The Complexity Infrastructure

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Organizational Project Management   Portfolio Management   Scope Management  

Anyone who has been involved in project delivery knows that every initiative is different, with its own unique challenges and opportunities. However, there are also a number of similarities. Projects often feel like they are different members of the same family if you like—they have a number of common traits, but still requiring individual planning and management. That’s not unique to projects; it’s common about a lot of areas of work and is one of the reasons why experience is so beneficial—individuals who have experienced similar scenarios in the past are better able to deal with them when they arise again.

Experience isn’t just beneficial at an individual level, however; it’s also helpful at an organizational level, and that’s what I want to explore here in the context of complex projects. Organizational experience is demonstrated in terms of a project delivery structure—processes and methodology, training and skills development, tools and working environments, coaching and support models, etc., that are all built around enabling the organization to be as successful as possible. But what does that really mean in terms of preparing for success on complex projects?

Defining the scope
The first aspect is to establish who the “complex project infrastructure” (for want of a better term) is designed to support. It&…

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