Megaprojects: Great and mighty

No, you thought wrong. We are categorically against swearing, although we have not yet come up with construction projects without it. But from experience: if your language as a project manager is not so academic and foreign, then the contractor will begin to understand you much better even without swearing.

We have collected a chest of folk wisdom, with the help of which the crafty leader of a large and mega-project can more easily express his thoughts on the sometimes "tricky" situation in the Danish kingdom. Take it into service!

And the casket simply opened. A simple way out of a seemingly hopeless megaproject, which was abandoned by both the sponsor and the customer.

American uncle. A previously forgotten stakeholder who unexpectedly rescues a major project from bankruptcy.

Anika the warrior. An arrogant and arrogant project manager who boasts of his PME certificate, but invariably remains without the support of the project team.

Beat your thumbs. This is how the next sprint is conducted by the team that compiled an extremely simple user story in a hybrid megaproject.

Ring the alarm. Draw the general attention of the Governing Council to the TOP 10 risks of the project, calling for the formation of a reserve fund in the project.

Barrel of Diogenes. A project office remote from the open space, in which methodologists carry out secret balancing of the project portfolio.

Babylonian pandemonium. The project team began working on a complex megaproject, when it turned out that no one understood what a hierarchical structure of work and a schedule network model were.

Prophetic Cassandra. A skeptic from the development team who was not attracted by the non-material motivation of the project sponsor.

Lead by the nose. Provide management with a 64-page Gantt chart without a corresponding executive summary.

Here's to you, grandma, and St. George's Day. The date on which you learned that the owner's General Director has changed.

They don't go to someone else's monastery with their own rules. A situation in which the sponsor throws proposed project document templates in the face of the new megaproject manager.

Hannibal at the gate. A warning that the customer may not be able to withstand such an unsuccessful gate passage in a megaproject.

Deaf grouse. A member of the project team actively using telegram calls during a scrum meeting.

The naked truth. Passport of the megaproject, which fits on one sheet.

Making a mountain out of a molehill. Carry out excessive detail in the hierarchical structure of work on a large-scale project.

It's in the bag. A well-organized procedure for the delivery and acceptance of the result of a megaproject.

Keep the stone in your bosom. Unexpected consequences of a rather successful conflict resolution technique.

Egyptian executions. A lengthy tender in which competitors compete for the owner in front of each other.

Alive, smoking room. IT development team surviving a hopeless project.

Riddle of the Sphinx. How to balance the budget, deadlines, project content and quality that satisfies the customer in a large-scale project.

Take the bit between your teeth. Stop bothering the project sponsor with memos about bonuses for the team.

Bury talent in the ground. Consider changing careers after your third attempt at the PME exam.

To sip jelly seven miles away. Contact a Customer who loves meetings, but does not tolerate remote communications.

Dirty place. Participation in a major federal megaproject.

Play spillikins. Carry out active manipulations of the project team, forgetting to create a motivation fund.

And there are spots in the sun. This is how you can exclaim after yet another frozen project.

By spring, good cattle are lifted by the tail. Aggravation of shareholders during the thaw and demands to send a detailed report on the status of the project.

He gets along, but he doesn't fool around. Extremely communicative leader of a megaproject, but does not understand the technical side.

Poor Makar gets a lot of bumps. If your last name is Makarov and you have chosen the profession of project manager.

We are inseparable from each other. A look at the problematic situation from the general contractor's side at the final stage of construction.

Having been burned by the milk, they blow on the water. When your sponsor asks you to come up with a plan B for all risks without exception.

The feat is on schedule. Daily planning meetings with megaproject contractors starting at the same time.

Garden work, but national glory. A complex large-scale project in the Far North with a good entry in the work book.

There's even a tuft of fur from a mad dog. Failure to return a warranty lien to an unreliable general contractor due to fictitious quality problems.

Such a craft that has gone to hell. The first emotions of a business coach on managing megaprojects at the train station in Monchegorsk.

The poor widow has no wood or water. Having discovered during a surprise audit the extremely sad state of affairs of the EPC contractor.

Fetinya is old, but Fedot is sweet. From the justification for purchasing from a single source with reference to the experience of partnerships with the contractor.

Enough with an awl of molasses. When the project manager reviews the contractor's hidden work reports.

Chickens are counted in the fall. This is what they say in the airport project office when they do not have time to complete construction before the start of the summer season.

Saves an hour on your shift. Forcing the contractor to start his work day not at 9 a.m., but at eight.

You can't hide an awl in a bag. Agreements within the project team should always be copied to the megaproject curator.

Pinch the nightingale viburnum, skipping the raspberries. Threat to hand over construction work to another contractor.

What an army guy: just a little - and he went limp. In response to sabotage by the contractor, who learned about the customer's refusal to pay for additional work.

He played and he played and he walked away. When the contractor still proves to the customer additional work.

I am not the bishop's son-in-law, there is nothing to take from me. When a contractor needs to meet the budget limits of a megaproject.

I will be glad to receive feedback and add to the vocabulary!