Relationships between Project Complexity and Communication

Abstract

The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry delivers increasingly complex projects but struggles to leverage information technology to facilitate communication on these projects. To begin to address this challenge, the AEC project information management research field needs methods to assess communication, complexity, and their relationships. First, the authors apply complexity and virtual design and construction research to contribute a method for assessing product, organization, and process (POP) complexity. Second, through project team interviews, the authors contribute a communication assessment method to assess collaboration within projects, sharing of information between projects, and understanding of information generated across the firm or industry. Applying the two assessment methods to case studies, the authors validate the applicability of the methods to the AEC industry and propose a trend between increased POP complexity and increased communication challenges. The two assessment methods provide the opportunity for teams to learn from and improve upon their communication strategies on the basis of project complexity. By increasing the awareness of the relationship between complexity and communication, this paper aims to motivate and provide foundation for the development of more effective and efficient communication tools.