Ukraine: My front row seat at Chernobyl

Gareth Watkins, Chief Programme Officer at DBD International, reflects on his time working in Chernobyl, how the Russian invasion is affecting things there, and what his international career has taught him about working with teams.

Between 2013 and 2018 I lived in Ukraine, close to the Chernobyl site, working on European Bank for Reconstruction and Development projects to help make safe the stricken unit 4, which had failed catastrophically on 26 April 1986. During my time in Ukraine, I travelled extensively, visiting Crimea before its annexation by Russia and many cities in the south and eastern regions of the country.

The Soviet-era infrastructure in Ukraine was heavily decaying and the country was moving toward a more Eurocentric focus after the Maidan protests in central Kyiv (sparked by the Ukrainian government’s sudden decision not to sign up to an EU cooperation agreement), but everyone had an optimistic outlook on life, excited by the prospects of the heavy influx of overseas investment that was delivering a brighter future. I was in the country during the Maidan protests and travelled into Kyiv on a number of occasions during the troubles. I witnessed a large militia presence and burnt‑out military vehicles on the streets, but never felt intimidated as the friendliness of the Ukrainians was unwavering.

My time spent in Ukraine was always a joy and I called it home for several years. I still call it my second home and would happily return tomorrow if the climate was somewhat different.

Russia’s invasion deeply saddened me. I still have friends and colleagues trapped by the conflict and I receive disturbing updates from them regularly. Unfortunately, Ukraine no longer commands the column inches it used to as more local events are receiving media focus, but the war continues unabated. Power cuts are now commonplace, as they were in the post-Maidan era when Russia first flexed its energy muscles. I would leave home one morning without electricity and return home the following evening with the lights on as Slavutych, my home town, was subject to alternate half days of power cuts.

These are now returning with less prospect of ending as the infrastructure has been destroyed and the fuel sources removed. Winter in Ukraine is very cold. A lot of people will suffer tremendous hardships so, if at all possible, I would ask you to see if there is anything you can do to help the people suffering far more significant hardship than any of us here in the UK.

Hard-won tips on managing teams remotely

Working in a different regulatory environment and being deeply involved in a culture that had been largely developed during the Soviet era of my youth was fascinating and frustrating in equal measure, adding to the challenge of the delivery of complex engineering solutions.

Overcoming these challenges gave me a deeper understanding of why they were there in the first place and allowed me to navigate around them later in the projects. I gained a lot of experience and gathered some hard-earned tips, particularly on the management of remote teams, that I can pass on here.

Prior to deploying to Ukraine, I had gained significant remote project management experience on diverse projects in the Middle East, Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Lithuania. Projects included oil and gas measurement systems, procuring raw materials for the development of Qatar’s infrastructure for the FIFA 2022 World Cup and the design, manufacture and supply of the spent fuel storage casks for the decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant at Visaginas in Lithuania.

Delivery of these disparate scopes of work was by teams comprising a small number of expat specialists located on the project site who were supported by a local admin, contract and design team with additional remote design and manufacturing capability. When the project delivery and supply chain teams are separated by significant distance and often operating in different time zones it is imperative to have total clarity of work splits, roles and responsibilities, as there can be significant portions of the working day or week when the teams are effectively working in isolation.

Skills and techniques learned managing design teams split between countries and time zones have proved to be very transferable to managing remote workers with different working patterns during lockdown and into the new era of hybrid working. Working days are often topped and tailed by school runs or carer responsibilities and the office is now the spare room or dining room table. These have become the new ‘time zones’ and remote locations for working.

Transferable skills

I now use these techniques in DBD International where, as Chief Programme Officer, I head up the Programme Delivery and Mission Optimisation capability. We have a significant number of work sites across the UK and North America that benefit from my previous experience.

The following are my tips for working on international projects.

First, engage local support but build local knowledge within the expat team. It is important that you closely manage the support network to ensure they are delivering your real requirements, not just their interpretation of your requirements. Do not let the local supply chain manage you! It will almost certainly be necessary to engage with local specialists to help navigate different regulatory frameworks, licensing bodies and work across linguistic barriers.

While most regulatory frameworks share a common basis (e.g. EU or US standards) there will inevitably be some localisation that will catch out the unwary. Having some local knowledge within the expat team at the end of the project will provide an advantage for future projects in similar regions.

