Module 05, Closure, Summer 04
**Q. The muddiest part for me is the PMO and its interactions with projects.
It seems that it is part record keeper, part analizer, part trainer for the
project manager. But how do the office personel interact? Is it an ongoing analysis
of the project on through compeletion of the project? Is it the normal procedure
for them to be involved before the project manager is selected? Do they have
a say in which project manager will be involved in a particular project? Is
this office part of Administrative activities?
A. When projects are done in a functional organization, it is easy for projects
to get "lost." The PMO's first duty is to recognize the projects and
determine who is working on them, the project status, etc. If the PMO has no
resources except good advice, it may not be a powerful factor in the organization.
For example, if an engineer in functional organization wanted to take ESM 609,
who would pay for it? Her functional department? Or the PMO? Likewise the bookkeeping
(project controls) and so on. If the PMO has resources and is helpful, it can
expedite projects. If it hasn't resources, it may be seen as a pest who asks
hardworking project mangers for meaningless reports and time for meetings.
** Q. Most muddy - I'm still trying to figure out the project organization that
exists within the company that I work for.
A. Several students noted the same thing. You work for a projectized organization,
but so many of your projects are short term, you are probably a "weak matrix"
where the "parent functional organization" is the discipline, i.e.,
mechanical, electrical, etc. Your electricals probably sit in one location,
near the other electricals. If you got a big job for BP, you might open a second
office on Cushman Street to handle that project. Then the people who worked
there would feel they were in a "strong matrix"
**Q. Page 192, rule 7. The employee only needs to report to one boss? Aren't
there functional managers or managers of some sort under the PM or does everyone
really report directly to the PM, even the very lowest trench diggers?
A. Here they were talking about a projectized organization, where the only bosses
for the workers are higher up in the project. Contrast that with a matrix organization
or projects in a functional organization, where all the workers have two bosses,
one in the project and one in the functional unit.
**Q.Two items were less clear in this chapter. I'm assuming that the major
difference between a matrix organization and a mixed organization is that the
project manager is responsible to a program manager in the matrix form while
the project manager is on the same level as the functional managers - and reports
to the president - in the mixed form.
A That's not wrong, but the difference is in the type of organization. In the
matrix form, all (or most of) the work goes on in projects, while in the mixed
organization, all (or most of) the company's work goes on in functional areas.
So in a mixed organization, the project team will look on the org charts like
a functional area. You are working for an A/E consultant, which is a matrix
organization. UAF's physical plant is a mixed organization. It has functions,
like power generation, utility distributions, building maintenance, and then
it has a project organization, facilities design and construction, that does
projects.
* Q. Initially, I could not understand the implications of a number of the
"sources of conflict" in table 4-2. Project priorities, administrative
procedures, and support cost estimates diminishing as the project progressed
made sense. Staffing conflicts heavy in the middle of the project - when manpower
was at a maximum, scheduling conflicts high towards the end of the project,
and personalities remaining relatively stable also made sense. However, I would
have assumed that the "technical trade-offs" section should have had
the heaviest concentration of conflict early in the project when much of the
design and planning is done. These figures indicate that the most conflict occurs
later in the project and perhaps could have been avoided with better planning.
A. Here's my take on it. Early in the project, your trade-offs are deliberate.
You are planning or designing something, and decide how you will do it. Sure
there may be some discussion. But later in the project, you hit rock when you
planned to dig in sand; you must make some expensive trade-off decisions. Now
you need someone to blame and/or supply some more money. Thus the temperature
of the conflict will be much greater.
* Q. The most clear was the pure project method, probably because we do most
of our work in that form.
A. That is both an advantage and disadvantage with teaching project management
in Alaska; most of our students work for "projectized" organizations
and know something about projects. On the other hand, they are not familiar
with the difficulties engineers assigned to projects have in functional organizations,
and that is way most of the world works. A PMO would not be needed in most projectized
organizations, but might be quite useful in a functional organization. If a
projectized organization is having some consistent problems, it may be well
to look at the duties of a PMO and see who is doing them.
* Q. The Learning Module 4A was helpful. I was reminded to consider and draw
out an organizational structure. I have noticed that often there is an official
organizational structure and a de facto structure. With some experience and
careful thought a de facto structure can be drawn. Then, if it is not already
published, a ratified organization structure should be asked for or obtained.
When these 2 are compared the sources of misunderstanding and conflict can often
be readily identified. It works best when the de facto is drawn first with no
influence from the other.
A. In most organizations the boss's secretary is not shown on the org chart,
but never give her a bad time.