It seems that good governance of costly (typically US$ 150 mn and above), large and complex projects, also termed `mega-projects' or `large engineering projects', is something not easily achievable. To the common man, this may come as a surprise since so much money is spent on each one of them. To the better informed, complex projects seem to have a tendency of making their own rules as far as time and cost goes. And even worse, on hindsight, it is clear that some of them should never have started in the first place.
The challenges of complex projects have their fair share of media attention and are also well known in Project Management (PM) literature. Although many authors have contributed to understanding these challenges, the problems have continued. The PM literature points out two important problem areas in complex projects; (a) the choice of the appropriate concept, and (b) the management of the chosen project. The second of these challenges coincide with traditional project management and the first one with the focus in this article.
The leadership challenges of complex projects obviously takes management beyond narrow control of project tasks. In this article, the perspective is expanded even beyond the project itself—to the owner and the financing party's view. In this perspective the most important challenges include: How to ensure projects' sustainability and relevance up-front; how to avoid hidden agendas during planning, underestimation of costs and overestimation of utility, unrealistic and inconsistent assumptions; how to secure essential planning data, adequate contract regimes, etc. These challenges are clearly relevant to all sectors and types of projects, although perhaps in different shades and proportions. |
