Structuring project activities within management

Content:

Understanding the project structure

Most often, a project is viewed as a complex system. The structure of a given system is one of the ways to organize connections and relationships between its components, the so-called subsystems. During the formation of the structure of the system, a description of a large number of components of the system is set, as well as various kinds of interrelationships between them, the distribution of tasks by levels and elements of the system, the definition of a set of tools that ensure their effective solution.

The degree of controllability of any object depends on how effectively the details of the control object were provided, that is, the division of a single system into hierarchical subsystems and components, in relation to which the management influences become relevant and adequate.

The project structure in management is a tree of components that are product-oriented and represented by equipment, works, services and information that were obtained as a result of the project. In other words, the structure of a project is the organized work of connections and relationships between its components.

The purpose of the project structure is to determine the products that should be formed or produced, and to combine the components of the work that will need to be done, both among themselves and with the ultimate goal of the entire project. They begin to create a structure by building a tree of goals, that is, diversifying all project goals into smaller blocks of work, up to achieving the smallest positions that are subject to control.

This tree-like structure makes it possible to divide the total volume of work on the project into manageable independent blocks. Therefore, a logical relationship is determined between resources and the amount of work that needs to be implemented in the future.

The structuring process

Project structuring includes splitting the project according to the following criteria:

• project product components;
• life cycle stages;
• organizational structure components.

The structuring process is inseparable from the project planning process, as well as such a stage as the preparation of the master plan for the project and the matrix of separation of responsibilities and duties.

The main tasks of structuring can be called:

• dividing the project into manageable blocks;
• segregation of responsibilities for different components of the project, taking into account the structure of the organization and available resources;
• careful assessment necessary costs - financial, time, material;
• formation of a single base for planning, budgeting, cost control;
• connection of project work with the accounting and audit system;
• clarification of the goals of project activities by department of the organization;
• definition of contracts.

For some reason, if you search the Internet, in the articles about the organizational structure of the project, the authors basically once again talk about the functional and project structure, the weak and strong matrix, and so on. This, of course, is important and needs to be known, but this is about the organizational structure of the company, not the project. So let's talk about the organizational structure of the project today.

What is the organizational structure of the project

A project organizational structure is a temporary organizational structure created to improve the quality of management and communication in a project by defining and visualizing the processes of interaction between both internal and external project participants.

Definition, if anything, not formal from the PMBoK type standard, but author's, I don't know where to get the formal one. If you have a better option, great, suggest it in the comments!

Types of project organizational structures

As it was said before, for some reason most authors replace the concept of a project's structure with the concept of a company's organizational structure, and they cite the types of the company's organizational structure, which is wrong, from my point of view. This information has a rather mediocre relationship to the organizational structure of a specific project and is simply introductory.

I don't know the formal distribution of the organizational structures of the project by type, but people like to put everything in baskets, and I also love it. For myself, over the years, I have deduced the following conditional types of organizational structures of the project:

• Project management organizational structure. It is agreed at the level of the steering committee, designed to determine the levels of decision-making (do not forget to first agree on the built organizational structure with the project sponsor, simply because, by analogy with speaking at the steering committee, this should always be your first point of agreement if you want to be friends with the sponsor ).
• Organizational structure of the project execution. It is coordinated at the team lead level, designed to organize interaction between the teams involved in the project (architecture, testing, development, analysis, etc.).
• Organizational structure of work with the contractor or contractors in the project. It is agreed at the level of those responsible for the project from each party involved to determine the work process and decision points.
• Organizational structure of the project program. It is agreed at the level of the program manager and its sponsor to define the process of interaction between projects (and, of course, project managers) included in the program.

Such division by types does not carry any special value, but it helps to understand over time (after a couple of rakes) what information should be presented in what type of organizational structure.

There is also a separate piece - the organizational structure of the project portfolio, but this is more about the process, and not about the project, so I do not include it here.

Most often, the project management structure is found in international companies, as well as in diversified enterprises. The fact is that when such organizations have many orders from clients, it is difficult to control all the nuances in order to ensure a consistently high quality of work. Project structures come to the rescue in such cases. They are created temporarily. All the necessary resources, financing are allocated for these structures, they achieve a certain production capacity in order to complete the project on time.

Concept of project organizational structure

In the design structure, important tasks are transferred to the category of projects. For them, a team of necessary specialists is allocated, headed by a project manager. He studies the requirements for the project, communicates with the customer and monitors the completion of the task. Thus, it is possible to ensure a continuous workflow with strict time, cost and quality constraints and coordinate it.

After the completion of the project, the group breaks up: employees return to their previous duties, transfer to another project or leave if they were hired for project work.

Levels of project organizational structure

Subsequently, the results are accepted and analyzed by the top management together with the project manager.

Features of the project organizational structure

The project management organizational structure has its advantages.

• An integrated approach. All the necessary specialists are involved, the necessary resources are found, the goals and expected results are worked out.
• Concentration of efforts on one project. In such conditions, employees remember all the nuances, requirements and perform the task efficiently. The risk of making mistakes is minimal.
• Flexibility, the ability to quickly make changes to the project due to the fact that communication is well established within the project structure, there is a project manager through whom you can quickly resolve important issues.
• Increase the personal responsibility of employees who are involved in the work on the project. Even performers have their own tasks, the quality of which affects the overall result.

Accordingly, like any governance structure, it has its drawbacks.

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FACULTY OF STATE AND MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION

DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL MANAGEMENT AND LOGISTICS

on the topic: Project Management Organizational Structures

Chapter 1. General principles of building organizational structures for project management

1. Organizational management structures. Pros and cons

Chapter 2. Organizational structure and system of relationships between project participants

2. ... Dedicated organizational structure

2. ... "Project Management"

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Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

"RUSSIAN STATE HUMANITARIAN UNIVERSITY" (RSUH)

INSTITUTE OF ECONOMY, GOVERNANCE AND LAW

Department of Organizational Development

Specialty "Human Resources"

Research and analysis of organizational structures of project management based on the example of Croc Incorporated

5th year full-time student

• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Principles of building organizational structures for project management
  • 1. The project and its characteristics
• Chapter 2. Organizational structures of project management. Types and types of organizational structures for project management
  • 2. Functional organizational structure
    • 2. Project organizational structure
      • 2. Matrix organizational structure
• Chapter 3. Characteristics of the research object
  • 3. Characteristics of Croc Incorporated
• Conclusion
• References