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We've just about reached the six-month countdown to the start of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. And while most projects are wrapped up--or well on their way--it seems as if some members of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) are just muddling through.

The economic crisis is much to blame of course. What should be an exciting time for this city has given way to constant concern over the budget. Rob Mickleburgh recently wrote a story for the Globe and Mail describing this problem:

In a somber, reflective assessment yesterday, VANOC head John Furlong acknowledged the changed circumstances. "We thought this year would be all about executing and delivering services the way they were planned. But it's not as simple as it used to be," he said.

"We will probably not spend a day between now and the end of the Olympics when we are not evaluating a decision against the costs of delivery ... and the ground is always moving. It's an element we really hadn't thought we'd be dealing with today."

It got me thinking: What happens to a team when a highly visible and exciting project gets overwhelmed with challenges? How do project leaders keep team members motivated?

The games will go on--and now the athletes will have somewhere to live during the big event.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, host to the 2010 Winter Olympics, just secured approval to borrow more than CA$450 million to complete the main athletes' village. U.S.-based Fortress Investment Group cut the project's funding last year--midway through construction--over concerns about cost overruns and the weak economy.

You can read more about the 2010 Winter Olympics at PMI.org/features.

The Richmond Oval is already open for pre-Olympic events. The project came in under budget and on time--and it's already attracting attention.

Greg Scott, director of the City of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada's major projects office, said that the accomplishment, while phenomenal, has been taxing.

"[Information] we've been able to put on the Internet has certainly slowed down [requests]--or given media a thirst for more, I'm not sure which."

The team is now trying to solidify plans for what will become of the CAD$178 million facility after the games. The current thinking is that the site should be transformed into a multi-use facility for events including track, badminton, volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, special events and more.

Mr. Scott encourages project managers working on Olympic venues to keep the community's post-games needs in mind.

"If you do that and say that the Olympics--while very important--are the secondary function of the facility, you'll come out on a very successful note," he says.

Editor's Note: For more on the Richmond Oval and other 2010 Winter Olympics projects, visit PMI.org/features. And look for our next installment of the Project to Watch series in May.

This week Olympic officials from around the world convened in Denver, Colorado, USA. What did they talk about? Apparently, the recession was the No. 1 topic of conversation--just as it is in every other corner of the globe.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of the organizing committee for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, was one of the key players in attendance. According to the International Herald Tribune, Mr. Coe was on hand to assuage any fears that projects for the Games were off-track.

"We are not perfect, nor are we complacent," he said in an Associated Press interview. "No one says this is a risk-free process. But halfway through this project, we are absolutely--in everything we are doing--where we want to be."

This is partially true, since the project to build the main stadium for the games is ahead of schedule. But there's another side to the story. The global economic situation has forced the British Government to release more than US$650 million in backup funding due to a shortfall in private financing.

Mr. Coe, however, seems to have no misconceptions about the massive undertaking that still lies ahead. In January he said, "This is the biggest piece of project management a city undertakes, and it is against an immovable deadline. It is a tough time for the economy, but I remain upbeat about the potency of the Olympics to deliver an economic stimulus."

So, here is my question to all of the project leaders out there: How do you balance the success and failures of a large-scale project? And how do you grapple with factors beyond your control--like the economy--when they affect everything you do?

Editor's Note: Read more coverage on Olympics projects.

