Information Technology Project

Managementby 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

• Advantages– Increased flexibility– Breadth and depth

of knowledge and experience

– Less duplication

• Disadvantages– Determining

responsibility– Poor response time– Poor integration

The Functional Organization

The Functional Organization

Organization and Project Planning – The Formal Organization

• Advantages – Clear authority

and responsibility– Improved

communication– High level of

integration

• Disadvantages– Project isolation– Duplication of

effort– Projectitis

The Project Organization

The Project Organization

Organization and Project Planning – The Formal 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

The Matrix Organization

Which Organizational Structure Is Best?

While the formal organizationalstructure tells us how individualsor groups within an organizationshould relate to one another, it does not tell us how they actuallyrelate 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

PMBOK: Project Human Resource Management

PMBOK: Organizational Planning

PMBOK: Role and Responsibility Assignment

PMBOK: Supporting Details

PMBOK: Staff Acquisition

PMBOK: Team Development