| dc.description.abstract | Almost all organisations strive to use their resources as efficiently as possible. Project management literature has a lot of focus on development of tools and methods to help project managers to manage their projects. What has not been discussed to any great degree yet is that soft skills and human behaviour have a bigger influence on the process of project execution than previously assumed. The overarching question in my research is therefore “To what extent do soft skills influence project success in complex projects?” The theoretical framework is first and foremost project literature, but the framework is later expanded to include the data from the case studies I conducted.
Construction, architecture and engineering projects are complex activities, involving a temporary grouping of people and companies, with different agendas and experience, coming together to achieve a project goal. The case studies demonstrate how projects use tools and methods in project execution and how soft skills contribute to achieving project success. My emphasis was on group dynamics, internal communication and motivation. I have also examined to what extent projects followed the formalities introduced by the company.
The case studies showed that people’s communication and motivation differ which in its turn influences the group dynamics and the choice of tactics that the project manager chooses for managing the project team. My analysis also showed that the company invests huge resources into implementing project management methodology and that everyone within the company are aware of that good project management is important and profitable. However, when it came to the practical application of project management tools and following up the routines that were set up, my cases showed that there is a variation to what extent the theory, tools and methods were applied. Ultimately, the project managers’ flexibility adapting their leadership style as well as close monitoring was equally important for project success as the use of project management tools. | en_US |
