Managing Complex Projects (1)
One of the important recurring challenges in managing today's organizations centers on complexity. Although certain complexity is necessary and even desirable to gain competitive advantages, complexity definitely decreases productivity and efficiency and causes communication and coordination problems. The detrimental impact of complexity is pronounced loudly especially when managing a mission critical project. Many projects fail because project managers and team members could not effectively cope with project complexity. My research identifies two dimensions of project complexity: (1) structural (number of components, dependencies) vs. dynamic (changes to components and/or dependencies) (2) organizational vs. technical. My research shows that managers of technical projects perceive structural technical complexity to be most salient.

However, interestingly, I find that it is not technical complexity but organizational complexity that influences the outcomes of technical projects most.

The implication here is that project teams are relatively good at managing technical complexity. So, its negative impact is largely neutralized. However, project teams are not very good at managing organizational complexity. As a result, the project outcome is largely determined by the level of organizational complexity.


Recommendation: Understand and actively manage organizational complexity for your project even if your project is largely technical. Don't consume all your energy in dealing with technical complexity just because it is more salient and visible.