliable number.

Links to previous posts of this series
4. Read the contract you just signed
3. Don't promise the impossible in a ridiculous timeframe
2. How (not) to win a contract
1. New Business Areas