What Is A Projectized Organization Structure

What is a Projectized Organization
Structure?
By Fahad Usmani 21 Comments
In todays competitive environment, organizations

are increasingly becoming result-oriented and are improving their working environment
and culture. They encourage employees to learn from their experiences and share them
through a corporate knowledge base so that others can benefit from their lessons
learned.
These are the characteristics of a projectized organization. A projectized organization
has to be dynamic and adaptive; otherwise its survival will be difficult.
In todays blog post we are going to discuss the projectized organization structure, as
well as its benefits and drawbacks.
Okay, lets get started.
Projectized Organization Structure

In projectized organizations, organizations arrange their activities into programs or
portfolios, and implement them through the projects.
Here, the project manager is in charge of his project, and he has full authority over it.
Everyone in his team reports to him. The projectized organization structure is opposite
to the functional organization structure. Here, either there will be no functional manager,
or if he exists, he will have a very limited role and authority.
This is one of the main benefits of projectized organized structure, as they are adaptive
and learn from their own as well as from others experiences.
In projectized organizations, most of the resources are utilized in the project work.
Projectized organizations are only interested in the project work which they get from
external clients. Usually they have some small departments such as Admin, Accounting,
and Human Resources to support the project management activities.
The project manager has full-time team members working under him. If possible, all
members are grouped together and are often co-located for the duration of the project
to get optimum performance.
As I said earlier, in a projectized organization the project manager has all power and
authority, but this does not mean that he has absolute authority to do everything he
wishes.
For example, lets say that your project is a part of a portfolio, and some equipment
which is lying idle in your project is needed by another project under the same portfolio.
In this case, the portfolio manager will simply assign this equipment to the project which
requires it. You may or you may not agree with this decision, but you have to comply
with it.
Organizations give project managers as much authority and power as needed to
complete the project, and accept the responsibility for its outcome.
Characteristics of a Projectized Organization Structure
The following are a few characteristics of a projectized organization structure:
The project manager has full power and authority over resources to be utilized in
the project. He controls the budget, resources, and work assignments.
The project manager has full-time team members working under his control who
directly report him.
When the project is completed the team is disbanded, and team members and all
other resources are released.
Advantages of a Projectized Organized Structure
A few advantages of a projectized organization structure are as follows:
Since the team members directly report to the project manager, there is a clear
line of authority. This reduces conflict, and makes decision making faster and more
flexible.
Due to a single reporting system, there are shorter lines of communication which
creates strong and effective communication within the project management team.
Due to a single authority, less time is consumed in communication, and response

to stakeholders concerns is fast.
Due to a sense of urgency, milestones, good communication, and cooperation,

the learning curve is faster for any new member.
Team members become versatile and flexible due to experience in different kinds
of projects.
Disadvantages of a Projectized Organization Structure
A few disadvantages of a projectized organization structure are as follows:
Since the project manager has full authority and power over his team members,
he can become arrogant. A lack of power is a problem for project managers in
functional organizations, while abundance of power of a project manager can be a
problem for team members in projectized organizations.
In projects, there is always a deadline and usually a tight schedule, which makes
the work environment stressful.
If the organization has multiple projects, there can be poor communication
among them, causing resources to be duplicated.
There is a sense of insecurity among the team members, because once the
project is completed, they feel that they may lose their jobs. Therefore, they tend to
be less loyal towards the organization.
The cost of employees and equipment can be higher because you may be hiring
skilled people and specialized equipment for a shorter period of time. Moreover, if
the project gets stretched out, the cost of equipment and other resources can be
much higher.
An organizational structure that facilitates the horizontal flow of skills and information. It is
used mainly in the management of large projects or product development processes,
drawing employees from different functional disciplines for assignment to a team without
removing them from their respective positions.
Employees in a matrix organization report on day-to-day performance to the project or
product manager whose authority flows sideways (horizontally) across departmental
boundaries. They also continue to report on their overall performance to the head of their
department whose authority flows downwards (vertically) within his or her department. In
addition to a multiple command and control structure, a matrix organization necessitates
new support mechanisms, organizational culture, and behavior patterns. Developed at the
US National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) in association with its suppliers,
this structure gets its name from its resemblance to a table (matrix) where every element is
included in a row as well as a column.
Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/matrixorganization.html#ixzz3fV1QI1rH
Goals vs Objectives
When you have something you want to accomplish, it is important to set both goals and
objectives. Once you learn the difference between goals and objectives, you will realize that how
important it is that you have both of them. Goals without objectives can never be accomplished
while objectives without goals will never get you to where you want to be. The two concepts are
separate but related and will help you to be who you want to be.
Definition
of
Goals
and
Objectives
Goals
are
long-term
aims
that
you
want
to
accomplish.
Objectives are concrete attainments that can be achieved by following a certain number of
steps.
Goals and objectives are often used interchangeably, but the main difference comes in their level
of concreteness. Objectives are very concrete, whereas goals are less structured.
Remembering
the
Differences
between
Goals
and
Objectives
When you are giving a presentation to a potential or current employer, knowing the difference
between goals and objectives can be crucial to the acceptance of your proposal. Here is an easy
way
to
remember
how
they
differ:
Goals has the word go in it. Your goals should go forward in a specific direction. However,
goals are more about everything you accomplish on your journey, rather than getting to that
distant point. Goals will often go into undiscovered territory and you therefore cant even know
where the end will be.
Objectives has the word object in it. Objects are concrete. They are something that you can
hold in your hand. Because of this, your objectives can be clearly outlined with timelines,
budgets, and personnel needs. Every area of each objective should be firm.
Process of management
Process management is the ensemble of activities of planning and monitoring the performance
of a business process. The term usually refers to the management of business processes and
manufacturing processes. Business process management (BPM) and business process
reengineering are interrelated, but not identical.[1]
Process management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, techniques and systems to
define, visualize, measure, control, report and improve processes with the goal to meet customer
requirements profitably. It can be differentiated from program management in that program
management is concerned with managing a group of inter-dependent projects. From another

viewpoint, process management includes program management. In project management, process
management is the use of a repeatable process to improve the outcome of the project.[2]
ISO 9001 promotes the process approach to managing an organization.
...promotes the adoption of a process approach when developing, implementing and improving
the effectiveness of a quality management system, to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting
customer requirements.[3]

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What is a Projectized Organization

In todays competitive environment, organizations

Projectized Organization Structure

Due to a single authority, less time is consumed in communication, and response

Due to a sense of urgency, milestones, good communication, and cooperation,

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/matrixorganization.html#ixzz3fV1QI1rH

management is concerned with managing a group of inter-dependent projects. From another

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