The one-year countdown to the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada has officially begun. And while teams remain hard at work to get things ready, there is some good news and bad news to report.
    First, the good.
    In today's economy, with people being laid off left and right, the 2010 Winter Olympics are keeping citizens in Vancouver and the surrounding area employed. British Columbia's Finance Minister called the Games a godsend, thanks to the number of people the projects have kept in the workforce.
    Now, the bad.
    Last week, credit-rating agency DBRS lowered Vancouver's credit status to its lowest since 1994, when it began assessing the city. The slip in status has been caused primarily by the economic crisis and the bailout of major Games projects, such as the billion-dollar Olympic Village.
    A recent news story on globeandmail.com also reported that, on 20 February, Moody's Investor Services predicted Vancouver will "increase to about 120 percent of operating revenue during the next two years because of financial obligations to the Olympic Village development."
    And a report commissioned by the Department of Canadian Heritage says, "Top-level managers haven't identified measures to overcome potential risks, such as funding, security and natural hazards."
    The report goes on to suggest that it's difficult to determine how the Games will benefit Canada once they end. Such news comes in the wake of post-Beijing Olympic Games reports that several facilities still sit empty. The "Bird's Nest" Stadium, a $500 million project that was the centerpiece of many of the Games' events, has just one event scheduled for 2009. And many of the city's other unused Olympic venues will likely be demolished.
    On the other hand, Beijing spent three times more on their Olympics preparations than any other host city in history. So perhaps planners of the Vancouver Games will learn from China's post-Olympics experience.  

The 2010 Winter Olympics project team got some bad news last week, thanks mainly to the growing worldwide recession.
    Toronto, Canada-based telecom company Nortel filed for bankruptcy after posting a CA$3.14 billion loss last November. As of now, however, the company is saying it will remain a sponsor.
    Also, earlier last week, the host city of Vancouver, British Columbia, also had to seek out CA$450 million from the government to help with over budget projects, including the athletes village.
    All that negative press led to the resignation of Jody Andrews, deputy city manager for Vancouver in charge of the Olympic Village project.
    And the Vancouver Organizing Committee board held a special meeting to create a new recessionary budget.

Editor's Note: This post is part of a yearlong series on the 2010 Olympics. For more information, read past posts and checkout PMI.org/features.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, will become the 21st city in the world to host the Winter Olympic Games in February 2010.
    And while I am sure the city sees it as a great honor, it is also a major undertaking of projects--with a very firm deadline. The operating budget for the event is well over CAD$1.6 billion--CAD$580,000,000 of which is devoted to the construction of venues.
    With only a little over a year left to get it together, much of the project work has been completed or is nearing completion.
    There are a total of 15 competition and non-competition venues in four cities for the 2010 Olympics. A few of the major venues have already been completed, including the home of speed skating, the Richmond Oval, indoor competition venue, UBC Thunderbird Arena and a figure skating venue called Pacific Coliseum at Hastings Park.
    Sustainability has been a big part of many of these projects. For example, during the construction of Whistler Olympic/Paralympic Park, the site of the biathlon, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping competitions, recyclable materials were used as much as possible, while over 75% off construction waste materials were diverted from a landfill and either reused or recycled and natural light was used as much as possible to minimize lighting requirements.
    "Every design decision and every construction technique utilized were measured against a series of questions: What is the legacy benefit of this decision/technique? What is the best practice? Can we think of another way which offers a better cost/benefit result? How does this fit into our schedule and budget?" said Vancouver Organizing Committee executive vice president, construction, Dan Doyle.
    And sometimes the project schedule takes on a life of its own. A light railway project in Vancouver had been in the works since the late 1960s, but it took on an added urgency as the city realized it probably didn't want an active construction site in the center of all the Olympic activities. So the city launched it with a deadline of November 2009--and the team is ahead of schedule.
    So far, things seem to be going well for these games when compared to the recent Olympics in Beijing (which were tarnished by environmental concerns, protests and reneges on guarantees of full press freedom) or even the planning efforts for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London (which is facing big budget problems thanks to the global financial crisis).
    Following the release of latest quarterly report last month, John McLaughlin, CFO for the Vancouver Organizing Committee said, "In light of the world's current turbulent economic outlook, we are fortunate to remain in a sound financial position as 2008 comes to an end. We have secured the majority of the funding commitments we require and our venue construction is largely finished. Looking ahead we must continue to remain prudent financially, and this discipline will be reflected in our revised budget to be released in early 2009."
    We will be following the progress--good and bad--as the final preparations are made for these Olympic Games. You can check for project profiles, interviews, etc., here on Voices, on PMI.org/features and in PM Network (Passing the Torch.pdf).