Understanding Complex Project Management
Added on 2020-04-01
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COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENTBy NameCourseInstructorInstitutionLocationDate
COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT 2Table of Contents1.1 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................32.0 Causes of project complexity.................................................................................................................43.0 System behavior....................................................................................................................................44.0 Ambiguity..............................................................................................................................................55.0 Failures of complex projects..................................................................................................................56.0 Drivers of project complexity................................................................................................................67.0 The five dimensions of complex project management..........................................................................77.1 Cost................................................................................................................................................77.2 Schedule........................................................................................................................................87.3 Technical........................................................................................................................................87.4 Context..........................................................................................................................................97.5 Financing........................................................................................................................................98.0 What needs to be done?.......................................................................................................................99.0 Tools and techniques of project managers..........................................................................................109.1 Incentivize critical project outcomes...........................................................................................1010.0 Critical planning and analysis methods for complex projects............................................................1310.1 Defining critical project success factors.....................................................................................1310.2 Assemble project team..............................................................................................................1310.3 Select project arrangements......................................................................................................1310.4 Prepare early cost model and finance plan................................................................................1410.5 Develop project action plan.......................................................................................................1411.0 Problems of complexity of project.....................................................................................................1411.1 Uncertainty as a complexity.......................................................................................................1411.2 Complexity-induced risks...........................................................................................................1512.0 Mapping project complexity..............................................................................................................1613.0 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................17References.................................................................................................................................................201.1 IntroductionComplex project management involves managing risks and ambiguity in conveying project outcomes. This includes the risks of unforeseen and irrevocable developing effects that intensify
COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT 3rapidly(Mehta 2007). Complex projects mostly involve various countries with diverse cultures and views. Project teams are multidisciplinary and virtual and they draw their expertise from governments, their industries and international partners. The innovation of information technology and communication systems has made it possible for project team members to participate and influence the decision-making process of complex projects(Grisham 2013). The fundamental complication of projects is somehow compelled by technological, social, political and environment issues, this coupled with the consumer expectations which is constantly changing. Complex projects are characterized by unpredictability, progressive decision making, a grade of dismay, iterative planning and design, indiscretion, nonlinear processes, and uncertainty. Managers are moving from the traditional dimension models into the five-dimensional model of project management to help them maximize the potential for successful project implementation. The strategy of project management basically involves planning, designing and building, operating, and delivering a successful project(The essentials of project management 2006). Complex projects inclined to extensively run through the lifespan of their know-hows. Complex projects are accomplishments for which traditional approaches, observation, frameworks are insufficient in relation to; heterogeneity, multiple pathways, the change scale, and objective ambiguity, complex project management essentially should gauge and understand project context, critical aspects, alliance, mergence, and the confluence at numerous sections of intermediation beside the lifecycle of the plan to uphold elasticity through organizational swiftness and project flexibility, thus maximizing its probabilities of success(Metcalfe and Sastrowardoyo 2013).
COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT 42.0 Causes of project complexityHuman behavior, it is the major source of complexity in projects. The involvement of human resources on projects causes problems throughout the project phases. It is people that formulate and oversee the implementation of projects, therefore they also contribute to the failure or success of projects(Baccarini 2004). Examples of human behaviors are: Stakeholders with impracticable anticipations, stakeholders who misinterpret the projects objectives, reduced or missing exclusive sponsorship, concealed agenda of some of the team members, ethical dilemmas like bribing, stakeholders who stage down, or are detached creating instability of the project, and serious information being withdrawn intentionally from the team members leading to improper implementation of the project(Davidson Frame 2014). Project managers should consider project team skills, learning culture, structure, flexibility, and track record, and creativity, and leadership competency of every member of the project.3.0 System behaviorA system is a collection of dissimilar modules that when composed yield results that are not attainable by the modules when they are separated. The project becomes complex as the connections between the components increases. Dependency on diverse parts of the system that have a high overlapping degree on each other require expert to work between the concerned members to get work packages so as to deal with this dependency as they cannot be autonomous.The project management should introduce strategies that incorporate the whole system as well the components are interconnected(Kemp 2004).4.0 AmbiguityThese are unclear situations that rise because one does not know what to expect or in what way to retort to it. Developing ambiguity comes up as unforeseen change that happens in the context
COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT 5of a project. This is as a result of the interconnections and the dynamic shifts of the environment.Also, it involves how the management of affirmative and undesirable risks are being handled(Jonas 2010). Complex projects are bound to have ambiguous aspects in them and therefore project managers should install quality control methods to help in anticipating for situations that might rise within the complex system. The task of governance deals with superior ambiguity and ambiguity that occurs as a result of quickening modification. It is determined first by the social, diverse cultures and technology, and similarly by transformational move from an evidence age where the emphasis is on interrelated competencies but not lone solutions (Project Management Institute 2017).5.0 Failures of complex projectsProjects fail when crucial communication channels and systems are not taken into consideration or when they are underestimated. For instance, the complexity of a project can be changed by thechoices made by the members. During the process of conveying crucial evidence about ideas needed for major decisions, the message can be adjusted because of cultural differences between the members, staff assortment and staff interdependences. Therefore, when decision is turned from a plan into an action, it ends up being not what the manager wanted it to look like.(Davidson Frame 2014). Also the complexity of the projects influences the preceding decisions made concerning the project, the manager does not have the ability to foresee the impact of the decisions made and the outcome of the project. When changes are made to an ongoing project implementation it leads to expensive wastage of unusable unfinished products. Changes of employees within the structure of the project may cause frustration, lower morale and the manage will under expense as the employees will have to undergo retraining. Delivery of material supply made wrongly or late would lead to time wastage and the project managers
COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT 6should device ways to prevent future recurrence of such events(Heerkens 2015). This leads to stoppage of the project and it could in turn lead to overhead costs to the budget that were not planned for. When a team member leaves the project, a competent skill is gone, the project manager incurs another duty of finding the next competent employee to replace the one who left,this makes the project to be carry out with inadequate personnel and mistakes are bound to arise(Turner 2010). The challenge here also is to recognize the motives that have made employees choose to leave and have ready solutions for such a situation. Possible resources outages require that we calculate buffer times(Piperca and Floricel 2012). When resources deplete quickly and not within the budget scope, the manager should establish ways of finding out how the resources are finishing and ensure it doesn’t happen again. Inadequate quality checks end up rising follow-up costs, it is the duty of the managers to distinguish between errors that alter the budgetary plan and those that do not. Constraints that limit the overall implementation of the project lead to failure of the projects. Decrease of employee motivation that lowers performance leads to projectfailure. The problem of multi-tasking, resources are also required for additional projects and other responsibilities. All these factors affect the implementation of the complex project.6.0 Drivers of project complexityThe complexity of a project is defined by the project scope, interactions and interdependence of the project system and the project context. The scope of the project greatly determines the nature of its complexity although there are small projects that are complex but most of the small projects are not complex(Brink 2017). In order to determine the projects size there are parameters that should be evaluated, like the financial budget, the project team, and the resourcesinvolved. The complexity is associated with variety. Complexity of the projects leads to interactions and interdependence within the project systems, this involves small components
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