Managing Project

in the Middle of
Covid-19 Pandemic
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training@magnaqm.com www.magnaqm.com +62 21 806 410 45

INTRODUCTION
The year 2020 has been challenging so far. We started
with the potential war between the USA and Iran. We
have an extreme bushfire in Australia, Indonesia also
experienced massive floods and landslides, and now we
have a pandemic around the globe. Covid-19 or Coro-
na Virus Disease 2019, started in Wuhan, China, is now
officially a global pandemic as declared by WHO. At the
time of writing, we have more than 1,4 million confirmed
Covid-19 cases with more than 81 thousand deaths.

In the effort to decrease the virus spreading, govern-

ments around the world have ordered a full or partial
lockdown. This means people’s movement is limited,
stores and business activity are closed, and only essen-
tials services are exempted. This brings a significant im-
pact on projects, and as a project manager, you need to
build a strong project resilience.

This document tries to help project managers by pro-

viding a list of activities that are important and relevant
to the current condition. You need to assess the list and
select which applies to your project.

This list is developed with a focus on customer projects

or profit-center projects. In other words, a project that
is performed for a customer as part of a contractual
agreement (1). However, some activities or concepts
may still apply to internal projects or cost-center proj-
ects. This list of activities is by no means complete, and
you should select and perform activities that apply to
your project only.
Managing Project in the Middle of Covid-19 Pandemic 1

Project Execution
Adjust the way of working and For tasks that cannot be done
getting things done, remote remotely, put team member
working is the new normal safety first, second, and third.

Perform periodic retrospective

Help and coach team members on virtual meeting to discuss the
how to effectively working from effectiveness of the new way
home of working and also discuss for
any potential improvement

One thing for sure, we are not going back to the previous way of working. Let’s face it, this is the new
normal. Covid-19 pandemic has become the most effective agent of change for digital transformation.
Human is a highly adaptable creature. This unique capability has been the key reason why human is cur-
rently at the top of the food chain.

So, as a project manager, you are no longer have the luxury to assume that the changes in the way your
project team working are temporary. There is a considerable probability that people find that working
from home or remote location is still useful in getting things done, and it will become the preferred way of
working. However, we also need to realize that working from home is tough, especially for extrovert that
needs to socialize and meet people. For some people, working without direct supervision can be challeng-
ing, and they find it hard to focus on the job.

As a project manager, you are expected to use your leader hat and help, mentor, and coach your project
team so they can be successful in doing their job remotely. Of course, not all tasks can be done remotely,
some tasks need to be done physically on site. We understand that we have to complete the tasks. How-
ever, your project team safety should be your first, second, and third priority.

Changes are hard, and most of the time, it needs to be done iteratively. You need to perform a retrospec-
tive virtual meeting with your project team. This would be the appropriate event to discuss how everyone
thinks about the new way of working, what works, and what needs to be improved.
Managing Project in the Middle of Covid-19 Pandemic
Project
Communications
Have daily check-in or virtu-
al stand-up meeting with the
project team
Move periodic meeting with
the client to a virtual meeting
Communicate to all relevant
stakeholders on the changes
of communications method in
the project
2
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, not only do we need
to adjust the way we work, we also need to change the
way we communicate in the project. Since we don’t meet
our team physically, the need to communicate closely is
becoming more critical. That’s why a routine daily check-
in or virtual stand-up meeting is highly recommended.
Daily check-in Meeting Tips
- Keep the meeting short, put a time-box of
15 minutes if necessary.
- Focus on discussing what your team has
achieved, what they are going to do, and
what obstacles they might face.
- Discuss the details separately only with the
relevant team members.
- Perform the meeting at the same time
consistently.
With the implementation of social/physical distancing,
you need to convince your clients to move the weekly/bi-
weekly/monthly meeting to a virtual meeting. Although
this already should have been the standard practice by
now, you would be surprised that some people still insist
on having a face to face meeting.
You should also communicate and inform all the relevant
stakeholders on the adjustment of communications in
the project. It should be clear, what changes and what is
not, and how it will affect them.
Managing Project in the Middle of Covid-19 Pandemic 3

Project Deliverables
Covid-19 pandemic brings a lot of impact on busi-
ness and society as a whole. This enormous impact
might also change the priority for organizations.

As a project manager, you need to check with your

client if there is a change in the project constraint.
For example, before the pandemic, your client asks
that the project needs to be completed before a set
of a fixed deadline. However, circumstances have
changed, and maybe now, your client is more focused
on making sure that the project is completed within
the budget and no longer pushing for the fixed dead-
line.

Because of the circumstances, you may need to dis-

cuss with your project sponsor and your clients, and
confirm if there is any new requirement or change
requests. You will then process the new require-
ments and change requests according to your choice
of project management framework or methodology.

