Information

Technology Project
Management
by Jack T. Marchewka

Power Point Slides by Jack T. Marchewka, Northern Illinois University

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 CHAPTER 4
The Human Side of Project
Management
 Learning Objectives
• Describe the three major types of formal
organizational structures: functional, pure project
and matrix.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
the functional, pure project and matrix
organizational structures.
• Describe the informal organization.
• Develop a stakeholder analysis.
• Describe the difference between a work group
and a team.
• Describe and apply the concept of learning
cycles and lessons learned as a basis for
knowledge management.
Organization and Project Planning
Organizational Structure
Organization and Project Planning
– The Formal Organization

The Functional Organization

• Advantages • Disadvantages
– Increased flexibility – Determining
responsibility
– Breadth and depth – Poor response time
of knowledge and – Poor integration
experience
– Less duplication
The Functional Organization
Organization and Project Planning
– The Formal Organization

The Project Organization

• Advantages • Disadvantages
– Clear authority – Project isolation
and responsibility – Duplication of
– Improved effort
communication – Projectitis
– High level of
integration
The Project
Organization
Organization and Project Planning
– The Formal Organization
The Matrix Organization
• Forms
– Balanced matrix
– Functional matrix
– Project matrix
• Advantages
– High level of integration
– Improved communication
– Increased project focus
• Disadvantages
– Higher potential for conflict
– Poorer response time
The Matrix Organization
Which Organizational
Structure Is Best?

While the formal organizational

structure tells us how individuals
or groups within an organization
should relate to one another, it
does not tell us how they actually
relate to one another.
 The Informal Organization

• Bypasses formal lines of communication &

authority.
• Power is determined by how well one is
connected in the informal network.
Organization and Project Planning
– The Informal Organization
• Stakeholders –Individuals,groups or
organizations with a stake/claim in project’s
outcome
• Stakeholder Analysis
– Develop list of stakeholders with an interest in the
project
– Identify their interest in project
– Gauge their influence over project
– Define a role for each stakeholder
– Identify an objective for each stakeholder
– Identify strategies for each stakeholder
Stakeholder Analysis Chart
 The Project Team
• The Roles of the Project Manager
– Managerial role
– Leadership role
• Attributes of a successful project manager
– ability to communicate with people
– ability to deal with people
– ability to create and sustain relationships
– ability to organize
 The Project Team
• Team Selection and Acquisition
– Skills desired in team members
• technology skills
• business/organization skills
• interpersonal skills
– Size of team
– Source of team members
 The Project Team
• Team Performance
– Work Groups
• Members interact to share information, best
practices, or ideas
• No shared performance goals (individual
performance)
• No joint work-products
• No mutual accountability
• Viable in many situations
 The Project Team
• Team Performance
– Real Teams
• Team basics
– Small number of people
– Complementary skills
– Commitment to a common purpose and performance
goals
– Commitment to a common approach
– Mutual accountability
 Teams vs. Groups
• A team is not just a group of people
working together.
• A team is not a team because someone
says they’re a team.
• Teamwork is about values not about team
performance.
 The Project Team
– Real Teams
• Common sense findings:
– Teams flourish on a demanding performance
challenge
– Team basics are often overlooked
– Most organizations prefer individual accountability to
team accountability
• Uncommon sense findings
– Strong performance goals spawn more real teams
– High performance teams are rare
– Real teams provide basis of performance
– Teams naturally integrate performance and learning
 Radical Teams
• John Redding, 2000
• Based on a study of 20 teams
• A fundamentally new and different form of
team work
• Team work is based on “learning”
• Provides the basis for knowledge
management.
 Project Teams and Knowledge
Management
• Traditional teams
– Accept background information at face value
– Approach projects in a linear fashion
– Provide run-of-the-mill solutions
• Radical teams
– Get to the root of the matter
– Do not accept information at face value
– Question and challenge the framing of the
original problem
 Learning Cycles
• Derived from educator/philosopher John
Dewey (1938)
• Used to describe how people learn (Kolb,
1984; Honey & Mumford, 1994)
• Can be applied to project teams (Jeris,
1997; Redding, 2000).
A Learning Cycle
 Learning Cycles and Lessons
Learned
• Phases of learning cycles
– Understand and frame problem
• Create a shared understanding
• What is the problem (or opportunity)?
• What are we trying to do?
• How are we going to do it?
• Starts out being general but becomes more
defined as the project proceeds
 Learning Cycles and Lessons
Learned
• Phases of learning cycles
– Plan
• Teams plan actions to produce learning by
answering
– What don’t we know that we need to know?
– What actions can we take between now & our next
meeting to find out what we need to know?
– How can we verify that what we are assuming is
actually true?
Team Learning Record
 Learning Cycles and Lessons
Learned
• Phases of learning cycles
– Act
• Key to learning is action!
• What teams do outside of meetings is just as important as
what they do during meetings
– Test assumptions
– Experiment
– Gather new information
– Try out hunches
• Only by acting do teams have the opportunity to learn
Action Plan for Team Learning
 Learning Cycles and Lessons
Learned
• Phases of learning cycles
– Reflect and Learn
• Focus of team meetings
• Really when team learning occurs
• Teams need to slow down, reflect on what has
happened and capture lessons learned
• Must occur
– In a spirit of openness
– Not in a climate of self-protection or criticism
 Assessing team learning

Speed

Depth Breadth
 Assessing Team Learning
• Speed
– Number of learning cycles completed
– The more cycles completed, the more learning that
takes place
• Depth
– Degree to which teams “reframe” their understanding
of the original problem
• Breadth (Impact)
– The impact of the results produced by the team
– Degree to which other projects, functional areas, or
the organization as a whole is influenced
Team Learning Cycles over the
Project Life Cycle
 The Project Environment
• A place to call home
• Technology support
• Office supplies
• Culture
Project Team Charter