Complex Project Management: Review of the Queensland Health Payroll System

This article discusses the causes, environments, and properties of complex projects and the tools and techniques to aid project managers in managing them. It includes a review of the Queensland Health Payroll System project as an example. The article emphasizes the importance of proper project planning, stakeholder and team management, and the selection and application of suitable project management tools and techniques.

Running head: COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Complex Project Management: Review of the Queensland Health Payroll System
Name of the student:
Name of the university:

1COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Introduction and summary of the learning
A specific project can be referred to as a complex one whenever, the actions as a project
manager puts negative effects those are difficult to predict and at the same time unexpected also.
A c0mplex project is a combination of lots of parts with interconnections, high level uncertainty
or disruptions and heavy time constraints. It is the role of the project managers to sensibly re-
plan the project aspects so that it can meet the pre determined objectives (Pilepic, Simunic and
Car 2015). There should be an interrelationship between all the components but there must be a
balance between the outcomes and the root causes.
The ways through which each individual component can affect a complex project are to
be eventually identified by the project manager. In other words according to ( ), there are four
reasons in terms of technical complexity, schedule, political complexity and cost complexity.
The project managers should remember that a project will become a complexity f it is hard in
functions and operations. The complexity of any projects partly gets reduced if the project
manager becomes successful to complete the project within estimated cost, time and schedule.
Continuous changes in project schedule, time and cost will impact a project success. Contract
negotiation process can reduce the issues of critical requirements that results in sub optimization
of the products (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017). Without successful completion of one critical task
the next activity cannot be started. It will lead a project towards cost and time failure. The
required interfaces can be all connected through the detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
Different case scenarios such as QLD Health, Deepwater Horizon, Texas Oil, Chanel
Tunnel, etc are considered for defining a complex project. In order to deal with political risks
federal, state government and local government should be consulted by the project managers.

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Numerous numbers of variables can be produced from these components. However, the project
risks should never be compromised as it may cause massive challenges in the success path of
projects. Correct skill mix, detail project plans and risk mitigation approaches can simplify the
complexity of any project (Heinemann and Gebicka 2016). Moreover, for success, project must
possess a supportive infrastructure as well as project ecosystem. Plan for the work, working on
the plan, agile towards the project requirements, taking necessary actions for the project
activities will lead a project towards success. In order to evaluate project complexity the
attributes that are to be considered and analyzed accordingly include life cycle cost of the
project, risks, visibility, authorization basics, life cycle duration for the projects, technology
readiness etc.
1. The causes, environments and properties of complex projects
i. Introduction and summary
Different varied interrelated factors can collectively deliver successful project which has
not been failed. There are many reasons for which a simple project can become a complex. It is
the responsibility of the project manager and the project team members to take care of the project
environment. The causes behind the project complexities are as follows:
Unrealistic project scope: If the scope of project is not set professionally then the project
manager and the project team members will not be able to meet its objectives within estimated
budget and time. The project should be conducted considering all factors that may impact either
positively or negatively its outcomes. The scope statement must be designed considering project
requirements and the expectation of the clients from it (Fleming and Koppelman 2016). If the
project executives fail to design the realistic scope then schedule delay, over allocation of budget

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like risks may arise. The total dollar value of these overpayments is approximately $1.7 million
per pay period and has been accruing at that rate since 2010. The project development
experiences and available resource usability can be accomplished only if accurate preparation of
the project scope.
Inaccurate scope creep: One thing the project managers feel most fear about is scope
creep. In most cases the project initiates a particular direction but as soon as it develops it took
different shape but does not even look at the similar project that has been preliminarily started. If
outside the project objectives the planning gets expanded then that time issues like scope creep
occurs and hampers the regular success of the projects (Hornstein 2015). The new changes may
not be adopted by the project manager and the project team members properly.
Insufficient team skill: Insufficient skills of project team members may lead a normal
project towards a complex one. In most of the times the knowledge of the project team members
defines the project success. If they lack sufficient skills then, they may have to compromise with
the project accountability, flexibility and reliability. As a simple project will become a complex
one and the project may put at a risky situation. There are some projects which require high
level knowledge and skills of the project team members (Verzuh 2015). Therefore, it can be said
that the insufficient project skills can lead a project into complex situation.
Three of the above mentioned situation explains the environment, cause and properties of
a complex project. In the below section some examples will be presented accordingly.
ii. Evidence and examples
After analyzing Queensland Health Payroll system project some causes, environments
and properties of a complex project are identified (Binder 2016). The Queensland Health Payroll

