Why does project management not work in complex environments?

Project Management in Intricate Environments

As Agile Consultants, we know that Project Management can falter in complex environments, so I wanted to spend a little time discussing why traditional Project Management might not be the best fit for complex environments.

Ready? Let’s dive in! 🚀

Recognising the Complexities

I’ve always mentioned in my articles that Project management was originally crafted to manage work we comprehend and was designed to plan work that we understand or work with low variance (say 10%-15% maximum variance in expected outcome to actual outcome). 🧩

But complexity, by definition, means more is unknown than known. And when it comes to complex environments, things can take a sharp turn.

So, in complex environments, at least 50% isn’t understood, leading to surprises creeping in as you’re building products. 👀

Where Project Management Stumbles

Having discussed the reasons why, it’s pretty clear that Project Management struggles in complex environments.

Why is this so?

The simple fact is that project Management doesn’t handle that level of variance well. And that’s why it doesn’t deliver as we might hope in these situations.  ⚠️

The following types of Project Management show the different approaches that should be taken:

• Traditional Project Management: Best for low variance, understood environments ✅

• Complex Environments: More unknowns, needs a different approach ❌

Your Agile Move

Struggling to manage projects in complex environments?  🔔

Explore my Agile and Scrum courses for a fresh perspective and effective tools!