Complex Project Management

Complex Project Management

Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Project Complexity.....................................................................................................................4
Separation of simple, complicated and complex projects..........................................................7
Causes of project complexity.....................................................................................................9
Issues and implications in complex projects............................................................................12
Tools and techniques to manage project complexity...............................................................14
Conclusion................................................................................................................................17
References................................................................................................................................18

Introduction
A project is considered to be as complex when it consists of various interdependent parts,
each of which can get modified in various ways that are not completely predictable and can
also have unpredictable influences on various other elements that could get modified by
themselves. Complexity in projects depends upon individuals’ understanding and there are no
limits to the understanding of people or organizations. So, it can be considered as a
characteristic that is generally experienced in activities at the front line of knowledge or
technology of people undertaking the activity. The tools and techniques of project
management assist people and organizations in reducing the amount of complexity in projects
by the fragmentation of complex activities into simpler ones, by which, it eliminates
complexity out of the project and leave the resulting project in a simply complicated manner
(Cook-Davies, 2011). As the complexity is increasing day by day in global economy, it
ensures that projects in the present scenario might present their promoters and implementers
with high degree of complexity (ICCPM, 2018). The projects with substantial amount of
complexity are likely to have characteristics that are required to be managed in ways that
extend beyond traditional tools and techniques of the project management (Kilpatrick, 2006).
The International Centre for Complex Project Management (ICCPM) conducted an
international round table series on the management of complex projects in the year 2009. It
described a situation where, a number of stakeholders having their own priorities and unique
opinions implicitly avoided the actual situation for the purpose of gaining approval, to
proceed with a venture that would not have been approved if the reality was known (Hayes &
Bennett, 2011). The position paper has been written and international task force has been
established to provide assistance in improving the knowledge and abilities of international
community to deliver complex projects in best effective manner (ICCPM, 2018). Majority of
organizations develop their own means to assess the complexity of projects. Some prefer

assistance by appointment of suitable management or governance resources or by positioning
it in project portfolios that are taken into consideration for funding purposes. Such assessment
schemes consider factors which include technology, size, scale, supply chain, geography,
time pressure, stakeholders and such others (Kilpatrick, 2006). Some of the organizations
recognize that complexity depends on understanding; consider how familiar it is with
particular type, scale or technology of the project.
This essay will examine different aspects of complexity of project management and will
emphasize particularly on the causes, impact and management tools to be used in project
complexity. The essay will exhibit the actual complexity within a project, which will include
time constraints, uncertainty and such other things and it will also discuss about how project
managers manage complexity in the projects considering the issues, causes and implications
in this context. Various tools and techniques will also be reviewed in order to evaluate their
relevance and effectiveness in providing assistance to the project managers, to deal with the
complexity in projects in an effective manner.
Project Complexity
The objective of a project or its outcome defines the management of a project and its
differentiation with other projects. Different projects having similar goals differ from each
other on the basis of how, they are executed and the degree of complexity exhibited to the
project managers. Shenhar & Dvir (2007) explained that this context can be evaluated on the
basis of complexity, uncertainty and degree of familiarity associated with the projects of the
organization (Shenhar & Dvir, 2007). Among all the characteristics of a project, complexity
has been considered to as highly significant and Wiliams (1999) affirmed that there are two
fundamental reasons behind it which are, extensions or improvements of previous versions of
project for example, addition of other features and stronger inter-relationships and to increase

project restrictions considering deadlines and expectations regarding quick delivery of the
projects (Williams T. M., 1999). On the other hand, Xia & Lee (2004) stated that complexity
in the projects is associated with cost overruns, delays in projects, restrictions of
functionalities in system and decrease of satisfaction among users (Xia & Lee, 2004).
In 2007, in an international meeting in the leadership of ICCPM, the complex projects have
been described as those that possess certain characteristics such as uncertainty, ambiguity,
emergent dynamic interfaces, and are under the influence of various political and external
changes. The complex projects are those that overrun time and exceed the life cycles of the
technologies that are involved or where significant integration issues also occur (Cook-
Davies, 2011). Such projects can only be defined by benefit and value effect and not by the
product initially (Yugue & Maximiano, 2012).
There are concepts of systems that are used to define important components of project
complexity regarding interconnections as well as the interdependencies of the organizations
and technologies. The complexity is considered as the root of the concept due to the factors
determining the realization of a project that involves complexity within its design, along with
implementation and development (Remington, Zolin, & Turner, 2009). It has been agreed
upon by the researchers that complexity in the project is essential for the management of the
project, due to the difficulties associated with the decision -making and achievements of
goals. The dimensions that generate or influence the complexity of the projects are
considered to be as important issues in this context. The classification can be done on the
basis of two types of complexities in project i.e. organizational as well as technological that
can be functionalized from the point of view of differentiation and interdependence.On the
basis of analysis and classification of factors regarding project complexity, Remington,Zolin,
& Turner (2009) categorized complexity in two groups i.e. dimension of complexity which

refers to characterizing the nature or origin of complexity in projects and the other one
include factor of severity which refers to the extent severity of problem within the project.
According to Tatikonda & Rosenthal (2000), the concept of project complexity is related to
the innovativeness of the project, its process of development and performance objectives as
well as its technological interdependence (Tatikonda & Rosenthal, 2000). Geraldi &
Adlbrecht (2007) suggested that management of complexity in projects should be an outcome
of not only the characteristics of complexity but also of pattern. On this basis, the researchers
developed a concept of “pattern complexity” which refers to the negligible convenient space
of complexity. Three types of complexity has been defined by the researchers which are
Complexity of Faith which is related to uncertainty, Complexity of Fact (which is related to
the extent of interdependence and simultaneous information and Complexity of Interaction
which is related to the interfaces between the systems, people and organizations (Geraldi &
Adlbrecht, 2007).
Complex projects are generally managed with the contribution of project managers as well as
organization, for which, transformational leadership concept is considered as highly
appropriate. The utilization of transformational leadership assists in collective creativity of all
the organizational members for the purpose of developing a system, which is appropriate for
a particular project. It is also essential for establishing shared knowledge among all the
people associated with the project as well as for the processes that have been modified in
accordance with the requirements of the project. Through such a leadership strategy, one can
effectively involve and hold positive influences in delivering the strategies, in the phase of
complexity of projects (Kathleen, 2007). It can easily be achieved by the rigorous application
of project management in such a manner that the fundamentals of a project manager expert in
leadership skills, effective project control systems, best fit team members along with effective
communication and human resource skills can be achieved. The project managers have to