Project Management Complexity
What is Project Complexity ?
The complexity of a project is an element of a project that makes it difficult in understanding, anticipating, and keeping in check its entire behavior, even once given a reasonably complete data concerning the project system. Complexity affects model design, testing, and project management as well as time, cost, quality, and safety objectives. Complexity can also affect the selection of the appropriate project organization form and the project management plan that includes the technical and knowledge requirements of the project managers.
In simple words,
“Complexity of a project is an element which supports uncertainty.”
Complexity is difficult to define as it has several different connotations. Project complexity has been outlined as one or a mixture of things that influence the quality response/actions taken to attain the project outcomes.
In fact, definitions of complexity continue to be ambiguous. Complexity can be understood not only in different fields but has also different connotations within the single field.
Importance of complexity in project management
- Project complexity determines planning, co-ordination, and management necessities.
- Complexity plays crucial role in the choice of an appropriate project structure form.
- Project complexity affects badly on the selection of project inputs, e.g., the experience and skill requirements of workforce.
- Complexity affects the project objectives of time, cost, and quality. Predominantly, higher project complexity results in greater time and price.
- Project complexity obstructs the clear identification of goals and objectives of projects.
Complexity Levels in Project Management
In management we can distinguish following levels of system/project complexity:
- Organized complexity (organizational structure, principles, processes, algos)
- Self-organized complexity (adaptive systems, flexibility, innovation)
- Random system (market, changes in financial markets, customer behavior)
- Complicated system (e.g., machine, computer, or technical issues)
Factors of Project complexity
There are six main factors of project complexity:
- Organizational (people involved/relationships).
- Planning and management
- Operational and technological
- Rigidity of sequence and concurrency
- Environmental
- Uncertainty
Organizational factor
Includes poor relationships among project parties, ambiguous project roles, poor decision making, many stakeholders, problems with the clients, poor communication.
Planning and management
Process making elements, high level of interconnections between processes, project coordination, organizational structure, having substantial critical path activities, high cost/value, long duration projects.
Operational and technological
High amount of mechanical and electrical installations, high degree of (technology, physical complex roles, technical complex roles), role that has no known procedure, built-in difficulty of the building process, incorporating state of the art/leading edge or advance technology, high number of trades involved, first time process execution, regulations to be adhered to, physical size.
Rigidity of sequence and concurrency
Degree of overlap of phases, Interrelationship between activities in different overlapping parts, poor information generation, poor forward transmission, usage, and feedback.
The environmental
Sites in (public environment, restricted, prehistoric, open environment), sites on polluted land, Green-belt sites, market conditions understanding, legal environment understanding, international projects.
The uncertainty
Lack of uniformity due to (instability in resources, mechanical or other resource breakdown), the effect of weather condition, incalculable subsurface, undefined work in a defined structure, lack of working drawings, undefined structure, Inexperienced workforce, overlap between design and construction resulting uncertainty.
Dimensions of Project Complexity
Dimensions of project complexity are broadly categorized as:
- Structural complexity (Multiple project partners, stakeholders or supplies, sizeable number of interconnected activities, interdependencies)
- Technical complexity (Development of recent technologies, products/services)
- Temporal complexity (Shifting environment or strategic move on time, often experienced during affiliation or amendment of government)
- Directional complexity (Misalignment of project goals, secret plans, loss of original intent when controlling over a new team)
- Socio-culture complexity (Human interaction and needs, diversity, unconscious bias, organizational culture, societal expectations)
How to Measure/Calculate Complexity of a Project
To measure the complexity of a project at initial stage will lead to more robust understanding of the project and therefore could be of nice profit in successfully managing projects and reducing the risks related with complexity.
Project managers must be compelled to determine project complexity to make sure economical decision-making and attaining project goals. The foremost vital factor in measuring project complexity isn’t accuracy, but consistency.
There are following steps that can help in measuring project complexity.
Step 1: Project Basics
The first step in evaluating the complexity of a project is to determine the project basics, what are its requirements. Calculate estimated time and cost to complete the project. Complexity of the project depends upon higher cost value of the project and time. Make schedule flexible for any impacts.
Step 2: Stakeholder Management
- Hire local consultants to engage
- Define senior management process
Step 3: Governance
- Govern financial delegations
- Define clarity of depth of authority to payment
Step 4: Legal Obligation
- Apply legal obligations/limitations in the project execution plan
- Analyze exact permitting requirement
Step 5: Fiscal Planning
- Understand document decision making criteria and analysis requirements
- Clarify roles and responsibilities
Step 5: Interfaces
- Use organization mapping techniques and graphics
- Address both organization and equipment/process construction and commissioning interfaces
These steps will be helpful in effective profiling of complex projects. Project managers should be careful in the selection of right project management tools and work management software that will assist in effective management of projects. Project managers should avoid from falling into the false estimation and make decisions based on a narrative fallacy or personal opinions instead.
Key solution:
Heeding to project management complexity; concept of project complexity and international journal of project should be clear to us. We should take trainings relevant to project management and complex projects which boost our skillsets to deal complexity in easy and better way. Engenius Executive Education is the platform which is providing such trainings and courses with its top-notch consultants to upskill and deal with such kind of difficulties. Please visit our programs.
About Author:
The Author is Mustafa Kamal, who is a Leadership Trainer and Founder of Engenius, an Executive Education platform. He is a Chartered Accountant by profession and writes on Leadership, Business and Economy. To know more about him please visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/mustafakamalpk.
