The importance of soft skills in complex projects

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to facilitate further understanding of project complexity by highlighting the factors contributing to project complexity as reported by the practitioners facing the “actuality” of projects.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research approach was undertaken by conducting semi‐structured interviews with the primary focus on the aerospace industry. Participants are involved in a variety of project settings, exhibiting different types and levels of complexity.FindingsAnalysis of responses highlights “people” issues as the main factor contributing to project complexity and the importance of soft skills in managing complex projects.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is based on a limited number of respondents from the aerospace sector. This will be further refined and improved upon by compiling views of additional practitioners involved in multiple aerospace projects.Practical implicationsThe main research conclusions are that “hard” project management skills help to organise, plan and manage, and track changes during the course of the project. However, understanding of project complexity and its contributing factors helps practitioners to understand the dynamic, social and complex contexts of projects, thus highlighting the importance of “soft” skills.Originality/valueThis paper proposes the “project complexity triangle – people, product and process”, highlighting their importance as the three major areas contributing to project complexity.

Mapping and Simplifying Construction Project Delivery

“…The context of complexity within construction projects raised the question as to how senior construction managers could go about facing the challenges of project complexity, developing an infrastructure of improved construction project delivery. Azim et al [3] concurred, indicating that the factors contributing to project complexity and their significance on project performance was a more important assessment.…”

“…Baccarini's [4] classification of 'organisational' and 'technological' complexity have been identified as the most commonly denoted complexity types, mainly due to the fact that they can "be applied to any project dimension" [3]. Although much of the literature reviewed has widely accepted structural complexity and uncertainty, it has been mainly descriptive in nature [9].…”

“…Adopting Baccarini's [4] theory of project complexity, and Turner and Cochrane's [12] approach of project classification; were project success is either certain or uncertain, Williams [11] attempted to illustrate a distinction between structural complexity and uncertainty [3]. Williams [11] definition of structural complexity, later reaffirmed by Remington and Pollack [12] in their book 'Tools for Complex Projects' , centred on the fundamental project structure, while suggesting that uncertainty (as defined by Turner and Cochrane [13]) only increases the complexity of the project structure.…”

“…To comprehend the pragmatic nature of construction projects, practitioner observations of project complexity and the contributing factors were explored [3]. Many researchers argued that it is constructive for project senior management to be aware of complexity factors which affect the overall project, in order to challenge such factors [3,12].…”

Gauging Skills of Hospital Security Personnel : A Statistically-Driven , Questionnaire-Based Approach

“…Soft skills in the employees, unlike earlier beliefs, are imperative in all systems including complex projects. (11) This is all the more important for hospital security personnel who invariably interact with multitude of patients and their attendants while working in open systems such as hospitals. This becomes even more critical during disaster management when miscreants take the advantage of the situation and try to create law and order problems.…”