My background is in mathematics, sports, and Lego bricks. It might sound like a joke, but it reflects the approach I bring to everything I do. Mathematics taught me to think abstractly, while sports always kept me close to the most tangible aspects of performance and results. My favourite toy, unsurprisingly, helped me develop a “maker” attitude to connect the two realms.

This dual interest in abstract models and hands-on problem solving naturally drew me to project management, where I could break down complex challenges into manageable parts. Over time, I came to see these projects as the building blocks of a broader, long-term vision, which led me to focus on portfolio management first, and IT strategy later. In this field, I’ve found a space where I can blend both realms—building future-proof solutions that align with an organization’s strategic goals.

Project interdependencies occur when an element of one project—such as a deliverable, task, resource, or service—depends on or is constrained by another project. For instance, multiple projects might require the same group of end users for testing, creating a dependency on their availability and cooperation. Another example is when a marketing campaign in one project depends on the successful deployment of a data analytics tool from a different project, even though the two tasks may seem unrelated.

These interdependencies significantly increase complexity as the number of projects grows, making it difficult to fully map and manage them. Moreover, they can create cascading effects: a delay or change in one project may trigger a chain reaction across others, often in unpredictable ways. Failure to identify and manage these interdependencies can derail multiple strategic initiatives, jeopardizing overall portfolio performance.

Managing project interdependencies presents unique challenges because, unlike risks within a project, these dependencies often arise from external factors outside the project manager’s direct control. Interdependencies are typically addressed at the portfolio level, where the focus is on larger, strategic issues. However, many dependencies only become apparent as the detailed project plan develops, making early identification difficult.

A significant hurdle is that interdependencies are not one-way. When one project depends on another, both need to actively manage that connection. It’s not enough for a project team to recognize how they rely on another project—they must also ensure that any change in their schedule or scope is communicated to other project that might be affected. This requires ongoing communication and collaboration between teams, which can be both complicated and time-consuming.

There are quite a few simple strategies that project managers can employ from the very beginning. Even before the project is started, they should review lessons learned from previous projects with similar scope and objectives to understand potential interconnections.

Engaging in detailed discussions with stakeholders from both current and past projects provides valuable insights into hidden dependencies. Additionally, analyzing timelines of parallel projects helps identify potential scheduling conflicts, and reveal unexpected dependencies.

However, identifying interdependencies at the start of a project is just the beginning. As projects progress, new dependencies may emerge, and existing ones can change. This means project managers must continuously monitor and adjust for interdependencies throughout the project’s lifecycle.

Using strong visual aids like is essential. Visuals make complex information more accessible, helping people spot patterns, gaps, and connections that might otherwise be overlooked.

For example, placing milestones on a visual timeline or calendar allows stakeholders to easily identify potential conflicts, like overlapping activities or dependencies that could cause delays. A visual timeline highlights these issues more effectively than text-heavy reports, making the potential bottlenecks obvious at a glance.

Another effective tool is a dependency map, which shows the relationships between tasks or projects. By laying out known connections, this method prompts stakeholders to think about additional dependencies they may be aware of, and help uncover missing information, as people can visually grasp how various elements interact.

At the portfolio level, a dependency matrix is a useful tool to represent interdependencies between multiple projects. I also introduced a 3D dependency matrix, which adds a third dimension to show additional information through the use of depth. Specialized matrices that focus on the dependencies of a single project can also be valuable for drilling down into specific project dynamics.

The power of these visual aids lies in their ability to turn abstract relationships into something tangible and easy to understand. They not only simplify communication but also promote collaboration, as stakeholders can more clearly see how their contributions fit into the broader project context.

I believe project management and strategy are forms of world-building. Traditional approaches, such as setting up a project room (or, even better, an “Obeya room”), are effective because they immerse the team in the project’s world. This immersive environment plays a positive role in helping teams identify interdependencies and take a proactive approach to managing them.

The pandemic and the shift to remote work made these methods less effective but, while online collaborative environments can’t fully replicate the engagement of being physically present in a dedicated space, they can compensate by offering interactive tools that allow teams to “experience” the project, even when not physically together.

During the pandemic, experimenting with virtual environments was a key success factor in a highly complex project I managed. These environments allowed us to maintain a strong sense of what we were building together, and helped engage people with our vision and plans. We uncovered several potential issues that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, especially given the lack of direct contact with people outside the project.

This approach doesn’t necessarily rely on innovative technology. For example, I scheduled 30-minute “walk-in” meetings on my calendar, open for anyone to join. I would start the meeting and simply stay available, allowing spontaneous contributions—similar to being in a physical room where people can drop by. Sometimes, issues deteriorate simply because “it’s never the right time to talk” and my walk-in meetings helped prevent this.

Whenever you see a potential issue in other projects or initiatives, never assume someone else has already identified and addressed it. People often hesitate to share uncomfortable information, even for seemingly positive reasons: respecting others’ professional expertise, avoiding the appearance of criticism, or not wanting to come across as a know-it-all. However, a true colleague is one who shares inconvenient truths to prevent mistakes, rather than one who preserves harmony by staying silent. In multicultural projects, these dynamics become even more critical as different cultural norms around communication and conflict can further complicate information sharing.

While it may seem obvious, having open conversations with other project managers is the most valuable investment of your time. These discussions offer three crucial benefits: they help you understand the broader organizational context, reveal how your project is perceived by groups not directly involved, and provide candid feedback about your assumptions and potential risks. This seemingly basic approach often yields insights that formal documentation and structured meetings might miss. Through these conversations, you can uncover unwritten dependencies and organizational dynamics that could significantly impact your project’s success.

Project management methodologies have reached a tipping point. Agile is now mainstream, but most of its variations (especially the dominant Scrum) are designed to work at team level operations and don’t effectively address interdependencies between multiple teams or projects. This limitation has led to the emergence of scaling frameworks that essentially reintroduce project governance structures, ironically bringing back much of the organizational complexity we were trying to escape.

Looking ahead, I believe specialized AI solutions (not just generative AI) will transform the PM profession, shifting the focus from methodology to entrepreneurship and organizational capabilities.

The critical skills for future PMs will sit at two ends of a spectrum: at one end, the ability to form and articulate a clear, consistent vision for change. At the other, the organizational skill to negotiate, persuade, and motivate people to pursue that vision.

Between these two poles, the ability to collect information, to make sense of it, and use tools to transform raw data into digestible information for stakeholders will become more important than mastering a Project Management methodology because AI will handle a lot of the technical heavy lifting, freeing us up to focus on the stuff that really moves the needle – strategy and leadership.