Project Complexity Rating

How reliably the sponsor gave help, decisions or resources when the project asked for them.

How many reporting formats the project must use, how many separate organizations it reports to, and how clear the lines of reporting are.

How much the way decisions are made, and who makes them, varies across the project. When the project manager makes most decisions, variation is low.

How far the project manager can act on decisions without approval from others.

How much stakeholders' interest or commitment changes during the project, and how often new stakeholders appear.

The chance that media coverage or government action will directly affect the project.

The chance of conflict or misunderstanding from large cultural differences within the project team.

The share of project staff who are fluent in the project's main working language.

The span of time zones across the stakeholders who regularly take part in the project's meetings and calls.

How far stakeholders agree on what the project will deliver.

How much the product or service the project delivers changed while the project ran.

How clearly the expected benefits of the project are defined.

How much the project's benefits depend on coordination with other projects.

How much stakeholders' interests conflict over the scope, the benefits, or the way the work is done.

How much people and the organization must change the way they work for the project to succeed.

How much the project's activities disrupt or change other work in the sponsoring organization.

How much new technical or product design the project's outputs need.

How well the team knows the technical and management methods and systems the project uses.

How hard it is to design or carry out responses to the project's risks.

How reliably skilled people, funding, equipment and other resources arrive when the project needs them.

How demanding it is to manage the work the project buys from contractors. Contract staff who work inside the project team do not count.

Vulnerability of the project site, supply chain, or workforce to extreme weather, water stress, sea-level rise, wildfire, or other physical climate hazards.

The likelihood that material laws, disclosure rules, or compliance regimes governing the project will change during delivery (for example CSRD, CBAM, IRA, ISSB, sector-specific transition rules).

Dependence of the project on cross-border inputs, critical minerals, single-source suppliers, contested trade routes, or jurisdictions subject to sanctions, trade restrictions, or political instability.

Exposure to organized disinformation, ESG or political backlash, or rapid shifts in public legitimacy that go beyond ordinary stakeholder scrutiny.

The likelihood that core methods, tools, workforce composition, or the competitive landscape for the project's outputs will be reshaped by AI or digital disruption during delivery.

The degree to which the project's risks are interconnected: a shock in one area (climate, supply chain, regulation, public sentiment) is likely to trigger or amplify shocks in others.

The degree to which the project's delivery or benefits-realization window extends beyond the point at which the operating environment can reasonably be forecast.

Exposure of the project's costs, financing, or business case to changes during delivery in interest rates, inflation, exchange rates, commodity and energy prices, or tariffs and other trade measures.