Software Project Management

Project Environment

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 A few words about the Project
Environment?
• Spectrum of Project Organizations
– Strong / weak
– Maturity level
– Logical form vs. Physical form
– Roles, Responsibilities, Authority, Accountability
– Global/Virtual teams & organizations
• Company Culture

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 Organizational Structure
Consists of three key elements:

1. Designates formal reporting relationships

– number of levels in the hierarchy
– span of control

2. Groupings of:
– individuals into departments
– departments into the total organization

3. Design of systems for

– effective communication
– coordination
– integration across departments
 Forms of Organizational Structure
• Functional organizations – group people
performing similar activities into departments

• Project organizations – group people into project

teams on temporary assignments

• Matrix organizations – create a dual hierarchy in

which functions and projects have equal
prominence
Functional Organization

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 Functional Structures for Project Management

Strengths Weaknesses
1. Firm’s design maintained 1. Functional siloing

2. Fosters development of in- 2. Lack of customer focus

depth knowledge

3. Standard career paths 3. Projects may take longer

4. Project team members remain 4. Projects may be sub-

connected with their functional optimized
group
 Matrix Organization

President

Research and
Engineering Manufacturing Marketing
Development

Manager
Project A

Manager
Project B

Manager
Project C

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 Matrix Structures for Project Management

Strengths Weaknesses
1. Suited to dynamic 1. Dual hierarchies mean two
environments bosses

2. Equal emphasis on project 2. Negotiation required in order

management and functional to share resources
efficiency

3. Promotes coordination across 3. Workers caught between

functional units competing project & functional
demands
4. Maximizes scarce resources
Projectized Organization

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 Project Structures for Project Management

Strengths Weaknesses
1. Project manager sole authority 1. Expensive to set up and
maintain teams
2. Improved communication
2. Chance of loyalty to the
3. Effective decision-making project rather than the firm

4. Creation of project 3. No pool of specific knowledge

management experts
4. Workers unassigned at project
5. Rapid response end
 Heavyweight Project Organizations

• Project manager authority expanded

• Functional alignment abandoned in favor of market
opportunism
• Focus on external customer
• A Mature Organization
• Project Management Office (PMO)

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 Project Management Offices (PMO)
• Centralized units that oversee or improve the
management of projects
• Resource centers for:
– Technical details
– Expertise
– Repository
– Center for excellence
 Forms of PMOs
• Weather station – monitoring and tracking
• Control tower – project management is a skill
to be protected and supported
• Resource pool – maintain and provide a cadre
of skilled project professionals
 Factors/Tips in Selecting a Structure

• The number of projects and their relative

importance….low-> functional…high-> matrix
• The level of uncertainty in projects….the more
uncertainty (cost, schedule, scope) ,strong PM can
react quicker, exercise tighter control therefore a
Project Oriented structure is preferred
• Type of technology used.
– With several/changing technologies Matrix
– New product, high uncertainty -> Project Oriented
 Factors/Tips in Selecting a Structure

• The Project Complexity….low complexity->

functional…high- complexity-> Project oriented
structure
• Duration of projects….short projects -> matrix…Long
projects -> project oriented
• Resources used by the Projects.
– If common resources are shared by 2 or more projects ->
Matrix with a functional bias
– If number of common resources being shared are low ->
Project oriented structure
 Factors/Tips in Selecting a Structure
Remember: Organizational structure can have a
major impact on project performance
What about the Organizational Culture?

The unwritten rules of behavior, or norms that

are used to shape and guide behavior, is
shared by some subset of organization
members and is “taught” to all new members
of the company

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 Organizational Culture
• A system of shared norms, beliefs, values and
assumptions which bind people together,
thereby creating shared meanings
• The “personality” of the organization that sets
it apart from other organizations
- provides a sense of identity to its members
- Helps legitimize the management system of
the organization
- Clarifies and reinforces standards of behavior
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 Organizational Culture
Key factors that affect and or influence (shaping)
culture development:
– Technology (leading, bleeding, laggards, “early
adopters”, etc.)
– Environment
– Geographical location
– Reward systems
– Rules, regulations and procedures
– Key organizational members
– Critical incidents / Reaction to crises
– Ownership (private, public, government, etc.)

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 Culture Affects Project Management

• Departmental interaction
• Employee commitment to goals
• Project planning
• Performance evaluation
• Acceptance & Support of Change
• Bottom Line:

Organizational Culture can have a

major impact on project performance
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