Chapter 2: Organizations, constraints and projects

Chapter 2: Organizations, constraints and projects

1. Project Expediter

   • Doesn't have authority to make decisions

2. Types of Organizations

   • Functional Organizations
     • Project management decisions need to be cleared with functional managers.
     • Project managers are assistants to the functional managers in getting the work done.
     • Project managers spend a lot of time doing administrative tasks and often only work as PMs part of the time.
     • You’re likely to find project expediters in functional organizations.
     • Functional managers have all the power
   • Projectized Organizations
     • Teams are organized around projects. When a project is done, the team is released, and the team members move on to another project.
     • The project manager makes all of the decisions about a project’s budget, schedule, quality, and resources.
     • The PM is responsible for the success or failure of the project.
     • Project managers have the power
     • Project coordinators and expediters don’t exist in a projectized organization
   • Matrix Organizations
     • Weak Matrix
       • PMs have some authority, but they aren’t in charge of the resources on a project.
       • Major decisions still need to be made with the functional manager’s cooperation or approval.
       • Project expediters (like Kate) and project coordinators can work in weak matrix organizations, too.
     • Balanced Matrix
       • Project managers share authority with the functional managers.
       • PMs run their people-management decisions by the functional manager, but the functional manager runs his project decisions by the PM, too.
     • Strong Matrix
       • Project managers have more authority than functional managers, but the team still reports to both managers.
       • The team might be judged based on performance on their projects, as well as on their functional expertise. In a strong matrix, delivery of the project is most important.
   • Composite Organizations

3. Stakeholders

   • Anyone who will be affected by the outcome of your project
   • Negative Stakeholders
     • Manage his expectations and work with him to set goals that make sense to him
   • Write down their goals and expectations in a stakeholder register
   • Sponsor
   • Seller
   • Consumers or users
   • Business partner
   • Organizational Groups
   • Functional manager

4. Project Constraints

   • Time
   • Cost
   • Scope
   • Resources
   • Risk
   • Quality

5. Enterprise Environmental Factors

   • People
     • The skills and organizational culture where you work.
   • Market
     • The way your company is performing in the market can affect the way you manage your project.
   • Databases
     • Where your company stores its data can make a big difference in the decisions you make on your project.
   • Risk Tolerance
     • Some companies are highly tolerant of risk and some are really risk averse.
   • Standards
     • Some companies depend on government standards to run their business and when they change, it can have a big impact