Governance of Complex Projects

Good governance is key to establishing a successful project. Large projects operate in complex environments and complexity is important. It must be managed through the use of appropriate tools, known as problem structuring methods (PSMs). A tool that is particularly applicable to organisational evaluation is the viable system model (VSM) and its application to governance informs this paper. It is proposed for this paper that broadly two types of project exist: (1) 'fixed target', where most of the requirement for the project will remain constant throughout the life of the project; and (2) 'moving target', where large areas of the requirement will change as the project develops. The governance and assurance system will be very different for these projects because they are fundamentally different entities. So, the governance system for a 'fixed target' model should be linear and static. Complex projects are neither linear nor static and any attempt to run them in this manner is likely to result in poor progress of the project. The metrics by which progress, and success, are judged should also be different for the two types of project. It is important that the governance system has a carefully developed model of the dynamic relationships that affect the project and its environment to ensure that the project is being controlled appropriately. Recommendations about how the two types of projects should be organised, reviewed and governed will be discussed. This is based on the work conducted with Prof Martin Parr supported by the APM.