How hard can it be? Complexity and response in major projects
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Transcript of How hard can it be? Complexity and response in major projects
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How hard can it be?Managerial complexity
and response in projectsDr Harvey Maylor
PMPC Ltd and Said Business School
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The challengeResults consistent:• >68% of projects failingMajor challenge for organisations and nations:• Capex - $18Trillion global
fixed capital formation, 2013.• Strategies, initiatives,
innovations• Revenue
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Complexity – a crisis?
Time
Complexity / Capability
Complexity
Capability
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Journey in complexity• Late 1990s – complexity a
good thing, complexity science, analogy.
• “Embrace complexity” (e.g. Boisot and Child, Org Sci, 1999)
• Up to 2006 – CCPM, more standards.
• 2006 on – what is complexity in projects and how do you manage complexity?
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Identify managerial
complexities
Actively manage
complexities
Working framework
Complexity assessment
tool
Resolve, reduce, run with
Determine managerial response
Processes, people,paradoxes
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Project Complexity: TIPS• Temporality: the assessment is valid only at the time that
it was made and for a limited period (e.g. a single phase or stage of a project into the future).
• Interactive: the complexity is affected by the (in)actions of those responding to a perceived complexity.
• Position in WBS: complexities differ depending on the level being considered (e.g. programme vs project vs task)
• Subjective not objective – the assessment depends on individual attitude, experience, role, responsibility and perceived ability to influence.
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Academic Background Extensive work on understanding what ‘complexity’
means in the project/ programme context. Can be summarised into 3 key dimensions:
Structural complexities
Socio-political complexities
Emergent complexities
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Representing Complexities
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Low
Medium
High
Structural Complexity
Socio-Political Complexity
Emergent Complexity
KeyProject 1Project 2
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Managing Complexities
Resolve – make it go away
Reduce – make less severe
Run with it – work out response
Q. In 43 workshops with a total of 1100 managers, what % of the identified complexities were they able to plan to resolve or reduce?
A. 22% B. 52% C.82%
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Responding to Complexities
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Responding to Complexities Complexity response more
than this area?
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Responding to complexities: project leadership and the primary colours model
Influencer:relationship-builder
Strategist:Proactive, adaptive
S
E S-P
Manager / Operations deconstruct and solve
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Responding to complexities: people
We asked a group of 246 PMs these questions “In your work, which of the 3
complexities is the most difficult to manage?”
“In your own formal training and development, which of the 3
complexities has received the most attention?”
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Future research:Complexity and response
Complexity of Response
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So what?Complexities of projectsRRRComplexity response
References:Maylor, H., Turner, N. and Murray-Webster, R. (2013), ‘How Hard Can It Be? Actively Managing the Complexity of Technology Projects,’ Research-Technology Management, (3*), Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 45-51.
Geraldi, J., Maylor, H. & Williams, T. (2011), “Now Let’s Make It Really Complex (Complicated): a systematic review of the complexities of projects,” International Journal of Operations and Production Management, (4*) Vol. 31, No. 9, pp. 966-990.
Maylor, H., Vidgen, R. and Carver, S. (2008), “Managerial Complexity in Project-Based Operations: A Grounded Model and Its Implications for Practice,” Project Management Journal, (2*) Vol. 39 No.S1, pp. 15-26.
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How hard can it be?Managerial complexity
and response in projectsDr Harvey Maylor
PMPC Ltd and Said Business [email protected] / [email protected]