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system has experienced some major common challenges with the payroll system that they have
been designed and developed. According to Haas (2016), the Queensland Health Payroll system
deals with a complex operating environment with a broader project context. The project
operation and functionalities are operated by around staffs who again act in two different acts.
If this system is compared with the rest of the Australian projects then it is determined
that this specific project is completely unique but complex. The man operational complexity that
has been occurred for this project is their ineffective key decision making approach regarding the
actions of their future investment (Pilepic, Simunic and Car 2015). There are numbers of
contributing factors nominated for this company which may cause significant challenges
regarding the operating system. In order to implement the new system for the consumers they
uses a centralized processing system therefore issues may rise regarding the creating linkage
between the district staffs and the local payroll serving operators.
On the other hand according to the deepwater Horizon accident investigation report it has
been defined that, he shoe track barriers that are prepared fails to isolate the hydrocarbons.
According to Heagney (2016), damage caused for the project due to high load condition needed
for establishing circulation. They also failed to check for the valves and seals. Not only this but
also, due to insufficient rate of flow, they fails to convert the float collars. Thus, it can be said
that for this project non-supportive environment is the reason that causes project failure.
Another project “Channel Tunnel” is also considered for evaluating the reasons of project
complexity. In order to carry freight trains and Eurostar trains the 31 mile channel tunnel project
is designed. The main reason behind the failure of the project is it’s extremely complexity. With
changing time the project specifications are also apparently modified (Snyder 2014). Safety

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measures are crucial necessity for the success of the project but due to lack of professional
communication between British and French team sorts of communication issues occurs which
converted the project to a complex. The forecast of the project failed to meet the objectives that
are another reason of failure.
iii. Conclusion
Form the overall discussion it can be concluded that both professional project practices
and literature the definition of project complexity is defined which requires better project
management for delivery of a successful project. However, the current theory and practice of
project, program and portfolio management reflects the perspectives of only clients. Considering
socio technical system concept the project complexity should be measured. This specific broad
as well as enriched direction of conceptualization of a complex project within a multiple project
environment will help the businesses to focus in all the operational aspects. It shows that
utilization of holistic approaches will hold considerable potential for improving the operational
and functional activities. In order to satisfy the clients and stakeholders the industries are facing
pressure while delivering high level performance for project success. Thus, besides managing
project, project manager should focus on the requirements of the industries. In other words it can
be said that project complexity can be an attribute to the newly created interdependencies
resulting from huge n umbers of functions as well as activities regain from, changes in
procurement methods, stakeholders multiplicity, issues related to project environment and the
levels of interrelation ship between the potential suppliers. In order to capture the elements that
causes risks and complexity in most projects, should be identification at the project planning
phase to make sure that the risks those have been identified can be resolved accordingly.

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2. The tools and techniques to aid a project manager manage complex projects
i. Introduction and summary
Project management is referred to as one of the challenging task that holds different complex
roles and responsibilities. In order to accomplish project activities with professional assistance
the suitable project tools and techniques are needed to be adopted by the project manager.
Sometime it requires software supporting computing system while sometime it requires manual
system to either insert of update information (Sharon and Dori, 2017). However, there is no such
project management tool which can address all the needs of the project. The most commonly
used project management tools and techniques are PERT chart and Gantt chart.
Both of these tools can be produce either manually or with the commercially available
management software. In order to define and control any project, PERT chart as a control tool
can be utilized by the project manager. In order to identify and specify activities, milestones by
determining proper sequence of the activities the tool and techniques of project management can
be adopted. It also helps to design the project network structure along with a critical path. The
early start and late finish of project activities can be also determined through project
management tools. The project management tools have evolved from sophisticated spread sheet
products and web based information portals. In order to bring data in a web browser, non web
based project management tools and techniques are not applicable. Due to improve collaboration
approach of current project management activities the web based project management portals are
becoming very common to all business organizations. At the same time, it has been determined
that, of the project manager fails to identify the most suitable project management tools and
techniques then it will lead failure of a project (Wautelet and Kolp 2016). Not only this but also,
based on resources and risks many projects can be compared through the tools. It will also

