Complexity creates uncertainty and unpredictability. A key practice for mastering large, complex projects is to minimize complexity. This needs to be done early during the project strategic preparation phase because it touches the very structure of project execution.
Several commonly accepted organization practices actually relate to this complexity minimization. In our new White Paper 2013-13, we investigate what are those strategic complexity minimization practices for the project preparation phase and how they can help to execute reliably successful projects.
The main action points are:
- Be clear on what you want to achieve
- Is your objective too complicated?
- Package your project
- Minimize and align your contributors
- Get rid of internal interfaces
Helping to minimize complexity is actually a key intervention topic for Project Value Delivery and a number of consultancies active in the field of project execution. It is arguably, when done early enough to enable thorough implementation, the intervention with the greatest value leverage for large, complex projects, both in terms of project value and reliability.
Examine the projects you are about to undertake, or that you are considering. What are the few decisions you could make to structure them so as to diminish drastically their complexity? Discover valuable hints in our new White Paper 2013-13 Minimizing complexity – the core of complex projects preparation!
This paper complements White Paper 2012-25 “Fundamental Insights on Minimizing Complex Project Risk for a Single Project” which deals with complexity reduction at the start-up and execution stages.
