project structure and ion

8/2/2019 Project Structure and ion

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Project Structure and Organisation

Why, What, How?

The way a project team is structured can play a major role in how it functions.

Differentstyles of teamwill have different characteristics. For example, do we wish

to encourage discussion with the business representatives or to keep them at arm's

length so the developers can make good progress? Careful consideration of team

composition and reporting relationships can make a big difference to the results.

The variousroles in the teamwill depend on the nature of the project. As well as the

main team roles, consider the other participants and how they fit into the picture.

Project roles and resources will have been

identified as part of

theplanning,estimatingandresourcingprocess.

Note that the resources and optimum way of

working will normally change during the project.

Often an initial high-powered team will define the

business solution, followed by a much broader team

to deliver it, and then a line management and

operational team to operate it. The will be a core

team who remain fully involved throughout the

project, but others will need to be brought in as

required.

Team structure will probably be adjusted at each

stage to meet the evolving nature of the project. The right structure for a small, high-

powered, business-design team is unlikely to work for a large applications

development team.

Styles of team

There are two main structural dimensions to the project team:

what type of resource?

what are they delivering?
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For example, a website designer might be working with business managers and

network specialists to create a storefront whilst another website designer is working

with different business managers but maybe the same network specialist on an

Intranet application for presenting internal management information on sales - both as

part of the same project. So, does it make sense to have a team of developers, a team

of managers and a team of network specialists, or should we have a team for thestorefront and a team for the management information system?

Rather than seeing this as an

"either or" choice, we could think

of the project team as a matrix.

Members of the various resource

type teams will need to work

together to share knowledge and

ensure a consistent solution.

People working together on thevarious processes or functional

aspects of the solution will

equally need to work together.

Each of these sub-teams, whether

horizontal or vertical, will need a

recognised leader. Team

members will need to understand

their individual roles.

The question then becomes howto structure this in terms of

reporting and control.

Here are some basic rules that may help you decide how to structure the teams:

People working together in a team usually see their teammates as "being on

their side". They will normally work together and help each other to achieve

their collective goals.

Placing people in the same team generates collaboration, knowledge sharing

and skills transfer - for example, between the specialists in a software package

and the key future users of that package.

Building a good, effective teamis vital - team structure will influence the way

the team behaves. Aim to create acollaborative team, where individuals share

knowledge, co-operate, support each other and are motivated to achieve the

team's goals.
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Interaction between team members is the best way to get a balanced view of all

perspectives, eg business needs, practicality, technical feasibility, efficiency,

performance.

The understanding, knowledge, and capabilities of people working in other

teams are rarely exploited to the full.

People working in other teams are often viewed as a nuisance - they interferewith our team's progress.

According to thecomplexity theory, putting a large number of people into a

single team creates more interplay than progress.

We will take a look at someexample team structuresbelow. First, let's consider the

roles within those teams.

Roles

There are many different roles in addressing a full business solution. Some of these

will probably form the core full-time project team. Others may be part-time

specialists, and others might be representatives of various groups interested in the

project. As well as identifying the type of person, it is often necessary to give thought

to the level of capability or power. If we need someone who can take a business

decision we must identify the right person. If we need someone to do routine work,

we should not waste the time of a more expensive resource.

Core team roles will normally depend on what you are doing. For example, you mightneed sales managers, website designers and Java programmers, or you might need

accountants, systems analysts and COBOL programmers. Other roles may depend less

on the specific solution; for example, you almost always need a Project Manager.

Here are some common project roles along with a brief explanation:

Role Explanation

Project Sponsor The person who saw a need for change and had the

authority to make something happen. There may be

several sponsors who collectively have this role. Itmay be that even higher authority and support is

required such that others should also be drawn into

this role.

Supporting Sponsors To succeed in all aspects of the project in all parts of

the organisation it may be necessary to establish

many supporting sponsors at different levels and in
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different organisational units.

Project Director The person with genuine executive authority over

the project. The Project Director has full

accountability and responsibility for the project's

success, and has the power to make all decisions,

subject to oversight by the executive bodies.

Executive Committee A body of people representing the overall executive

authority of the organisation. This might, indeed, be

the Board of Directors, or it could be a delegated

sub-committee of the Board

Steering Committeeor

Project Board

The group of people charged with regular oversight

of the project. Collectively they should represent all

significant areas of participation in the project and

they should have authority to take decisions on

behalf of those areas. Members would typically be

departmental heads, Vice Presidents, or Directors,along with external representatives. The Project

Director and Project Manager would normally report

to the Steering Committee.