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successfully deliver real time alert for the project issues, project inefficiencies, challenges. Based
on project challenges and it can also suggest rather recommend a proper project solution for the
project manager.
ii. Evidence and examples
With analysis of Deepwater Horizon Accident Incident it has been identified that, in
order to determine the position of locks ST lock cylinder and gamma ray density techniques are
collaboratively used by the project manager. On the other hand, for the BSR ST lock
determination the radiographic technique is being applied. Except the VBR ST lock all the BSR
ST locks are properly located to the desired locations. In the rest of the pipe rams the lock’s
locations are determined with the help of less definitive gamma ray techniques (Ramazani and
Jergeas 2015). However, the gamma ray technique fails to determine the location of the ST lock.
Besides these techniques certain tools are also defined through Gantt chart. In order to minimize
the work pressure from the project team members and accomplish the task within estimated time
and budget this project management tool is utilized by the project manager.
On the other hand, for Queensland payroll system project, Critical Path Method id used
by the project manager to identity the key issues and the approaches though which the issues can
be successfully resolved. The relationship between district and payroll hubs can be determined
with CPM. In order to strengthen the linkage between staffs and the consumers this project
management technique is being utilized. The payroll processing accountability of QH and QSS
are defined with the Gantt chart project management tool. Apart from this, an electronic rostering
system for line manager is developed which act as a professional project management tool that
gave long term success to the project owners. However, for some of the factors certain specific
defects were not successfully detected. These issues occurred due to change in pay date,

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prioritization of fixes, legislative changes etc. In order to implement the key system level
changes to make effective utilization of release windows long term approaches are determined.
Another real time project considered for this analysis is the channel tunnel. This project
was not completely unprecedented. The tools used in this project were well mechanized
excavating tools, pneumatic drilling tools. On the other hand, the technique that has been
considered for this specific project is sophisticated blasting method. It is expected, that
successful utilization and evaluation of these tools and techniques will help to deliver and meet
the project objectives.
iii. Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that adoption of continuous changes may
cause ultimate project failure also. In order to avoid scope creep issues at the initial phase the
project manager should consider the cost, schedule and quality through systematic project
planning. Regarding the availability of the resources and deadlines realistic assumptions are to be
considered. However, no scope creep solution is available but with stakeholder, team and
communication management approach the issues of scope creep can be resolved. In order to plan
a project much effectively Gantt chart should be prepared by the project manager. In order to
resolve the issues of project complexity the project manager and the project team members are
required to select and apply proper project management tools and techniques. Utilization of
proper tools and techniques will lead a project towards commercial success. Problems with
system design and development should be operated by considering proper tools and techniques.
Each and every activity of an organization can be labeled as a project processing feature and also
varied levels of significance to the organization. before defining any tool the main thing that has
to be considered for any project are project objectives which implies that there should a specific