You will probably also need to discuss with your cli-

ent on how to adjust some deliverables that require
physical presence. For example, training could be
part of the project deliverable. On the project plan,
the training was going to be held in a hotel; however,
with the new circumstances, that plan may be no lon-
ger feasible, and you and your client need to agree to
adjust by performing the training using a video con-
ference platform.

Check with client and Discuss with the client on

project sponsor if Check with the client the possibility ofadjusting
there’s any change on if there’s any change in the deliverables, especially
the project require- the project constraint the one related to physical
ments & scope distancing
Managing Project in the Middle of Covid-19 Pandemic 4

Project Risk

Communicate with Communicate with

Review the Risk Reg-
project sponsor on the the project team and
ister and add covid-19
possible contingency relevant stakeholders
related possible risks
cost increase about the new risks

Even without Covid-19, periodically reviewing the risk register should have been second nature for proj-
ect managers. With partial lockdown and social distancing practice in place, the project risks will escalate
quickly.

Think about the probability of shipment delay from the vendor, increase complexity due to working re-
motely, numerous implications from the partial lockdown, and many more. Identify all those new risks,
assess the impact and probability, and plan for response and calculate the contingency cost.

These additional contingency costs may potentially devour all the available management reserve. You
will need to discuss with the project sponsor about the usage of management reserve and potential proj-
ect budget overrun. Make sure that you also communicate the revised risk register to your project team
and other relevant stakeholders. This will show project resilience and bring confidence to the project.
Managing Project in the Middle of Covid-19 Pandemic 5

Project Supply Chain

According to Bloomberg, the world’s supply chain is facing root-to-branch shutdown, unlike any seen in
modern peacetime as efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak hit everything from copper mines in
Peru to ball-bearing makers in Germany’s industrial heartland. (2)

This will have some impact on your project, be it a small or significant impact; as a project manager, you
need to stay on top of it.

Call the selected vendors and ask if there are potential delays in the shipment of materials or products
that are required for your project. It will certainly help if you know the supply chain of the material or
product and identify bottleneck upfront.

You should also develop a list of potential vendors or suppliers, just in case your selected vendor fails
to deliver. It wouldn’t hurt if you already call them for availability and price information. Usually, there
will be a premium price when the supply is low, and that price difference should be included in your new
contingency cost calculation.

Check with vendors if there’s Assess and calculate for the

any delay or problem with the potential of a price increase
delivery of materials or prod- due to the currency rate in-
ucts for the project stability or the uncertainty of

List other potential vendor/ Assess for any potential risks

suppliers for the possibility of or issues that might disrupt
vendor delivery failure our project delivery
Managing Project in the Middle of Covid-19 Pandemic 6

Project Schedule

Discuss with project sponsor

Assess the schedule estimates
and assumptions if still valid
Identify potential
and clients about the schedule
schedule-compression efforts
adjustment and the contrac-
tual legal impact

As we still have no idea when this pandemic situation will be over, our assumptions and estimates that you
have used when developing the project schedule may no longer be valid.

You should work with your project team to identify the invalid assumptions and estimates and assess how
it will impact your overall project schedule. The critical path may already look very different

After you develop a new project schedule that reflects all the changes, discuss this with your project spon-
sor and your clients, and consider if there is any contractual and/or legal impact.
Managing Project in the Middle of Covid-19 Pandemic
Assess the budget impact
from supply chain impact,
risk & contingency cost
changes, and other poten-
tial additional costs
7
Project Cost
The last aspect that we will discuss is how this pan-
demic will impact your project budget. We have
identified several elements that might have an im-
pact on the project budget, such as the supply chain
impact, risk & contingency cost changes, and other
potential additional costs.
After you have aggregated the changes and estab-
lish the new project budget, you will then have to
present and discuss this with your project sponsor
and seek their approval.
If the changes are too significant, your organization
might have to escalate to the client and discuss it for
a workable solution. As a project manager, you might
need to join the conversation to provide insight on
how the pandemic impacted the project and how the
proposed solution might offer desirable outcomes.
Participate in negotiation
Discuss with project
with the client about the
sponsor about the bud-
project cost adjustment and
get adjustment
the contractual legal impact
Conclusion
The abrupt disruption to social
life and business practices by the
Covid-19 pandemic has been as-
tounding and shocking. It tests our
readiness, and we have clearly failed.

The best thing that we can do right

now is to be agile, nimble, and adapt-
able. We are adjustable with what-
ever condition upon us.

Most importantly, we have to view

this as a learning opportunity and
come out with more resilience than
ever.
 PT MAGNA QAISE MANDIRI UTAMA
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