Deploying to Budapest
Our deployment starts in just 2 days! Despite some travel
issues (hello, Philly, for an extra 24 hours), I am shortly en route from PHL to BUD.
We received our clients and SOWs about a month ago, at which point we dove
into true research and project preparation. My team also had a virtual kickoff
2 weeks ago with our client, where we presented some initial content we
developed to refine the overall objectives and scope of the project. I am a
little apprehensive about the current scope (we have 3 FT resources for 4
weeks) but during the first week we have the opportunity to further refine the
SOW, which I think will be necessary.
Here are some fast facts:
Client: Budapest Enterprise Agency (BEA)
Client Mission: “…
to contribute to the development and
expansion of viable, new and existing entrepreneurs based on the market needs,
thus contributing to the creation and preservation of workplaces in Budapest
and to the facilitation of the economic growth of the Capital.”
Client Funding:
Public
Project Objective: Deliver a Strategic Plan to improve Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
(SMEs) in Budapest with a Focus on Young and Women Entrepreneurs.
I have completed a
number of strategic roadmap/plan projects at IBM, most recently for a
Houston-based specialty chemicals company, so I bring to the team a refined
methodology that we can leverage. I think this is a big advantage, TBH, because
we really won’t have to create a structure for our four weeks from scratch and
I have plenty of templates that we can leverage. However, it will take some
serious thinking and tradeoff decision making to figure out how we can condense
what’s usually a 3 or 4 month project with a team of 6 to 10 into 1 month with
3 resources. We shall find out!
This weekend we’ve
got orientation, then a working day at our client on Monday, and official
Corporate Service Corps Kickoff on Tuesday, October 2nd with IBM
leadership, public officials, and media. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything too
bold to the media 😊
One interesting
addendum I wanted to add to this post is an acknowledgement of recent events regarding Hungary’s
position within the EU. For a bit of background, I invite you to read this BBC
article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45498514. And, if you want to go reallllyyy deep on this
topic, here is the report, in its entirety, that called for action from the
European Parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+REPORT+A8-2018-0250+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN
Ciao for now! The
next time I post, it will be from Budapest!
Safe travels Ann! Hope you have a great, rewarding experience!
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