A multi-dimensional approach to deal with complex project management

Abstract

Project failure occurs due to several reasons, but complexity and underestimation of complexity are often seen as the cause. Because of the interdisciplinary character of projects, it seems that project management approaches are not sufficient to deal with the complexity of projects. Therefore the interdisciplinary aspect has to be considered and managed appropriately, which brings us to the following research question: “How can project managers combine tools and techniques from project management approaches and discipline oriented approaches, for managing multidimensional complex projects successfully?” First a number of management approaches are selected and classified, in order to identify the focus and steps of the approaches. Next, complexity is taken into account, where it becomes clear that complexity in construction projects can be assessed by the TOE framework, while on a meta level the complexity elements of the ASC framework can provide insight in the complexity of projects. Expert interviews were conducted to identify the extent to which different management approaches support mapping and managing project complexity elements. The results point out that the Project management body of knowledge scored weak in dealing with actors, support tools and involving the context elements of a project. Finally, some techniques of other management approaches which score better are presented in order to enhance the project management approach for dealing with complex projects.