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goal towards which all the members will work. In addition to this, schedule is another important
thing within which the project manager should accomplish their job roles. Only the tools and
techniques that are appropriate for project should be considered to avoid future complexity.
Actions are to be planned based on the nature and size of the tasks. Personnel, equipments,
materials and facilities are the resources to be assigned for project success. A typical line of
authority should also be considered in terms of information and control system, project tool and
techniques to avoid project complexities.
3. The degree and nature of the project cases discussed in the unit regarding
complex projects
i. Introduction and summary
The term project management is referred to as one of the commonly used approaches but it can
be used in different forms. The three different features based on which the success of any project
is evaluated are project uniqueness, objectives materialization and its identity. Most of the
project owners have started adopting certain measures in terms of products delivery, services,
results and exaction and non unique or non-repetitive. However, no such unique universally
accepted definition for complex project management is accepted. There are several perspectives
considering which the project complexity can be successfully explored by the project managers
and the project team members. ( ) stated that this is referred to as a feature which demands the
usage of several management tools and techniques. The definition of project management also
includes decision making specifically for project planning, organization, control, execution and
conclusion. Certain steps are there that are to be followed by the project heads so that they can
meet the project objectives within the estimated time and budget. The pattern of differences also

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varies a lot from each other. The project management prcatices include integration,
communication, scope management, time management and quality, risk and knowledge
management. It is the responsibility of the project manager to meet the project success criteria.
For different project case the degree and nature are also different. After analyzing the details of
the project details its degree and nature are to be measured by the project manager. In facet
before giving final approval for the project all the individual project activities are needed to be
considered and analyze.
ii. Evidence and examples
Different case scenarios are considered for evaluating the project management prcatices
and success criteria. From the Queensland health payroll system project details t is determined
that, they are focused to develop forward planning with specific initiatives so that they can
identify the issues. The initiatives include payroll hub restructuring, changing pay dates, over
payment, payroll self services and payroll portfolio government etc. These are the leading
practices on which the project owners are putting their focus so that the traditional issues of
system operation can be completely resolved. On the series of work forces the project manager is
focused on improving the existing payroll management system. The proper project practices will
be able to identify different aspects such as workforce management, business improvement,
financial management, governance assurance etc. the ey issues of the project that may interrupt
the success of the project can also be identified by the project manager at the project planning
and development period. Though, this is not a single project rather is a project combination
which is comprises of different small projects. The estimated budgets for each of the small
projects are also different. Some recommendations are suggested for the project to avoid further
failure include forward business strategy. The project manager should design and develop a list

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of prioritized payroll projects (Larson & Gray 2014). Based on priority, identification,
documentation, and proper communication about the future payroll operating as well as service
delivery modes are required to e used by the Queensland Health Payroll system. The current
moratoriums regarding the instigated recovery overpayment approach an expenditure approval
for lifting the project performance are very much crucial. For reducing some basic errors and
risks the project manager should consider proactive measures. The roles and responsibilities of
the project team members with the project objectives are required to be defined at the initial
phase. The committee structure should be prepared in such a way so that it can keep the members
engaged to the senior leaders.
Again for the Deepwater Horizon accidental investigations resport it s determined that the
overall condition of the BOP has failed to meet the project success criteria Therefore,
maintenance, leaks, testing, modifications are to be done based on the diagnostic results. The
critical components over the control system are not properly estimated. Therefore, the project
members should keep their focus on two different categories such as BPS contractors and their
service providers and the drilling and operation practices for the BP (Nicholas and Steyn 2017).
From the results generated from the BP testing the operation and functionalities and the
operations are to be designed. Based on the current reviews the recommendations are to be
prepared by the project managers so that the project requirements and objectives are successfully
meet by the actions taken by the project managers.
iii. Conclusion
From the above detail discussion it can be concluded that the degree and nature of these
projects are different from each other and based o the project requirements and the objectives he
project outline should be designed by the project designers.

