Page 45 - Global Project Management Handbook

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 2-7

the design of project context relationships, project environment analysis, analysis of the
pre- and post-project phases, business case analysis, and analysis of the relationship of
the project to other projects and to the company strategies can be used.

Building Up and Reducing Project Complexity. Projects require a certain amount of
complexity in order to be able to relate to the (infinitely) complex environment. The
building up and reducing of complexity is a project management task.
A holistic project view, creativity in the project, and acceptance of project-related
decisions can be ensured through adequate communication structures. The performance
of project workshops at the project start process, at milestones, and at the close-down
process of the project, as well as the performance of project team and project owner
meetings, promotes the building up of complexity in a project. The differentiation of
project roles, the definition of the relationships among the roles, and the inclusion of dif-
ferent specialist disciplines and hierarchical levels in the project team are further organi-
zational possibilities for the building up of complexity in a project (Fig. 2.4).
By using different project management methods, different perspectives for designing
a project are chosen. Only the linking up of these different views in a “multimethods
approach” enables appropriate consideration of the project complexity.
To ensure continuity in a project, redundant structures should be created. A reduction of
project complexity is achieved through agreement on the project objectives within the proj-
ect team. Furthermore, the use of project management standards, the establishment of
project-specific rules and norms, the development of project plans, and the performance of
integrative project team meetings gives repeated orientation to the work of the project.

Management of the Project Dynamics. The dynamics of a project result from the
interventions of relevant environments, as well as through the self-reference of the project.
Examples of interventions from relevant project environments are new legal requirements

Project organization
Subteam 1
Project team Project team
member member
Project team
member
Project team
Project team
member
Project team
Project team
member
Subteam 1 member
Project
manager Project team
member
Project
owner team

FIGURE 2.4 Roles of the project organization and their relationships (project organization chart).