Project Manager The person with day-to-day responsibility for the

conduct and success of the project. The Project

Manager would normally have control over all

project resources.

Project Office

Manager / Staff

The "Project Office" provides supporting shared

services to the Project Manager and to the overall

Project Team. Often this function has a manager plus

support staff. Typical responsibilities include

controlling and tracking the detailed plan, managing

documentation, preparing reports, etc. It may also be

the place to house part-time specialists supporting

the team, for example, a Training Designer.

Project Accountant A large project may require its own accountant to

deal with procurement, sub-contractor expenditure,

oint venture accounting, progress tracking and

financial reporting etc.

Team Leader Typically the project will be divided into various

sub-teams - each with its own Team Leader. TeamLeaders would be responsible for the management

and coaching of that sub-team. They may also have

responsibility for managing and tracking the detailed

sub-plan for their team.

Organisational Change

Manager / Facilitator

A specialists in identifying issues, requirements and

solutions regarding organisational change, ie
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corporate or individual rational, political and

emotional factors in bringing about the desired

business change.

Communications

Specialist

A specialist in communicating messages within the

organisation. There will normally be a range of

communications media that the project shouldexploit in achieving its goals.

Business Process

Reengineering

Specialist

A specialist in the process and techniques of re-

engineering business processes to gain optimum

performance.

Process Owner The person within the organisation with overall

control, authority, and accountability for any given

business process.

Process Specialist An expert in best practice solutions for a given

business process.

Process Manager A manager within the organisation with detailed

understanding and experience of how a given

process operates.

Process Modeller A specialist in modelling business processes such

that potential improvements can be defined and

quantified.

Solution Architect A specialist in defining overall business solutions

with responsibility for the "big picture".

Technical Architect A specialist in defining technical components of a

business solution with responsibility for the

technical architecture of the solution.

Organisational Design

Specialist

A specialist in the assessment of resourcing needs

and capability levels, plus the design and

achievement of the revised resourcing and

organisational structure.

Solution Designer A specialist in the detailed design of solution

components. There will, in fact, be many different

types of specialist in this category as each needs to

be a specialist in the aspect of the solution they

design, eg database designer, website designer,

program designer, package configuration designer,network designer, procedure designer etc

Developer /

Programmer

A specialist in the creation of solution components.

Again, there will be different types of developer

depending upon what is being developed.

Network and

Telecommunications

A specialist in the design and construction of

networking and telecommunications. They would


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Specialist deal with internal and external networking issues,

such as architecture, hardware, capacity/bandwidth,

etc

Marketing Specialist A specialist in marketing. Where the solution has an

external element, it is important to consider how to

make it attractive to the external people and bodiesconcerned. In particular with eSolutions, such

considerations will form a fundamental part of the

design of the solution rather than just an exercise

following the completion of the solution.

Training Specialist A specialist in identifying training needs then

designing training approaches and content to meet

those needs.

Training Developer A specialists in the development of training

materials. Often the most efficient approaches to

training delivery will require some or all of thecontent to be created and delivered electronically.

Trainer A person with the skills and knowledge required to

deliver training content.

Documenter /

Technical Writer

A specialists in the creation of accurate usable

documentation - both for the day-to-day use of the

solution and as design documentation for future

reference. Documentation in modern solutions will

normally be supported electronically, eg using

workflow software and context-sensitive help

information.

End User End users form valuable resources in the team - they

can be used for many purposes related to the design,

construction and delivery of the business solution.

As former members of the team they will return to

their departments as experts and coaches for the new

solution.

Computer Operations

Analyst / Staff

A specialist in the way the live technical solution

should be operated. Operating procedures would

include routine operations, controls, security,

backup/recovery, disaster plans, etc.

Facilities Manager /

Staff

The people responsible for the provision of

appropriate accommodation for the revised

organisation to perform the new processes. This may

be simply some adjustment of existing facilities or it

might amount to the acquisition and construction of

entire new facilities.

Lawyer / Legal A legal specialist who would deal with various


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Adviser contractual matters such as detailed contracts for the

provision of equipment or services.

External Auditor The external accountants who are responsible for the

audit of the organisation. They may need to review

the plans, designs and completed solution to ensure

it meets an adequate standard from an auditperspective.

Internal Auditor An employee of the organisation charged with

responsibility within the organisation for

maintaining standards and procedures.

