Follow the collaboration compass

Abstract

Many different mechanisms are available to project managers who wish to improve collaboration in the relationship between client and contractor in a project. However, it is not necessarily clear which mechanisms that are most suited to use for a specific project. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how experienced project managers from three different industries (oil and gas, construction, ICT) apply such collaboration mechanisms successfully in their projects. Based on the findings from 39 interviews with experienced projects managers, we apply Shenhar's framework for project classification and introduce a collaboration compass that project managers can follow to identify which collaboration mechanisms that may be most suited for their specific project depending on the project's level of novelty, complexity, technology and pace.