@jafangnibo Hi! I think that for many traditional businesses the company usually works as a functional organization. I can agree that coming from education, we were definitely working within a functional organization. Personally, I don't think that this is an effective way for an educational system to run, but its hard to go against the grain and try something new. Especially when a particular system has been in place for decades.
I would want to work in a matrix organization because it fits my style. The matrix structure as the best of both worlds of functional organization and project management organization, coming together in an effort to achieve a common goal. Every team in each section plays a critical role, and the morale in working together is generally in high spirits. Projects would get done fast, conflicts would be resolved quickly, and production can flow smoothly if everyone is clear on the objectives of the project. There are disadvantages with this system such as having two bosses, miscommunication, increase of complexity, and increase of management overhead cost. I believe the advantages do outweigh the disadvantages. If there is constant clear communication throughout the whole project, then that can possibly mitigate the concerning issues that I have mentioned.
The company I used to work for also had a matrix organization. While I was working with the product design in the R&D department, I was also helping the production department with their jig/fixture needs. It had advantages as well as disadvantages. to mention the disadvantages, it increased the workload and made it difficult for you to focus only on the projects. the advantageous part was that it increased your knowledge by keeping you in touch with other departments.
As per the PMBOK Guide, there are eight types of organizational structures seen when running a business: organic, functional, multi-divisional, matrix (strong/weak/balanced), project-based, virtual, hybrid, and PMO. I work in a healthcare system and most hospitals are set up with a multi-divisional structure. A multi-divisional organization sets broad divisions before further subdividing employees by function. This weeks lecture reviews three of the most common organization structures, those being - functional, project-based, and matrix. Of these, I would be most interested to gain experience working in an organization with a matrix structure given it allows for exposure to multiple projects as well as presents the opportunity to collaborate between departments and share resources. I value communication greatly within an organization and given some advantages of a matrix structure include no department or project silos and ease of knowledge transfer, I believe I would adapt well to this organizational structure.
Personally, I work in the industry under the functional organization chart. Many of the projects I work on and people that I regularly communicate with all fall under the same department in the company. There are still parts where other departments get involved, but the people I report to are all in the same group. As mentioned in the lecture, there are advantages and disadvantages to working in this kind of environment. The communication and camaraderie between the group are very high as they are all in constant contact with each other. A big issue we face every day is that having these specific departments and being such a large company, information gets around very slowly, and reaching out to different departments becomes an entire task. In the future, I would be excited to get the chance to work in a different organizational structure to see if it would flow better with me or if what I am experiencing now is ideal.
Matrix organizations would be my favorite type of project management structure. The breakdown of project teams is much more conducive to a well-controlled development environment. The fact that each specialized group of employees has their own manager, who then is able to report to the "head person" on the general progress of all projects in the company. This way, if someone needs specialized knowledge; they can reach out to the manager, who then can direct them to the relevant employee. This way, information is shared throughout the company, and all teams can depend on each other for help.
I work best in project based organization since I think I work best in a smaller project specific team with a project manager. This is an organizational method that I have experienced during my research at NJIT and I think it works well because it provides good structure and has someone the project team can turn to in the project leader.
I do not have a lot of industry experience but I think that the last company I interned for had a matrix organization. As an intern, I was only exposed to a more surface level of the projects, doing mostly grunt work and learning the basics. Seeing how this organization functioned, I believe that I would also prefer to work for a company in the future that is organized in the same way. This type of organization allowed for multiple projects to be run at the same time with different subject matter experts. It allows for more communication of the required knowledge. For my projects, I liked that if I had a question about a certain change, I could reach out to any of the engineers in that specific department and did not have to wait for one specific person to get back to me. It was especially useful during the holiday times.
The company I currently work for can best be described as a matrix organization. We have clearly defined departments that are organized by function, and projects span across the multiple departments. For example, I'm currently working on a project to release an updated version of one of our products. I work in the manufacturing engineering department, so in the project my role is to ensure we have all the necessary equipment and resources to manufacture the updated product, and revise our production work instructions accordingly. But the project team also consists of members picked from quality, regulatory, R&D, marketing, etc. to perform their specific duties as needed. My official manager belongs to the manufacturing engineering department, but for the purposes of this project I report my status to a separate project manager. From my experience I do like this way of organizing a medical device company, since most projects will require a mixture of people with different specialties, and there are still dedicated personnel for completing routine tasks; in my case, this is addressing any issues that can affect our current production output.
As I mentioned last week; a matrix type organization seems to be the best fit for me. I also just enjoy the free-form nature of a matrix organization. The ability for different skill-sets from the entire company to be employed on a project, rather than a super specialized group, is invaluable. I also feel that this type of organization allows for natural avenues of support to be formed. What I mean by this is; project teams will reach out to & employ the support of a multitude of specialists in the company. As more projects are completed; a team can effectively create a "superstructure" of administrators, consultants, etc. to help complete their subsequent projects. A matrix organization allows for the most flow of information & innovation through a company.
I would like to work in a matrix organization type of setting. I work like that there would be a pool that project managers can choose from so the project would have to crash and burn from the start due to the knowledge of the staff enough staff being exposed to different ideas and prospects. The fact you have to have different bosses to answer to can be daunting but over time I believe that management skills can be developed, and it would be beneficial in helping you advance in the workforce.
Q: What type of organization do you work in or what kind would you like to work in and why?
A:As an investigative reporter, I believe I work in a project-based organization. I have a general manager (seemingly the project manager), but we have two different executives (seemingly called "co-executives"; double as co-owners of the company) who are over the major portion of the company. Within our office, as reporters, we dictate the stories or publications we have based on the interest of the demographic that we write for as well as our own individual interest. Our general manager coordinates our time schedules and the logistics of the office. Our "co-executives" maintain the business aspect of the company to ensure that everything runs smoothly. I honestly enjoy the project-based organization because it provides wiggle room for originality in my field. We adjust to the times and cultures around us in order to stay informed for writing articles as well as producing content that can benefit multitudes. We hold meetings weekly to discuss ideas and brainstorm different methods that we can use to better communicate information in terminology that the public can understand and how we can better convey these ideas. As an investigative reporter, I tend to cover more research based informational articles, most that require extensive research and a deep-dive into what it means for our citizens and the surrounding areas. This method of organization allows for myself and our other reporter to collaborate more readily and we can easily convey ideas as we move from project to project. We don't necessarily have teams, but we do share ideas and topics that we may find important and each weigh in on how it could benefit the audience that we want to draw in. It allows for open-mindedness as well as insights that we may not have individually.
I work in a project based organization which I believe works best for the work flow of my job. I work in the research and development department of a medical device company. The chief exec is at the top, then each department has a manager that distributes projects to its staff members (ie. me). The staff answers to the department manager and they hold all the power over decisions made in the department. We also have our own reagents and inventory separate from other departments, so sometimes there is a disconnect between departments because noone fully knows what is happening in other departments.
I work in a functional organization. I am a Quality Assurance Technician for a medical device company that makes radiation seeds. We have multiple departments that have mangers for each department. I've only experienced a functional organization company, and it is the type organization I prefer. It seems more organized and straightforward. The other organization types like it can cause complications for companies.
I work in a functional organization. I am a Quality Assurance Technician for a medical device company that makes radiation seeds. We have multiple departments that have mangers for each department. I've only experienced a functional organization company, and it is the type organization I prefer. It seems more organized and straightforward. The other organization types like it can cause complications for companies.
