Name: Atheer Alshabanat

Event: Managing projects in the Media Production industry, How Harakat do it!

Date: 28 October 2018.

Organizer: Princesses Nora University.

Presenter: Ms. Alanoud Al-Showaier.

Location: PNU, A6, CBA building theater.

 

Ms. Alanoud explained in this one-hour seminar the importance of project management and risk management and how to overcome the obstacles you face during the project. I was able to participate and ask questions, and there was a group of case studies during the seminar which enhanced my understanding of the subject. I was expecting several case studies about Harkat company. I left the seminar with a lot of new and helpful information’s about risk and project management, I decided to implement them next year on my future projects.

 

The main key learning in this seminar was about the importance of project and risk management, for all kind of businesses. Managing Projects and becoming a creative industry gives the company a good reputation and popularity, which leads to higher profits because it will lead to more clients. It is also a huge source for competitive advantages. Before attending the seminar, Ms. Aljawharah asked us to do some further reading, so I did some research about the project management definition.

 

“–Project Management– is the dynamic process that utilizes the appropriate resources of the business in a precise and controlled manner, to accomplish some clearly defined goals known as strategic needs. It is always guided within a defined set of restrictions.”

(Kinicki and Williams, 2013)

At first, then she started by introducing herself as Alanoud Alshowaier, she graduated from King Saud University and her position in Hrakat as Account & Project Director

 

Then Ms. Alanoud introduced the company of Hrakat by saying it was a Saudi company established in 2011, specialized in visual production and content creation in a different format (communication and engagement). Hrakat also produced more than 500 minutes and served more than 45 clients in various sectors. Their services include the production of communication and engagement, informal communication and digital course development and creation. Also, they have the trust of many big clients like Mada and Mobily, Najm, and some ministries like the health ministry, the ministry of commerce and Industry (Hrakat.tv, 2018).

 

She explained that in the company they have three types of projects, big project, medium project, and lastly, small project. And she explained that the lifespan of the project and its budget depends on its size the bigger the project the longer the lifespan and it will cost more than the medium and small projects. While she was going through the company’s prosses on managing projects I noticed that Hrakat follows the same project management process that I learned in DICE, which were initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, lastly, closing. Also, the company uses tools and software to help them manage projects and tasks like Trello and Slack.

 

Moreover, she presented us a case study, which was about the Vision of 2030 of Saudi Arabia. She gave us a brief about the 2030 vision, the vision was announced on April 2016 and published on various social platforms in a formal manner, many people were confused about this sudden vision and did not understand what it was. Therefore, Hrakat saw this opportunity and launched the “@sv_2030” account on twitter to help and educate them about the vision. Moreover, this project to the Hrakat Company is a big project extended from April 2017 until 2030. The project was divided into phases, each phase is a project of its own but combined, and it makes this big project.

 

Nevertheless, they launched a campaign called ‏(#أنا_مؤمن_بالرؤية) which means “I have faith in the Vision” the purpose of this campaign was to make people interact with the vision to make them understand more what it is and the purpose of it.

 

They wanted to make more people know about the vision, so they published an interactive tweet that has an interview with Mohammad Bin Salman where he talks about the vision. The tweet was trending on twitter without any promotion, and it was still trending even after they closed the campaign.

 

Next, she gave us another case study and this time it was about how they were able to manage risks at the company. The case was about Hrakar company and Ministry of communication.

 

The ministry of communication wanted a video for the national day, talking about the development of Saudi Arabia with footage from the time of King Abdulaziz Al Saud till today. In a short period of time “six days before the national day”.

 

They had multiple risks, the short period of time and the lack footage because it will take at least one month for them to get it.

 

Moreover, they used the brainstorming technique for a quick solution. After a lot of ideas, they finally came up with the idea of drawing the missing part of the footage and using the available pictures. They consulted the client about the idea and they agreed. So, they started working on the video and finished it before the national day.

 

At the closing, she gave us the opportunity to ask questions and I was able to take notes, like what kind of obstacles the project manager face and how to handle them? she answered, “you have to manage a big team with different personalities by having traits like being flexible, accepting of other people’s opinions, and being diplomatic.”

 

and what kind of techniques they used for the video?

Her answer for that was “brainstorming with the creative team then, collecting as many ideas as possible and getting a result out of it”.

 

This seminar made me realize the huge role of project management and it corrected a lot of my mistaken information about it, I strongly agree on the importance of risk management and I learned a lot of ways to implement it on my future projects

 

After all, the seminar was above my expectations. It was an amazing learning experience where I was able to learn new things and correct some false assumptions as mentioned before. I feel excited about the new processes I learned about the risk management and I cannot wait to implement them on my future projects.

 

In the end, planning will save you time and money while managing risks the right way will save your project. It is important to apply these tips in everyday work and see how much your work will develop and thrive. And remember to always choose the alternatives that have fewer risks. High risk does not always mean high gain. So, be patient to have more effective and efficient results. (Gale, 2016)

 

Refences:

 

Hrakat.tv. (2018). profile. [online] Available at: http://www.hrakat.tv/hrakat_profile_2017.pdf [Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].

 

Gale, S. (2016). the executive guide to project management. 4th ed. [ebook] new york: Project management institute, pp.36-43-23-45-32. Available at: https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/publications/pmi-executive-guide.pdf%5BAccessed 31 Oct. 2018].

 

Kinicki, A. and Williams, B. (2016). management a practical introduction. 7th ed. NY 10121: McGraw-Hill Education,