1. Project Management Complexity, Risks, Failure and Technology
PM Complexity
PM Risk Management
Project Failure
PM and Information Technology
Compiled by:
Alex J. Ruiz-Torres, Ph.D.
From information developed by many.

2. PM Complexity
Complex means made of many parts.
Complexity here is a relative measure,
Project X is more complex project W.
More complexity means more management effort and a higher probability of failure.

3. PM Complexity Factors that define a project’s complexity:
Outcome familiarity: complexity decreases with past experience with similar outputs.
Project customers: As the number of customers increases, so does the projects complexity.
For example a new software implementation may have as customers all the departments of an organization.
Number of tasks: complexity increases as the number of required tasks increases.
Dependencies: its simpler if activity X depends only on activity Y, than if it depends on activities Y, Z, and W.

4. PM Complexity Factors that define a project’s complexity:
Number/types of resources: complexity increases as the number of different types of resources increases.
Organizational structure: if project resources are reporting to multiple bosses or just the PMr. The first case is more complex.
Resource dedication: are resources allocated full time to the project or do they have multiple responsibilities. The second case is more complex.

5. PM Risk Management Important to identify risk areas
Possible causes for delays
Possible causes for cost changes
This can include the customers (changing requirements)
Prioritize risks as to develop mitigation plans for the most critical/possible.
Communicate risks to relevant stakeholders.
Assign risk management and planning responsibilities.

6. PM Risk Management
Risk management options: avoidance, minimization and acceptance.
Avoidance means changing plans to eliminate the risk, for example changing supplier or eliminating the technology/ feature. This may result in an increase in cost or a lost feature.
Minimization means reducing the effect of the risk, for example having a back up plan, dual suppliers, a buffer in time,….
Acceptance means no change to the plans…will accept the risk and deal with it if the event takes place.

7. Project Failure
Projects fail in many forms that can be partial or total.
Outcome did not meet expectations:
software did not work as planned (partial failure)
software could not be develop at all (total failure).
Project was completed late, sometimes years later than promised (partial).
Project cost was higher than budgeted (partial)
If the project must be canceled due to budget overruns (total failure).

8. Project Failure Some reasons why:
Irrational/optimistic estimates due to a failure to take into account the variable nature of each task ‘s cost and time.
Insufficient identification of dependencies necessary to deliver the project.
Wasting of the "best" resources through over-utilization, multi-tasking, and burn-out.
Delivering original scope when conditions/ needs change.

9. PM and Info Technology
PM software is used to characterize the tasks including the time they will take and the dependencies.
The software will generate the network and indicate the critical activities.
The software allows the PMr to assign resources, track costs and budgets, distribute information on changes and schedules, track quality and other performance indicators, ….
PM software allows collaboration and sharing of information by using centralized databases
Multiple users can observe progress charts and other information.

10. PM and Info Technology
PM software may run in a PC, or be a server based application with Cloud databases
Microsoft’s Project and Oracle’s Primavera
Web based Apps