In my previous articles, I talked about all that you need to know about project or project management generally. In this article, I want to talk about all that you need to know about types of organisational structures for projects.
An organizational structure is a compositional makeup of an organization that describes how various groups and individuals within the organization interrelate.
The Organisational Structure also impacts how the project team is structured. The type of organizational structure often limits the availability of resources and the terms under which those resources are available to the project.
#1 Functional
In a functional organisational structure, each department is responsible for carrying on a specific, similar set of activities.
It also consists of multiple people who perform each type of activity in the organization.
The reporting is also hierarchical, with each individual reporting to a single manager.
Also, the project manager’s authority is low, relative to the functional manager’s authority.
#2 Project-based
Also in a projectised organisational structure, the project manager and a core project team operate as a completely separate organisational unit within the current organisation.
Also, the core team members are responsible for the work of extended team members in their functional areas.
Also, team members are often colocated as they are in the same area working on the same project.
The project manager reports to a program manager and has a significant amount of authority and independence.
In addition, some project-based organisations may contain their own support systems, such as a separate procurement or personnel department, or share support systems with the parent organisation.
#3 Matrix
This is a blend of functional and project-based structures in which individuals report upward in the functional hierarchy, but they also report horizontally to one or more project managers.
The matrixed reporting scheme may be permanent or temporary in nature.
It may be characterized as weak, balanced, or strong depending on the relative authority of the project manager to the functional manager. An organisation is said to have a strong matrix when the project manager’s authority is higher than that of the functional manager.
#4 Composite
The most modern organization involves all of the above structures at various levels. It is a combination of all the other types of organizations.
Action Point
PS: I know you might agree with some of the points raised in this article or disagree with some of the issues raised.
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