Balancing Boundaries: Everyday Boundary Work in Information Technology Project Management

This study draws upon the project and team literatures to explore how project boundaries are managed across the IT project life-cycle. A longitudinal study of a commercial automation control solutions provider was conducted. Particular emphasis was placed on the interaction between one focal project and its environment. We found that recurrent, situated boundary activities pertaining to temporal, task and team boundaries are of central importance for how a project unfolds. We argue that recent attention to organizational boundary-spanning in information systems research needs to be supplemented with a broader and richer view of the functions and significance of boundary work for IT projects, particularly in multi-project environments.