Hello Lamiaa!
That is a very interesting question. It would be more challenging for the project manager to work in a Matrix organization. As mentioned in Dr. Simon’s lecture, every member of the staff as two bosses or more, and thus, this can lead to problems in the style of organization due to inconsistent and disagreeing opinions amongst the staff and the sharing of resources. Ultimately, resources will be wasted, miscommunication will occur, and delays on the work will follow. Additionally, since several members of the team might become involved in projects in different departments at the same time with other project managers, scheduling deadlines and meetings might be problematic. The project manager must make sure that the times never conflict and they must be able to successfully manage people from other departments.
It will be very difficult for project manager to work in matrix organization. There are several problems that can arise. There is three main difficulties that project managers might face: secrecy and deception, time constraints, and contradictions. When people report to multiple bosses, problems may occur. Interpersonal conflicts inevitably result. An employee’s loyalties could be torn between two points of view. Gathering relevant information to defuse a conflict takes time. When an employee reports into two different organizations, he has to consult with twice the number of interested parties. When more people get involved, the decision-making process typically takes longer. This will make it difficult for project managers to achieve their goal and meet the deadlines.
For a project manager, a project-based organization would be better than a matrix organization. In a project-based, a project manager has more control over the project and its decisions. The manager makes most of the final decisions, as opposed to a matrix organization where there is more than one manager/boss and decisions have to be made in more collective manner. Furthermore, more complications would arise in a matrix organization because there are more managers involved and resources are limited.
I think Project-based Organization manager is better than being a manager in a matrix-organization.
A project-based organization manager have a lot of power and easier to run projects because the entire structure is set up for that purpose. Also, in project-based organization, managers have a high level of
authority to manage and control the project resources. The project manager in this structure has total authority over the project and can acquire resources needed to accomplish project objectives from within
or outside the parent organization, subject only to the scope, quality, and budget constraints identified in the project.
But as a matrix-organization manager, project managers may or may not have a lot of power, and because of its complex structure, both the project and functional managers must be certain that they have touched bases with each other for any major decisions in their areas of responsibility. Even if there is a balance of power for each manager in the matrix organization, the people still asking who is the real boss?!
So, it is clear that to be a project-based organization manager is better.
I believe from the point of view of a project manager, it can be the most challenging to work in a matrix organization. This comes from the conflict of everyone having at least two distinctly separate bosses. The project manager would have to coordinate with the staff to not interfere with their departmental obligations. This comes in contrast with a project management organization, where the staff's primary responsibility is to the project manager, so that the project manager would have to deal with less conflicts of interest.
A project manager ideally wants to work in a functional, project-based organization where he or she has complete control over the team. Although matrix organizations are highly popular nowadays, the multiple-boss structure is, of course, something that most bosses would prefer to avoid because it cuts down on their authority and forces them to work with another boss.
As such, as a project manager, I would prefer a functional group. However, what is best for the project manager is not neccessarily what is best for a team or an organization that is constituted of many teams. Matrix organizations ensure that poor decision-making by a boss can be mitigated. As such, although I personally would prefer to be a manager in a functional organization, I can see why there are more matrix organizations out there.
As a project manager, I believe a matrix organizational style would be the hardest or a more involved method to execute. The first aspect that makes this a more difficult organization is the presence of constant tensions between functional manager and project manager. The need to find constant compromise can be taxing. Another is sharing equipment, resources and personnel among different projects. Each department has one member on a team or shared on a team which can lead to resources being scarce.; Third, in the process of negotiation and consultation with the department managers on various issues, which leads to the delay in decision making; Lastly the project members have multiple boss, the divide in command can also lead to issue in the team. This org method works great for bigger companies however the management will also be under constant internal stresses.
I feel like it would be most difficult for a project manager to working in a matrix organization because the main responsibility of the project manager is to interface with both the top management and with functional management. With access to top management, if the project manager can accomplish a good working relationship with top management it can be essential for resolving big problems and removing obstacles. The same goes with functional management, a good working relationship with functional management will ensure that most problems are resolved at their level.
I agree with those who believe that project managers will have difficulty completing work in a matrix company structure. This is because of the presence of another project manager who the employee has to report to. This adds complications because there may be overlaps between projects that can cause confusion and delays. It would also be frustrating to coordinate with the other managers in order to not have redundancy in their procedures so that the cost can be lowered. Instead of focusing on the timeliness of the project, I feel that the matrix structure will add more work load for the project manager in terms of coordinating all the sides involved in the development.
I think I would definitely prefer the matrix organization in every position except for the project manager position. I believe that it is difficult to lead a project when the functional managers are constantly pulling on your employees to do other work . The project can be easier to figure out when the team is fully focused on the project at hand. It can be annoying from the employee standpoint to juggle so many different needs but it also stops it from being boring. The project manager is constantly asked about due dates and completion but it is hard to get things done when your employees are unable to get their work for the project done.
It would be most challenging to work under a matrix organization. This is simply because the resources on your team are split. Situations like that can lead to staff getting burnt out due to the amount of work given by 2 or more bosses. Because of this, you have to be overly conscious about how much work you are giving to each staff member and coordinate with their other bosses regarding workload and meeting times.
Being a project manager for a matrix organization can be a lot more challenging and requires more communication and organizational skills, but ultimately it can be more rewarding. There is another project manager who the employees have to report to, and who the project manager has to coordinate with. It is kind of like checks and balances in the government. Instead of focusing on the timeliness of the project, the matrix structure will add more work load for the project manager in terms of coordinating all the sides involved in the development.
To be a PM for an matrix Organization, as stated by @rv347 is difficult due to more responsibility given to you, more time needed to complete tasks and overall need to love working. So to be a PM of Matrix structure may have more turn over of employees due to the stress one acquires. To address this issue a PM if want they want to should work for an Project or Functional based organization. The PM will have people working under her or him which will alleviate the demand of responsibility. Since they have more power it suggestive when it comes time to hiring a PM they need to have reference whom can be spoken to ask about their qualities in terms of personality, how they work with people can they resolve issues in a patient manner.
I think working with matrix organization structure would be more challenging and complicated. Matrix organization structure is a combination of two or more types of organizational structures. The major disadvantages are monitoring and controlling as complexity increases from the number of managers involved. There is more complexity in the information flow as there are so many employees and organizational units are involved. Project manager faces problem of fast reaction time as there are so many other members to be consulted. Project manager does not have full authority. There are two or more bosses and it makes difficult to the employees. There is possibility of conflicting of the departmental schedules. Functional heads and project leaders must negotiate for resources,
To start with the question: would it be more challenging to work as a project manager in either Matrix or Project-based organization? I think it will be so, based on more documents needed to practice the project management. For example, aside from Project Management Plan; Risk Management Plan, there are also Preliminary Gantt Chart, WBS, Network Diagram are required, instead of DID.
The second question: What complications can arise from one more than the other in the point of view of a project manager? I think this question always bothers the matrix organization since actually there may be too many people are in charge for the purpose of covering multi-aspects of the projects. As a result, no one has a general control power over the project. This problem will cause more disagreements that could postpone the milestones greatly.