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3. Overall discussion
There are different managerial strategies through which a project can be managed
accurately. A well arranged project always helps the project managers to meet its objectives and
within the estimated budget and time. Based on the background of the projects the reasons of
complexity are also changes. There are different methods through which the complexity f any
project can be measured (Mir and Pinnington 2014). 5DPM is one of the widely used tools that
help to calculate the complexity of any specific project. Even it can also identify three different
functions associated to this which include analysis, planning and implementation. The 5DPM or
5 dimensional project management concepts give a conceptual structure to the project manager
to make sure that the project objectives are understood identified an prioritized accordingly. Each
of the dimensions is utilized for developing the project complexity maps which gives visual
representation of the scope as well as nature of the project complexity. This particular
complexity maps are generally used for making the balanced resource allocation. In addition to
this, it also helps to guide 5 different specific project analysis as well as planning methods for
selecting the most suitable project execution tools (Silvius and Schipper 2014). In order to
identify the reasons through which a project can meet the success the critical success factors are
needed to be identified and applied by the project managers at the project initiation and project
planning phase. After defining the critical success factors associated to the project the project
team should be assembled by selecting the project arrangements. The project manager should
focus on preparing an early cost mode and a finance plan. In order to avoid over allocation of
cost and overrunning time, a finance plan should be followed by the project executives. Not only
this but also resource management is another important factor therefore the project manager
should develop a project action plan for addressing the resource level issues. Moreover, adequate

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project execution tools will help the project managers to deal effectively with the human
resource, resource details a financial details. In other word, for selecting the most suitable project
execution tool different 5 project development tools are to be used in context with the structured
process. The main characteristics of a complex project include some standard practices such as
design, funding and contract. Through dynamic interactions the issues of project complexity can
be resolved completely. Apart from this a complex project deals with high level of uncertainty
related to project objectives (Ramazani and Jergeas 2015). The issues of project complexity can
be identified as well as resolved by considering five different dimensions such as technical, cost,
finance, schedule and context. In order to prepare this essay some real world case scenario are
chosen and analyzed accordingly and after combining all the edges it is determined that, the
project estimation should successfully satisfy some criteria such as it should be factually
completed but needs to be concise. In other hand, the project should be able to support the facts
and findings. The team should b initially assigned and their job roles should be also identified at
the same time. Proper tools and techniques, methodology of estimation and are required to be
identified by the project managers. Not only this but also the, project should successfully qualify
the factors and rates which are accurately referenced in the estimation process. The project
manager should focus on both the external and internal attributes so that the project manager and
the project team members can meet the project success criteria and preliminary project success
assumptions (Schwalbe 2015). Therefore, only the best project management processes and
project prcatices help the project managers to meet the project objectives and also help to avoid
project complexity.

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4. Conclusion
From global management perspectives it is defined that, for accomplishing any project
the task force should be properly adopted and applied respectively. If project associates fail to
identify the necessary management tools and techniques then the project will be a failure. The
other management approaches that are to be followed accurately by the project manager include
stakeholder management, communication management, resource management, procurement
management and contingency management. For the demonstrable achievements of all different
values competition plays one of the fundamental roles. From project outsets nature, timing and
objectives are the different components to be successfully considered by the project manager. In
order to ensure success within a project environment strategic partnership, sponsors and contract
methodologies are the basic requirements to be accomplished. Under the face of project
uncertainty, the project team should have the ability to manage all the emerging issues. Success
from any project can be obtained through opportunities, traditional agreements of procurement,
solid government support etc. Before design and development of a project the roles of the drivers
that may change in unpredictable ways for the increased global interconnectivities are also
determined by the purchasers. Basically the project team members including project manager
should play the assigned job roles to meet the preliminarily set of project objectives. Not only
this but also, purchasers may know that the expected outcomes should meet the project
objectives. The project should follow certain common themes and based on the demand the
project outlines should have to be prepared. The causes, environment and nature of the project
are all elaborated in this essay. Besides this, in order to meet the project objectives it is
mandatory for the project manager and the project team members to identify and adopt the most
suitable tools and technique. Again among all the project activities proper interdependency is

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needed to be established. As per the required changes the project environment should also be
updated by the project manager. With a broader landscape the project deliverables should be
outlined. Moreover, from the above arguments it is determined that, a project never initiates as a
complex project but it become a complex due to lack of proper functional and operation action
undertake by project managers. If all the measures are not accurately measured then a normal
project converted to a complex project. The reasons for which a project complexity increases
include failed mergers, increased defense budget, improper IT innovations etc. The other
common reasons are also demonstrated in this essay including their nature and other tactical
features.

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