COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Complex Project Management



Complex Project Management

Introduction

In the past decade, project management has been undergoing a major transformation as it is applied to information system design. When you consider that traditional project management methodology originated from the body of knowledge of an entirely different domain (engineering, mainly of the industrial and civil kind), it is not surprising that project management in the information systems arena has evolved. Many of the methods for developing systems originated in computer science which itself emerged from constructs used in engineering and mathematics. In the early days of computing this sufficed, however today, developing systems is much more than just engineering the most technically correct or “best” system. In some cases, what we as users may want is not the “best” system. Frequently, what we really want is the most practical system that is focused on and addresses our particular needs. When we consider traditional project management and software development approaches, several disadvantages are immediately evident. For one, the huge effort required during the planning phase of a traditional project is often so all-encompassing that half (or more) of the resources for the project are expended before any development work even beings. Furthermore, requirements definitions are often so labor intensive and protracted that the requirements for the project have changed before development even begins.

Measuring Success And Failure Of Project Management

Until very recently however, the focus on factors associated with managing relationships was seen from a primarily administrative and functionalist perspective, the underlying assumption being that if its importance to project work was emphasized sufficiently enough and a set of project work practices associated with it codified, then this key aspect of a project's effectiveness could be sufficiently organized, planned and of course controlled. Yet, projects continue to run into many difficulties with relationship management issues cited chief amongst the many causes. The limitations associated with this rationalist, functionalist approach has resulted in calls for a range of alternative and more pluralist perspectives to examine the behavioral and relationship dimensions of projects. For many writers this involves orientating more research towards capturing the “actuality” of projects, in order to better understand the real, lived experience of project management. This might then help build more effective bridges from research to practice. An important focus here is the recognition that projects can themselves is seen as constituting a social process. We can therefore learn more about how different areas of project management contribute to project success, if greater attention is given to the underlying processes by which relationships in project management are motivated, negotiated, and enacted. Such an approach has already provided new insights into how the nature of relationships can influence project outcomes, particularly through understanding the roles of power and politics as collaboration becomes subject to divergent interests or understandings (O'Leary and Williams, 2008).

The social interactions through which relationships in projects are constructed and developed are inherently emotional, and it follows then that emotions are likely to play a significant role in influencing ...