Under the African Sun...
next level consulting, South Africa was invited to facilitate Uhde’s Construction Management Global (CMG) meeting in Johannesburg...
The event’s motto was: ”It takes a whole village to raise a child” (African saying) and was
chosen by Jörg Hasenbein – head of the CMG Coordination Office - to support the ambitious goals
of the 4 days: ensuring a successful implementation of a global construction management
organization by defining hard-fact next steps and individual responsibilities as well as
building a sustainable network within the Global Community where all community members share a
common picture of the CM Global organization.
It was clear that the commitment and contribution of all local organizations were needed in order for the CM Global Community to start contributing to Uhde’s overall growth vision and the strategy of global standardization. According to Nelson Mandela an old African philosophy -Ubuntu - speaks about the fact that one cannot exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. When one does well, it spreads out for the good of whole of humanity. And there was a true sense of the Udhe community spirit noticeable at the African gathering as most of Uhde’s construction management key players were present from all over the world, despite major obstacles for some - be it political conditions in their country or time restraints: India, Mexico, Egypt, Russia, Slovakia, Thailand, South Africa and Germany.
Based on the key-note speech of Lothar Jungemann – head of Uhde’s implementation division - all delegates worked jointly on day 1 of the meeting to create a common understanding around the status of the CM Global Community. They began to forge a platform of a common language, by standardizing practices and sharing information between all local construction management organizations. Closing off day 1 was a networking event challenging the entire team to build the “CM Global Village” in order to raise the “CM Global child. The men went to work at a speed with many serious discussions on which team should construct what and an enormous level of creativity and flexibility to be observed “on site”.
This was the rise to the CMG Community and team spirit. The excitement was high and the pressure was on. Thinking global, yet working local language was no issue. Diagrams, hand signal with some facial expression said it all. Pushing against limitations and going forward with energy and power each team reached success and completion of this task in time and in budget.
On the second day all delegates went on a fieldtrip which was dedicated towards the topics of “site management and site supervision” plus further networking.
The fieldtrip had 3 stops:
(1) a visit to the South African Polysius Service Center, where the delegates learned about the design and construction of complete mining plants including their maintenance.
(2) an excursion to the cradle of humankind where everybody was taken back three million years to the first civilized human activity of all the worlds showcasing amazing human ancestor fossils.
(3) a subsequent game drive (= safari) to smell the African air and feel the heartbeat of Africa ensured that the CMG members experienced true Africa with its beauty of its landscapes and the animals that grace the soil by walking on it. As the sun went down the camp fire became the centre focus of the venue where sounds of the drums continued while the delegates enjoyed their sundowner drinks and the tastes of some local cuisine. Conversations were flowing and laughter echoed though the silence of the night. There was a strong sense of trust and relationship - a different communication style and group behavior from day 1. It felt like one team …”CMG Community”.
On day 3 people had to get back to hard work’s reality. The day was focused on the main functions of the CMG Coordination Office . Concise inputs followed by breakout sessions in smaller teams formed the platform for hot topics, recommendations for further development and the clarification of roles and responsibilities to be voiced.
The concluding day was designed around the reflection of and commitment to the results and tasks developed on the previous day thereby defining the path forward for the CMG implementation. Each CMG-member individually verbalized their personal mission to build and nurture the CMG-idea and committed to making the agreed upon steps forward in the globalizing work. Udhe’s CM Global representatives have grown into a united team and defined a challenging, yet achievable path forward for the CMG-implementation in 2012.
next level consulting South Africa said goodbye to the Udhe CM Global group in the way only South Africa can...
Zulu: Sala kahle
Xhosa: Sala kakuhle
Afrikaans: Totsiens
English: Goodbye, blessings and go well!