Software project management Organizational Structures
Software Projects Management Course Objectives Understand organizational structures Describe the organization structure’s influence on management Understand the organizational culture aspects Slides adapted from K. Schwalbe Software Projects Management
Understanding Organizations Structural frame: Focuses on roles and responsibilities, coordination and control. Organization charts help define this frame. Ex. Functional, Projectized, Matrix Human resources frame: Focuses on providing harmony between needs of the organization and needs of people. Ex. how people are recruited, used and rewarded; how to find/allocate the appropriate people for projects, etc. Political frame: Assumes organizations are coalitions composed of varied individuals and interest groups. Conflict and power are key issues. Ex. Opposants, shifting of power towards project managers, obtaining scarce resources Symbolic frame: Focuses on symbols and meanings related to events. Culture is important. Ex. How the people dress, CEO involvement in day to day operations, how many hours to work, international team mixture of cultures Software Projects Management
Organizational Structures Functional Statically structured based on specialization: Engineering, Marketing, Design, IT, etc P&L from production Project Dynamically structured based on project assignments: Project A, Project B Income from projects PM has P&L responsibility Matrix Functional and Project based Strong, Weak, Balanced Software Projects Management
Functional Organization Software Projects Management
Functional organizations Clear definition of authority inside functional areas Eliminates duplication Encourages specialization Clear career paths Can lack customer orientation Create longer decisions cycles Conflicts across functional areas Project leaders have little power (political frame is important) Ex. University, Govern Software Projects Management
Software Projects Management Project Organization Software Projects Management
Project organizations Unity of command Efficient project management (quality, time, costs, scope) Effective inter-project communication Duplication of facilities No well defined career path Ex. Consulting companies, architectural companies, small to medium size IT companies Software Projects Management
Software Projects Management Matrix Forms Weak, Strong, Balanced Degree of relative power Weak: functional-centric Strong: project-centric Software Projects Management
Software Projects Management Weak matrix Software Projects Management
Software Projects Management Balanced matrix Software Projects Management
Software Projects Management Strong matrix Software Projects Management
Software Projects Management Composite Software Projects Management
Software Projects Management Matrix organizations Project integration across functional lines Efficient use of resources Retains functional teams Two bosses for personnel Complexity Resource & priority conflicts Software Projects Management
Functional, Project, and Matrix Organizational Structures Software Projects Management
Structure Influence on Projects Software Projects Management
Project Life Cycle and Organization Structure Life cycle and agility Life cycle and PM authority Plan conflicts between functional departments related to resource allocation Project size impact on organization: projectized moving to functional Software Projects Management
Organizational Culture Organizational culture is a set of shared assumptions, values, and behaviors that characterize the functioning of an organization Many experts believe the underlying causes of many companies’ problems are not the structure or staff, but the culture Software Projects Management
Ten Characteristics of Organizational Culture Member identity (loyalty)* Group emphasis(teamwork)* People focus (individual needs) Unit integration(coordination)* Control (overseeing) Risk tolerance(aggressivity, innovation)* Reward criteria(correctness)* Conflict tolerance(communication)* Means-ends orientation(focus) Open-systems focus(adaptability)* *Project work is most successful in an organizational culture where these items are strong/high and other items are balanced Software Projects Management
Stakeholders Management Internal stakeholders and external stakeholders Project managers must take time to identify, understand, and manage relationships with all project stakeholders Using the four frames of organizations can help meet stakeholder needs and expectations: also evaluate external stakeholders’ organizations) Senior executives/top management are very important stakeholders Software Projects Management
Top Management Commitment Availability of resources: money, people, visibility Approval for additional, unexpected needs: bonuses, people, hardware, software, etc. Help with political issues while needing resources from other functional areas Help with daily management operations Encourage the use of IT technologies Support the implementation of processes and standards Software Projects Management