Second, spend extended time in‑country to build your network and learn the culture. Learning some of the language may seem something of a cliché but it undoubtedly leads to better relationships with the local team and can often be a great icebreaker when you mess up completely. It is far more difficult to build strong relationships with your delivery team and support network via a Teams call. There is no substitute for spending time together chewing over issues and solving problems around a table but this doesn’t need to be the primary method of working. It is time consuming, costly and potentially risky due to the amount of travel required. Group together meetings and spend enough time in-country to allow a more relaxed visit rather than flying in and out for a meeting. Extended trips also provide a better face time/environmental impact balance.

Third, use a form of contract that is familiar to all parties. Internationally recognised forms of contract are easier to manage as the supply chain is more likely to be familiar with them. Complex, bespoke terms and conditions can easily lead to confusion and conflict. Contract disputes are better avoided rather than having to commit significant funds and time defending contract positions or rebuilding relations when issues have occurred.

In summary, by ensuring clear communications, clarity of scope and a shared understanding of the mission objectives you will stand half a chance of delivering your required outcomes. Remember… it’s good to talk.

5 top tips on remote working for international teams and hybrid working local teams

The techniques used to manage internationally diverse teams have found new relevance in managing remote or hybrid teams post COVID-19. The following points can seem quite obvious but are easily overlooked or fall by the wayside as the pressure of delivery builds.

1. Have clarity of purpose. Everyone on the team has to understand what the team is delivering but, more importantly, why they are delivering it. Some team members may never actually meet other than online so it is really important to have a simple statement that reminds them why they need to get up and log on in the morning. It’s all too easy to lose the sense of purpose when the routine seems to be simply reading and responding to emails or logging into online sessions. Understanding the underpinning drivers of the project and the benefits it will bring will help to ensure the team remain engaged even through long periods of remote or isolated working.
2. Have clear scopes and requirements. Both the in-country/head office and remote working teams need to be absolutely focused on the scope and requirements. They also need to have the same understanding of the scope! Mission creep can occur by simple misunderstandings of translated documents or where the language is overly complex. Emails lack the subtlety and nuance of the spoken word so must be unequivocal when discussing scope and requirements. Any room for different interpretations will lead to confusion. Ensuring everyone has fully understood requirements and actions assigned during online discussions is essential. A simple technique to ensure understanding of all parties is ‘Three-Way Communication’. The ‘Sender’ of the message has to be sure they have the attention of the ‘Receiver’ and then sends the message. The ‘Receiver’ repeats back their understanding of the message and, finally, the ‘Sender’ confirms the understanding is correct.
3. Have an up-to-date RACI matrix. As the team members may never have met or may not even speak the same language, the RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed) matrix gives a clear indication of who is responsible for each part of the project. When working in different time zones or schedules it is far easier to see whom you need to send information to or request data from if the responsibilities and accountabilities are clearly defined. Avoiding the same team members working on the same thing will reduce nugatory work and assigning clear responsibilities will ensure nothing falls through the gaps. “I thought they were doing it” isn’t a great thing to hear about a critical document on the day before a submission deadline. It’s vital to communicate the RACI and maintain its relevance to the organisational breakdown structure and work breakdown structure.
4. Establish a regular meeting cadence. I am sure most of you have diaries that fill up very quickly with updates, catch‑ups, briefings and project panic meetings. These lead to massive distraction and disjointed and inefficient ways of working as people are tied up in long sessions in which only a small section of the discussion is relevant. There will always be some last-minute sessions required but the core meetings of the week and month should fit within an agreed meeting cadence and ad hoc sessions should be questioned rather than simply accepted. All sessions need a clear structure, agenda, objectives and outputs. Defining quorate attendees removes the number of people sitting in the background. It’s easy to hide on Teams. It is also a really good idea to have some clear space in the week to allow your team to actually work rather than talk about work. Define a meeting moratorium on a Wednesday afternoon, for example.
5. Talk to each other! Electronic seems to be the default method of communication now. I am bombarded constantly by comms on different channels but hardly anyone phones me to discuss issues or even for a chat. We seem to have forgotten the good old phone or if we are in the office just having a chat by the coffee machine. The number of messages I receive means it is impossible to read them all. It is very easy to miss something important. I now tell my team: if it’s important, call me

 

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU FROM THE WINTER 2022 ISSUE OF PROJECT JOURNAL, WHICH IS FREE FOR APM MEMBERS.