Importance of Organizational Structure and Project Based Delivery

The global recession and chain of events that are typically associated with one have all but taught us valuable lessons we could not afford to ignore. One the most important aspects of the recession that affected the masses in general is value, i.e. what was taken for granted, available and was of benefit was suddenly gone! Either jobs were lost, projects were called off, solutions to challenges and issues that were coming along the pipeline were suddenly on hold, with no promise of delivery or no delivery schedule. This became unconceivable to the masses as seen through the experience of thousands of project workers in the Middle East. When time was ripe and projects were competing with each other in a race against time to deliver value, it was the masses that dedicated their lives to project work and this meant the same to the families and countries of these workers. What we need to agree and acknowledge here is that anything of value as in projects mentioned here must be appreciated and protected - this is called value management. The biggest argument for this is the example of a hedge fund capable of funding projects or generating venture capital or a funded project itself suddenly finding itself bottom side up!

This has generated immense interest upon the tireless effort undertaken by the Project Management Institute (PMI) of the US to study project management and outline the metrics, concept and methodologies that enable us to manage value in a transparent, accountable and acceptable manner. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) in its fourth edition at the time of writing this article is a result of years of research and collaboration by project management professionals and practitioners in the field. It is quite common now in the Middle East to find a renewed and heightened interest in qualified project managers. The need to 'project manage' the delivery of work (projects) has now been realized across the board. You ask any experienced recruiter/head hunter involved in Middle East recruitment, they would tell you the same. In the case of small to medium projects, the same sponsors that pushed you through delivery and violated the fundamental theories of project management have now learned the hard way - after a loss venture capital, time and a negative balance sheet.

Moving on, I would like draw a parallel to the concept of 'projectized delivery' as highlighted above to matrix organizations. Traditionally organizations were hierarchical and had a manager for each division (or product), as in FMCG, healthcare products, food divisions. With the diverse nature of projects requiring diverse of expertise, an era dawned for collaborative effort between diverse lines of service. This meant the traditional forms of management could no longer cope with the handling or efficient coordination of resources when faced with these projects. This led to the progressive thought of management, one with a fundamental shift of focus from organizational structure to organizational culture. This led to the matrix organization structure. This is ideally a best of both structures - combination of the product type organizational structure and the functional structure. Functional structure is similar to the product structure, except in this case the division of labor in the organization is grouped by the main functions that need to be performed.

While matrix structure is the most complex of the organizational structures discussed so far, there are three types of matrixes:

1. Weak/Functional Matrix - A project manager (PM) with limited authority oversees the cross- functional aspects of the project. Functional managers retain authority over their resources and project areas.

2. Balanced/Functional Matrix - Authority is shared equally between project manager and functional managers bringing best aspects of functional and projectized organizations. This is however the most difficult as sharing power is a delicate fine line that may bring its own challenges. This is very common in large organizations.

3. Strong/Project Matrix - Project is primarily responsible for the project while functional managers provide expertise and assign resources as required.

Successful outcome of the implementation of the above matrix in any organization largely depends on its purpose and function. You map out the ideal structure and strategy, you are set for success! This is a specialized area and consultation with best of breed management consultants and project managers combined with an intelligent study of similar organizations and their approaches would be the best way to approach it.

According to the A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) - Fourth Edition, a project is temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. Even third world nations have realized the value of project management as a discipline and science that would transparently and responsibly manage their investment and this is clearly evident in the case of ICTA, The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka.