Many different organizational structures take various forms and have various impacts on projects and project management. Based on your own experience, what impact does can an organizational structure have on a project?
One example that comes to mind for me is that I used to work in a matrix organizational structure, and when I was working on a new project, I was having difficulties getting traction on it. I went to my primary supervisor. She referred me to another supervisor, which became a trend until I went full circle with no answer and therefore made no progress. In summary, working in a matrix structure resulted in me having numerous "bosses" or supervisors that made it difficult to know who to resolve certain issues resulting in project delays.
Organizational structure has a huge impact on the project. If you are in the project based or functional organization, it may be a bit easier because you only have one immediate boss. And that boss knows what you are supposed to be doing only adding as much work to your load as you should be able to handle based on your level. However, in a matrix having multiple bosses and depending on whether your matrix organization is well run, it can be quite a hassle. I am speaking from experience as I have worked in multiple organizations. The project based experience I have had was much less stressful however, I do not believe that I have been a part of the best matrix and so, will not count this organizational type out.
To put it plainly, the experience I have had in the project based organization was easier than the matrix organization thus far.
Many different organizational structures take various forms and have various impacts on projects and project management. Based on your own experience, what impact does can an organizational structure have on a project?
One example that comes to mind for me is that I used to work in a matrix organizational structure, and when I was working on a new project, I was having difficulties getting traction on it. I went to my primary supervisor. She referred me to another supervisor, which became a trend until I went full circle with no answer and therefore made no progress. In summary, working in a matrix structure resulted in me having numerous "bosses" or supervisors that made it difficult to know who to resolve certain issues resulting in project delays.
Greetings @jteamer,
I have had a similar experience. It is odd how in these organizational types, it seems that the bosses don't really know what falls under their jurisdiction. And, it is quite frustrating. It is my opinion that when a matrix is laid out all of the bosses should know exactly which problems fall with them and have a plan if they actually land some where between two bosses. Having leadership give you the run around will never be very productive.
Many different organizational structures take various forms and have various impacts on projects and project management. Based on your own experience, what impact does can an organizational structure have on a project?
One example that comes to mind for me is that I used to work in a matrix organizational structure, and when I was working on a new project, I was having difficulties getting traction on it. I went to my primary supervisor. She referred me to another supervisor, which became a trend until I went full circle with no answer and therefore made no progress. In summary, working in a matrix structure resulted in me having numerous "bosses" or supervisors that made it difficult to know who to resolve certain issues resulting in project delays.
I work for a hydrophilic coating company for medical devices. It's an early-mid size functional organization. In my department, the projects are mainly defined by medical devices we develop hydrophilic coatings for. The organizational structure for the company works out really well right now due to the size of the organization and the number of projects we take on. For each project, we directly coordinate with business development and coating services. Upon completion of the project, we being transfer responsibilities to coating services and quality for validations while being available for advice.
Fortunately, we are growing quickly; which makes me wonder how sustainable this model will be, the larger we get. I imagine that we may need to shift towards being a matrix organization if we start taking on more projects. I anticipate that we will need to dedicate certain individuals from other departments on certain projects based on the type that comes in
The life and successes of a project are heavily based on the organizational structure of a project. I am familiar with working in a functional structure organization. There are strengths and weaknesses when using this structure. The weaknesses in this structure include keeping groups separated by department within a company and does not allow for many opportunities to work outside of your given group. You are only able to work with individuals that are trained in a similar manner. From my experience, communication can become an additional issue when everyone is on a separate page. The organizational structure is a large component of how groups of people must work to complete different tasks in a project.
@k-faulk I can see the struggles of having multiple bosses in a matrix structure vs having one main boss in a functional structure. The expectation and execution could look different to multiple people. Ultimately I could see this causing chaos among a group of workers that are trying to get multiple things done for multiple people. There are certain advantages that can make one organizational structure easier than others. I tie everything together with communication and if there is a lack of it, it can cause problems for everyone. The organizational structure will impact the work of everyone.
I believe that the effect that organizational structures have on project management is that they change the way different projects are executed and structured. This is because the different organizational structures do the thing in different ways, projects would be handled depending on the way a particular organization does things.
Organizational structures can have positive and negative outcomes on a project. The functional organization allows for projects to be coordinated easily within the same department due one person being in charge. However, if the project is done with multiple departments it could make the task even harder, because there will be more than one person in charge. Multiple leaders for one project could cause a lot of different ideas, and mistakes.
@k-faulk I can see the struggles of having multiple bosses in a matrix structure vs having one main boss in a functional structure. The expectation and execution could look different to multiple people. Ultimately I could see this causing chaos among a group of workers that are trying to get multiple things done for multiple people. There are certain advantages that can make one organizational structure easier than others. I tie everything together with communication and if there is a lack of it, it can cause problems for everyone. The organizational structure will impact the work of everyone.
You are right @armoneee, having multiple bosses can be a good deal of chaos at times. Just yesterday a group my co-workers were gathered and the topic of conversation was switching academy teams. The pros for some were that they would technically have one boss for two different things instead of two for two. In our school culture, the biggest thing that is stressed is communication. Every week there is a new opportunity for someone to speak up and make sure everyone is one the same page or at least aware of the things happening. In my opinion many of the issues in this system could be eliminated by good communication amongst the various bosses and to the staff they lead.
Many different organizational structures take various forms and have various impacts on projects and project management. Based on your own experience, what impact does can an organizational structure have on a project?
One example that comes to mind for me is that I used to work in a matrix organizational structure, and when I was working on a new project, I was having difficulties getting traction on it. I went to my primary supervisor. She referred me to another supervisor, which became a trend until I went full circle with no answer and therefore made no progress. In summary, working in a matrix structure resulted in me having numerous "bosses" or supervisors that made it difficult to know who to resolve certain issues resulting in project delays.
Organizational structure has an enormous impact on a project and if you do not have strong leadership I believe no matter the structure one falls under tasks will not be up to the standard. The tasks can be given but if there is no clear instructions on how the tasks should be completed or help to assist when a issue does arise then this could cause that organizational structure to break down. The example provided shows just that of a organizational structure where no one is taking credibility for their position within leadership and giving the ones that are under them no guidance so they can succeed at the task given. If there is no clear guidelines and or principles within the organizational structure then the impact will be very negative but if everything is clear and there is always someone to reach out to who is knowledgeable then the organizational structure will excel. From my own personal experience a organizational structure has a significant impact on the projects that have to be come completed.
Many different organizational structures take various forms and have various impacts on projects and project management. Based on your own experience, what impact does can an organizational structure have on a project?
One example that comes to mind for me is that I used to work in a matrix organizational structure, and when I was working on a new project, I was having difficulties getting traction on it. I went to my primary supervisor. She referred me to another supervisor, which became a trend until I went full circle with no answer and therefore made no progress. In summary, working in a matrix structure resulted in me having numerous "bosses" or supervisors that made it difficult to know who to resolve certain issues resulting in project delays.
Organizational structure can cause stress, mental health issues, and depression if not running properly. when you are stressed at work and you take that energy home it can really weigh on you. On the other hand, an organizational structure can bring happiness, drive, and determination. I think the organizational structure plays the largest role in a project. If it is not being conducted properly a project that could be easy and completed early will become difficult and hard to manage because of the organizational structure. I have worked on projects with a lack of leadership which caused a delay in time and when presented was not top quality. I think it is very important to figure out which organizational structure works for you for the best results.
