The Management of Complex Projects

Value is added to projects through the relationships surrounding the client; the focus of this book is therefore the client as project, rather than the building on the ground. It shows how to create and maintain effective relationships between the client and the project team, as well as intra-coalition relationships Students, academics and practitioners need to understand the changing nature of reforms from successive calls for change by the industry’s various clients and client groups. Project team network relationships are a function of mindsets, behaviour and competencies of individuals and The Management of Complex Projects: a relationship approach: • Explores the relationship at the project interface: client-design team-contractor, stakeholders and supply chain relations • Examines different concepts to the development and management of relationships; formation and maintenance issues • Highlights some of the key issues that require development, both academically and through applied research. Most project management books cover tools and techniques; this one covers the softer skills and shows how crucial good relationships are to the successful management of projects.

Introduction: Overview of book. Chapter 1: Scoping the subject in theory and practice. Section I: Mindsets, behaviour and competencies in project relations. Chapter 2: Risk and opportunity management in a changing world - a relationship-based approach. Chapter 3: Applying emotional intelligence in project working. Chapter 4: Project-based learning: how social relations create knowledge. Section II: Relations at the client, design team, contractor interface. Chapter 5: Relationship management; theories and tools. Chapter 6: Account handling models for continuity of service. Chapter 7: Applying team-working models to projects. Chapter 8: Measuring, developing and managing trust in the relationship. Section III: Relations across the project clusters and supply chain. Chapter 9: Projects as networks and the application of social network analysis as a diagnostic tool. Chapter 10: Relations in the supply chain; distance, decay and redress. Chapter 11: Communications and stakeholders. Chapter 12: Economics of relationships; managing opportunities and constraints. Conclusion: Setting an agenda for academia and industry for the future