Project management in Oman

Are you a project manager in construction and you forgot to arrange utilities for your construction site? Don't worry. 

Here is an inspiring story for you.  

Door bell rings. I open the door. Two cleanly dressed and polite young guys are at my gate. If it was Europe I would suspect Jehovah Witnesses. I am safe here.

Young man: Hello Ma’m we are from the construction site next door.

Me: hello (I assume they are supervisory staff, mostly because I can understand what they say)

Young man: Ma’m we need electricity. Next week we start works but we don’t have electricity. We have applied from the electricity company but it takes two weeks to get connected and we must start next week.

Me: yes? (thinking: I wonder what this has got to do with me, though I know where this is going)

Young man: We were wondering if we can use your electricity for one week.

Me (thinking: is this true?): Use my electricity for one week??!? 

(quick mental elaboration: wait? what? when? how? Uh?) - I must have looked a bit stunned.

Young man: yes

Me: what do you mean use my electricity? (random images of doom populate my head). You want to extend a wire into my property to plug it into one of my sockets?

Young man: Yes Ma’m only for one week. It’s only for a small light for the workers. Until we get electricity.

Me (still thinking: I must be dreaming, wake up!): OK, excuse me for not understanding, what do you expect me to do? To keep a window open so that you can use my electricity for a week? Can you not get a generator?

Young man: No, no generator (reason mentioned escapes me).  It’s only for a little electricity for the workers (and something else that has also escaped my mind in the commotion), only for one week (as if he was asking it for 10 minutes). No ma’m no window open, we can use the plug outside.

Me: what plug outside? 

Young man: Yes ma’m don’t you have one for outside kitchen?

Me (thinking: I am starting to enjoy this): no I don’t think there is any plug outside (though I vaguely remember seeing one)

Young man: Ma’m tomorrow I can send my electrician with one of my men and they can inspect…

(Image of electrician with naked wires attached to a light bulb springs to my mind: enough time spent on this nonsense. This is project management at its worst). 

Me: no sorry, your construction site management issues are none of my problems.

Almost four years of life in the bubble and they still manage to amaze me. It's an art!