Major Projects: The Art of Orienteering

With reference to Istanbul’s Grand Airport, Project Management Consultant and Strategy Advisor Tunde Ajia shares his insights on how the ever-evolving major project landscape now necessitates a reorientation of strategies and methodologies.

Managing major projects often feels like navigating a vast sea with foaming waves of challenges and tides of opportunities. Add the legacies of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change to the mix and you’re dealing with new challenges on sociopolitical, economic and environmental levels. Our ever-evolving project landscape now necessitates a reorientation of strategies and methodologies.

One vivid example is the intricate dance of continuity and adaptation exemplified in the construction of Istanbul’s Grand Airport amidst the tumultuous waves of the pandemic. When it opened to the public in October 2018, the Airport’s first phase, which included three runways and 1.4 million square metres of terminal space, had been completed. However, investors would need to fork out $12 billion to complete the four remaining phases by 2025.

The new Airport covers 76 million square meters and can handle 90 million passengers annually, even though it served 64 million in 2022. When all phases are completed, it is expected to handle 200 million passengers a year, surpassing Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport’s 107 million passengers per year to become the world’s biggest airport by passenger traffic.

A quick look at 2020

As one of Europe’s largest airports, the facility suffered unforeseen hurdles in the wake of the global health crisis, bearing profound insights for project managers globally. When Covid-19 hit, the airport project was in a critical phase. Authorities were gearing up to mark two years of handling 200,000 passengers daily in the completed section. All the while, they were racing against time to get the other phases completed to bring the facility to full capacity.

“I have to admit, it’s a very big pity to be hit by this pandemic less than two years after opening a big greenfield infrastructure project,” Istanbul Airport CEO Kadri Samsunlu told Adele Berti of Airport Technology. The pandemic didn’t just test the project’s structural, logistical and financial sinews; it also stretched the human elements to its limits. Samsunlu adds, “It was a heart-breaking period and a very tough situation, especially for a company that had just come out of a huge capital expenditure programme.” Social distancing, health protocols and a mutable workforce ecology became part of the impromptu balance between operations, construction and innovation. In November 2020, Istanbul Airport became the first airport in the world to be accredited under the Airport Council International’s Airport Health Accreditation Scheme, a presentable proof that the Airport’s project and operations managers handled the crisis well.

In this post-Covid era, agility is a dominant element of good orienteering. The unpredictable nature of the pandemic’s impact meant that systems such as airports known for rigid, traditional methodologies would struggle. With the intrinsic ability of projects to morph in response to evolving challenges and opportunities, agile practices have risen as an alternative and a cardinal doctrine in post covid project execution. It demands more than traditional project management skills; it calls for an adept orientation to navigate its complexities to success. I discuss three components of effective orienteering in major projects, which are: comprehensive strategic planning, dynamic adaptability and intricate stakeholder engagement.

1. Comprehensive Strategic Planning

Orienteering is a game of direction. Although participants use maps, compasses and other gadgets, the distinguishing factor is how well you can use those tools to your advantage. The foundation of any major project’s success lies in its initial blueprint. For Istanbul Airport, this was the genesis, the cardinal point where the journey from conceptualisation to delivery commenced. However, it is beyond the physical constructs. Like its sports equivalent, proper orienteering in projects ensures that every facet, from resource allocation, regulatory compliance to risk mitigation, aligns with the bigger picture.

For instance, every terminal, runway, and facility within the grand expanse of Istanbul Airport depicted the power of comprehensive strategic planning. In today’s management of major projects, planning transcends conventional boundaries. It is an intricate interplay of foresight, precision and anticipation. Planning must be exhaustive yet flexible, detailed yet visionary. Here, architectural designs, logistical frameworks, material procurement, human capital, regulatory compliances and environmental considerations are not isolated chapters but interconnected narratives in a holistic makeup. The complexity and scale of major projects demand an elevation from micro-managing to strategic orchestration.

2. Dynamic Adaptability

Istanbul Airport had just concluded a huge capex phase when the pandemic hit. That meant major assets acquired laid dormant for months without generating any value. Such phases do not leave most companies enough fiscal wiggle room to maintain dormant assets. All the while, Turkiye as a country was undergoing its own political upheavals, technological innovations and societal transitions. No matter how remote these factors appear, proper orienteering must reference their potential impact on the project. Only then can we develop strategies that do not open too many backdoors.

Change is not just inevitable; it is the only constant. Therefore, the ability to morph strategies, adapt plans and realign resources in response to evolving scenarios is the hallmark of effective project management. It’s akin to seasoned sailors who, amidst the tumultuous waves, adjust the sails, not just to survive the storms but to leverage them to reach their destined shores.

3. Intricate Stakeholder Engagement

When you orienteer projects, you’re also navigating the maze of people with conflicting interests trying to outdo each other. This manifests project politics. Therefore, the narrative is not complete without intricate stakeholder engagement. Major projects are not isolated islands of construction; they are interwoven into the social, political and economic fabrics of communities, nations and global landscapes.

Every terminal and runway of Istanbul’s Airport tells a silent story of engaged conversations, aligned interests and harmonious collaborations. Also, the four terminals it will have by 2025 does not mean someone else did not suggest three or six. From regulatory bodies, government entities, local communities to international consortiums, stakeholders are not spectators but co-creators of the unfolding narrative. Therefore, adept orienteering means harmonising this diverse mix into a meaningful call to action. It’s about aligning interests, mitigating conflicts and weaving a narrative where every stakeholder sees a reflection of their aspirations.

Navigating the future: The project manager as a skilled orienteer

In the past sixty-five years of modern project management, the evolution of expectations from major project managers has been profound. We are no longer constructors or managers; we are navigators equipped with the compass of planning, adaptability and engagement, orienteering through the intricate maze of project complexities to deliver structures of enduring significance. With reference to Istanbul’s Grand Airport, it is not just a significant major project or an architectural marvel; it’s a profound interplay of planning, adaptability and stakeholder engagement.