External Regulator Many industries and organisations are subject to

various forms of regulation by external regulators.

There may be a need to co-operate with these

regulators or to maintain specific records or

information to meet their requirements.

Quality Manager A person responsible for processes and proceduresthat ensure required levels of quality are achieved.

Quality Auditor A person responsible for the Quality Audit - ie

checklist adherence to declared procedures and

deliverables.

Case Study

A local health authority finance manager who was about to implement newaccounting systems was attending a briefing about implementation projects.

We explained all the different roles that might be needed to deliver a

complete solution.

He said " but I can only spare a half day a week and there's just one

technician who handles all our IT."

We did not have an acceptable answer for him.

Example team structures

There are many ways to organise the team. Take a look at these examples. Think

about why these teams might have been structured in these ways. Then take a look at

the commentary about them.
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Process or functionally structured team

In this structure the major functional areas have been addressed by teams

focused on that area. The team would have a mix of people so that all the

necessary skills, knowledge and understanding are collectively within that

team, subject to any further specialised support that is needed.

The technical elements of the overall solution have been recognised as

requiring a team of specialists, so, in fact, we have part of the team structure

fully process-structured and another part in a resource pool form.

Other features in this example:

Project Manager is supported by a Project Office.

Project Director is on the same level as the Steering Committee (and

would probably be seen as a full member of the committee).

Project Manager reports to the Steering Committee.

There is an ultimate decision making body at an executive level

above the Steering Committee.

Process structured team - with detail
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This is a very similar structure to the previous one. The main teams have

been defined to support the major business processes within the scope of the

project. Specialised shared service teams have been set up - one for all the

technical support areas and one for non-technical general and specialised

support, eg change management and training.


Project Office provides significant range of shared services - not just

administration.

Process Owner Directors within the organisation are matched with

process teams for efficient communication on a "one-to-one" basis

instead of through various committees and layers of management

Technically oriented members of the process teams have a secondary

reporting relationship to the technical team leader.

Although the analysts operate within the process team, the

programmers are in a shared service resource pool.

Resource Pool structure


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This structure is based on the traditional resource pool concept. Teams are

constructed from similar types of resource. People often feel more

comfortable in teams like this, but they do not necessarily combine together

so effectively to produce solutions. For any given issue, a combination from

different teams will need to communicate and collaborate. For example,

design by prototyping would be conducted by members of the user team and

the applications team.

In some IT environments, the staff believe separation from the business and

users is an advantage. They find the "interference" from users slows their

progress. This may well be true - but close collaboration with the business

will normally improve the quality of the solution and prevent the risk of

delivering a solution that is not valued by the user community.

Usually teams are constructed to promote collaboration, knowledge sharing

and skills transfer. One particular, and unusual, use for this structure is where

you wish to minimise skills transfer. This has been considered valuable in a

few cases where there is a significant shortage of a particular skill in the

marketplace. Why? Because if you transfer skills to the line staff they allresign to double their salary as consultants - see the case study below.


BPR and Change Facilitators are, in effect, also a resource pool;

however, they occupy a special position in the structure - facilitating


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change through the user team and the process owners.


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Matrix Organization and project

management

A matrix organization structure is intended

to facilitate the horizontal flow of skills and

information.

The matrix organization is an attempt to combine the advantages of the pure

functional structure and the product organizational structure. This form is identically

suited for companies, such as construction, that are project-driven. The figure below

shows a typical Matrix organization.

In a matrix organization, each project managerreports directly to the vice president and

the general manager. Since each project represents a potential profit centre, the power

and authority used by the project manager come directly from the general manager.

Information sharing is mandatory in such an organization, and several people may be

required for the same piece of work. However, in general, the project manager has the

total responsibility and accountability for the success of the project. The functional

departments, on the other hand, have functional responsibility to maintain technical

excellence on the project. Each functional unit is headed by a department manager

whose prime responsibility is to ensure that a unified technical base is maintained and

that all available information can be exchanged for each project.

Typical Matrix organization


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The basis for the matrix organization is an endeavor to create synergism through

shared responsibility between project and functional management. Other advantages of

a pure matrix organizational form, to project management, include:

Because key people can be shared, the project cost is minimized

Conflicts are minimal, and those requiring hierarchical referrals are more easily

resolved There is a better balance between time, cost and performance

Authority and responsibility are shared

Stress is distributed among the team

project structure and ion

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