With modern day communications rather than face to face, I wonder what the rationale behind any office presence in London is, unless you actually need to meet someone who is also in London. Are all those commuting journeys really neccessary.
Any of you London boys affected by the Olympic traffic chaos
Very good point. However (a) the kids are off school now and (b) I need to lose a couple of inches off my waistline so (c) I am cycling into the office as often as possible.
It's basically me and a load of surprised-looking maintenance men at the moment.
And did I mention that (d) I can have a swift pint and a perusal of the sports pages on the way home?
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I am always available to go and meet my clients in person if they so wish.
I communicate by phone and email with those who prefer it.
As a service provider, I feel it is my obligation to accommodate my clients the best I can rather than offer my opinion on their meeting arrangements (or on any other matter that I have not been asked about....).
So for me there is no discussion here. If the client wants to see me, I am there. Said that, the discussion of the pros and cons of face-to-face meetings between individuals within the same organisation is understandably completely different.
Dryce
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Our SE England clients don't seem to have the same level of commitment.
We've had two projects with August milestone meetings delayed and there's a delay in a third client generating paperwork for new work due mid August that will probably now be delayed to mid-September.
It's ridiculous. One client needs to get a sign off meeting setup with their client and are being told that it's unlikely until 'after the Olympics'.
It's all about attitude and the combination of media and overreaction means that just one or two individuals on the critical path clearing their calendars has a knock on.
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I made appointments with clients for this week and next, I simply allocated more time for travel. If the client can be bothered to get to his office during the Olympics, so can I...
scottishman2
Active Member
I now have an image of a commuter on a bike, with a beer in one hand and an Evening Standard resting on the handlebars....
How long have we known the Olympics were coming?
We decided over a year ago to shut down the central London office. Any decent PM should have included delays due to Olympic "chaos" included in their risk plans. Any of my guys coming to me moaning about Olympic impact on their plans will get pretty short shrift.
As a service provider I have a responsibility to my client portfolio - which includes risk planning as well as having some up-front and (sometimes) uncomfortable conversations about their expectations versus reality.
Along the way we've had to cope with issues around access, availability of accommodation, clients closing operations and/or relocating for the duration, clients ramping up operations due to Olympic commitments, etc - yet in the vast majority of cases we'll be delivering as planned and promised.
It's funny how some clients don't seem to think outside of the day-to-day norm. I've got one who wanted me to come into London for a quarterly review - fine, I'm happy to do that as that's what I'm paid to do. But, I suggested, what about meeting outside of London - bit easier for the both of us. He hadn't even thought of that option, but jumped at the chance; we'll meet at his house next week, and he says he'll supply lunch!
We decided over a year ago to shut down the central London office. Any decent PM should have included delays due to Olympic "chaos" included in their risk plans. Any of my guys coming to me moaning about Olympic impact on their plans will get pretty short shrift.
As a service provider I have a responsibility to my client portfolio - which includes risk planning as well as having some up-front and (sometimes) uncomfortable conversations about their expectations versus reality.
Along the way we've had to cope with issues around access, availability of accommodation, clients closing operations and/or relocating for the duration, clients ramping up operations due to Olympic commitments, etc - yet in the vast majority of cases we'll be delivering as planned and promised.
It's funny how some clients don't seem to think outside of the day-to-day norm. I've got one who wanted me to come into London for a quarterly review - fine, I'm happy to do that as that's what I'm paid to do. But, I suggested, what about meeting outside of London - bit easier for the both of us. He hadn't even thought of that option, but jumped at the chance; we'll meet at his house next week, and he says he'll supply lunch!
We deal with a few thousand SME's and 99% of them didn't have an Olympic plan or even thought about what may happen!!!
MOCAŠ
MB Enthusiast
Exactly. A phenomenal amount of planning has gone into this is, and any "chaos" that results will largely be due to people having buried their heads in the sand for months on end, before finally panicking at the last minute.
DITTRICH
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I work as the Finance Director of a medium sized charity in East London, almost slap bang in the middle of it all. The games have forced us to consider a number of eventualities and we have. However, so much of our work depends on public transport and the roads and the reality is we won't really know what will happen until it does. So far, things are "almost" normal. We've hired out one of our buildings to a foreign organisation for money which I am sure will come in handy. Luckily I only live 5 mins from work in a car and the backstreets are still okay even if it is a bit of a maze.
D
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My previous premature comment was meant to express my surprise that this is being described as 'chaos' before the Olympics have even started, obviously the games will cause some traffic congestion (like London is a stranger to traffic congestion
).
If you think that it's bad now you are in for a bit of a disappointing time, or, on the other hand you might just be about to have all your miserablist wet dreams come true.
).If you think that it's bad now you are in for a bit of a disappointing time, or, on the other hand you might just be about to have all your miserablist wet dreams come true.
We had a big announcement on the train this morning saying trains will be very busy all day and through out the Olympics.
The 4 people on the train just laughed.
The 4 people on the train just laughed.
I now have an image of a commuter on a bike, with a beer in one hand and an Evening Standard resting on the handlebars....
That's me
My previous premature comment was meant to express my surprise that this is being described as 'chaos' before the Olympics have even started, obviously the games will cause some traffic congestion (like London is a stranger to traffic congestion
If you think that it's bad now you are in for a bit of a disappointing time, or, on the other hand you might just be about to have all your miserablist wet dreams come true.
Had to get from NW2 to Uxbridge yesterday. On the way out it took an hour. So a bit longer than usual due to problems getting onto the A40.
On the way back it took well over 90 mins as I dodged the A40 - the combination of Olympic lanes and an accident at Hanger Lane had snarled it up according to 5 Live.
Actually enjoyed the journey as it was sunny and I had the 5 Live Olympics coverage on (which I thoroughly recommend BTW - it's excellent).
Today am working from home before wandering down to Hyde Park for the concert - Paulo Nuttini, Stereophonics, Snow Patrol and...errr...Duran Duran.
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The organisations we deal with are not SMEs. What I suspect has happened is that internally they have made lots of noises about planning and somewhere in the middle tiers this gets translated into the idea that the whole period is an economic hiatus.
It's a bit like snow. We end up travelling 80 miles in winter through snow to attend a meeting at a client location and find that most of the local attendees have called off for the day.
DITTRICH
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Just been from Wood Green / Turnpike Lane to Canning Town via Stratford. Where is all the traffic - in one big long line coming into Stratford from the west. The roads are faster. Big anticlimax.
SavMan
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acej said:
