What is a complex project? While the definition of a complex project vary among organisations and industry bodies, as project management specialists ourselves, we believe that a complex project encompasses one or more of the following elements:
- A project over a A$1 billion in size
- A complex project structure that includes PPP, Consortium or Alliance based contracts
- Extensive design engineering hours
- A project with multiple stakeholders and project interfaces
- A project duration of over 4 years
Aspects such as Planning, Cost Control, Quality Assurance, Governance and Portfolio Management are important in allowing your project to operate at a steady and accurate pace; but will this be enough to ensure that your project conforms to agreed standards and expectations? More often than not, your project ends up being delivered late, resulting in cost overruns and penalties.
So is it time to shift the paradigm? Is dividing or simplifying a complex project as suggested by a number of project management methods, a good way of managing a complex project? In Op2’s experience, delivering challenging projects means breaking down the complexity of projects in such a way that:
- Stakeholders are aligned and focused on achieving project goals and outcomes
- Communication is more transparent and visible, where key milestones and interfaces can be relayed to internal and external teams
- Realistic goals and milestones enable project teams to focus and track physical progress for efficient delivery
Through years of experience, Op² has worked with many industry partners in exploring and developing new ways of managing complex projects.
If you are interested in learning more about how to manage your next complex project, feel free to email us or connect with our pragmatic consultants on LinkedIn.