From the course: Project Management Foundations

How organizational structure affects projects

From the course: Project Management Foundations

How organizational structure affects projects

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- [Presenter] Organizations can be structured in several ways from the classic functional hierarchy where each person reports to only one supervisor, to a matrix where people report to both functional managers and project managers. To a projectized organization where most of the people work on projects. Each of these structures affects how projects are performed. In a functional hierarchy, projects aren't the priority making it difficult for projects to succeed. Project managers have almost no authority. A functional manager is typically in charge of things like the project budget. Resources are hard to come by because they report to functional managers, not the project manager. Even the project manager and other project management staff have to split their attention between the project and their regular work. The second type, matrix organizations are still functional hierarchies, but they support projects more than pure hierarchies do. They can be weak, balanced, or strong depending on how much emphasis they put on projects. In a matrix, project managers have some authority to make decisions. Resources assigned to projects report to two managers, their functional manager and the project manager. In a strong matrix, the project manager and project admin staff work full time on projects. Projectized organizations are all about projects. This third type makes it easier for project managers to produce results. Project managers have almost complete authority over their projects, including the budget. Resources are dedicated to project work and report to the project manager. Project managers and project admin staff also work full time on project work. Organizational structure has a big influence on how projects are performed, how much a project manager can do, and how easy it is to make projects successful. Using these characteristics, determine which structure your organization uses.

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