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Up::1
Hi All,
ICCPM is pleased to present this upcoming webinar with Warren Black – FREE for ICCPM Members. Simply log in and register: https://iccpm.com/events/webinar-nov2022/
Learn practical, case-tested methods for applying complex systems theory to modern project risk management. This is an excellent opportunity to explore Warren’s academic findings from his 7-year PhD research conducted with QUT.
Up::1Morning everyone,
Please find attached an article on Complex Adaptive Systems written from the perspective of a designer
Addressing Complex Adaptive Problems with Design and Systems Thinking – Digital Tim
Up::118 AUG – Don’t miss our Canberra Workshop to kick-off the 2022-23 ICCPM International Roundtable Series. Meet with senior practitioners and academics to discuss the theme – Data Analytics for Informed Decision Making in Complex Projects.
Register today: https://iccpm.com/rt-2022-23/#rt-2022-locations
Sebastian Winter
SIG Community Manager@stephen-suminguit10 February 2022 at 10:21 amPost count: 43Up::1Hi All,
We’re pleased to share that the recordings from the MRC SIG webinar are now online.
Open Discussion – Available for all
https://iccpm.com/resource/mrcsig-discussion-recording-250122/
MRC SIG Webinar – Enabling Better Risk Management – Exclusively for ICCPM Members
https://iccpm.com/resource/webinar-recording-250122/
Kind regards,
Stephen
Up::1<u>Responses to ‘Webinar Chat’ on 25th Jan 22.</u>
Thank you to everyone who attended the MRC SIG Webinar on the 25<sup>th</sup> January, and how took part in the chat conversation during the webinar and/or the MRC SIG meeting that followed.
Some general information arising from the chat:
- Getting the Presentation Slides. Everyone who attended should have received a follow up email and survey. If you completed the survey, you should have also been given access to the webinar presentation slides.
- Continuing the Discussion(s). Some of the chat questions were answered effectively by others in the chat. The best way to find out more or to continue those conversations, please register for the MRC SIG. By doing so, you will be able to:
- Post and comment on the SIG Forum
- Attend SIG meetings
- Receive regular updates on SIG meetings and events.
- Future meetings. As noted above, if you register for the MRC SIG you will be kept informed about future meetings and/or events.
- ICCPM Cert IV. For all of the questions raised and discussed in the chat, undertaking the ICCPM Cert IV provides broad and comprehensive insights. Consider attending the course yourself, or speaking with someone who has.
What is a complex project? This topic was raised several times and there were multiple responses by others in the chat. Several themes evident in the responses are noted here. Otherwise, join the MRC SIG and pose the question in your own way to get insights from others. Response themes and ideas include:
- Projects are not just simple or just complex, although larger projects with more stakeholders and longer timeframes have greater levels of complexity than smaller, simpler projects. In every project it is possible to consider what parts of the project are relatively simple in nature and can be managed using traditional management methods, and which are less tangible, definable, dynamic and or interconnected and hence complex.
- If apparently well-managed projects are experiencing unexpected crises, perhaps this indicates complexity.
- Any project involving people, relationships and behaviours inherently involves complex factors that make decision making and governance more challenging.
- A highly complex project is likely to lead to outcomes that even in hindsight are not easy to understand.
- If you are not already, making use of sense-making models such as Cynefin (David Snowdon) can give very useful insights in any given context.
How can we deal with tiers of (complex risk)? This can relate to project, program and portfolio – and also to strategic, operational, tactical. Some comments were posted in the chat on the day. In the broad, this is a challenge that applies regardless of the level of complexity faced, except for three quite significant challenges:
- It can be difficult to document and report complex risks across levels and boundaries, if only because they are difficult to represent in ways that are easily understood and because they are very much contextual. Part of the answer is to consider whether people across tiers have shared expertise and shared training in tools and language appropriate for managing complex risks.
- The second challenge is that decision makers at different levels may demand clear, simple advice – not allowing a real conversation or sharing of complex factors no matter how well described they are. This problem is a sign of capabilities issues in individuals or (even more likely) it’s a reflection of the ways in which the organisation thinks and works (its culture).
- Finally, there is a tradition in risk management of ‘passing risks’ up and down organisations as though they can be managed in parcels. In complex environments this is a false assumption. Almost any complex risk will (at the same time, or over time) have project, program and portfolio implications that are different but inter-related. To try to manage the risk at any one level is therefore likely to be ineffective. Bring the tiers together into a single shared conversation is necessary – but may not fit with the local culture or practice!
- One way to overcome some of these challenges is to ensure that senior leaders have effective education and training in dealing with complexity (risks and otherwise). When this is not the case, senior leaders will tend to hold existing linear thinking and processes for risk management in place, no matter how well others in the same organisation are able to see, understand and articulate complex uncertainties.
Sebastian Winter
SIG Community Manager@stephen-suminguit30 November 2021 at 12:26 pmPost count: 43Sebastian Winter
SIG Community Manager@stephen-suminguit24 November 2021 at 11:11 amPost count: 43Up::1ICCPM is delighted to host a FREE webinar with MRC SIG on 25th Jan 2022. The 1-hr webinar will be followed by a 30-min open discussion. For more information and to register, please visit the webinar page.
Sebastian Winter
SIG Community Manager@stephen-suminguit17 November 2021 at 11:38 amPost count: 43Up::1Dear Participants,
Please note that there are updates to the regular meeting schedule to adjust for the holidays.
MRC SIG – Group B will meet on Thursdays 8:00am-9:00am AEDT:
- 25th Nov 2021
- 16th Dec 2021
- 6th Jan 2022 – no meeting
- 27th Jan 2022
Download the calendar reminder here
MRC SIG – Group A will meet on Wednesdays 5:30pm-6:30pm AEDT:
- 1st Dec 2021
- 22nd Dec 2021 – no meeting
- 12th Jan 2022
- 2nd Feb 2022
Download the calendar reminder here
After which, the regular meeting occurrence of every three weeks will resume.
Sebastian Winter
SIG Community Manager@stephen-suminguit11 November 2021 at 11:03 amPost count: 43Up::1Registrations are now open for the launch of the latest Roundtable Report: https://iccpm.com/events/roundtable-report-launch-dec-2021/
Harnessing Emergence in Complex Projects: Risk, Uncertainty and Opportunity
7th December, 2021 – 2:00pm-3:00pm AEDT
FREE for ICCPM Members. Be among the first to receive your copy of the Report.
Up::1Dear MRC SIG Participants,
We wish to inform you that we are aware of an issue where some users may be prevented from posting on the forum. Our tech support is investigating and we hope to have it resolved soon.
We apologise for the inconvenience.
Thank you for your kind understanding.
Kind regards,
ICCPM Team
Up::1MEMBERS
We have 8 responses to the pilot survey
If anyone intends to respond, which only takes about 5 minutes, it would be great if you could do so before Thursday morning when the next WGB meeting will take place. It would be useful to have as much material as possible with which to see if the concept is working before deciding what to do on a broader front.
The survey is at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WGB_V2Thanks
Steve
Up::1[quote quote=11699]Are there any resources on the ICCPM site that cover Kay Remington’s model? I have read the preface to her book online but I’m reluctant to shell out more than $200 to go any further. From what I can gather, it’s standard complexity science ideas with a focus on four topics that seem to me to be, rephrasing to test my understanding:
- Linkage between elements of a project
- Novelty
- Objectives and priorities
- Environmental fluidity
[/quote]
Hi @stephen-grey,
Thank you for your question. You may be interested in the following resources from the ICCPM Resource Centre:
- Mapping the Field of Complexity Theory: A computational approach to understanding changes in the field
- A Model of Project Complexity: Distinguishing dimensions of complexity from severity
- Monitoring the Performance of Complex Projects from Multiple Perspectives over Multiple Time Frames
- Infographic – Dimensions of Project Complexity
We hope this helps. The Remington & Pollack model are covered in more detail in the ICCPM Cert IV in Responding to Project Complexity.
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