PM Methods

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davidblaine
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I'm in the UK, been asked if the opportunity came up would I be willing to work abroad. Obviously I answered yes, I haven't been given a location as of yet, so here's my question.

Do the PM methods used in the UK change when going to a different country? If so how? I have a bachelors in project management but unsure of the methods used elsewhere.

Any help would be fantastic!
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dhaughey
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PM methods are pretty much the same worldwide. Look at the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), which is a global standard for the profession. There might be local variations, but the stages of - initiation, planning and design, execution, monitoring and controlling and closing remain constant. I wouldn't worry about differences, it's not likely to be an issue for somebody with a good grounding in project management.

Duncan
iannoble
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Hi, In my experience the PM Methods are pretty much the same, however I found that the culture of the country/environment was the biggest challenge, and put a greater or less emphasis on different PM aspects.

For example some cultures mean that they put less emphasis on risk management, preferring instead to tackle issues as they arise. Whilst this does not appear to be good project management to those of us more seasoned in a UK environment, that was the reality of the culture I had to work with.

Another example related to culture is how direct or not, people are. We do not have to go far across Western Europe to see differences here. In some countries people will be very direct and tell you exactly what they think of the project, an issue, someone else in the team and even you ! This can be a shock to a Brit, but usually no real harm is meant by this, they are just more direct. Whilst this was tough for me at first, once I got used to it, I found it helped the project.

So that it my big "watch-out" on this is to understand the culture and attitudes, because you will have to deal with it, and you may well have to adjust your methods to suit it better.

Good luck, and enjoy it !

Ian
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