Charting Organizational Power Flashcards
Organic or simple
Employees groups are flexible, people work side by
side on project work. The project manager has little to no authority and is like a part-time role. Project managers might be called a project coordinator. The project budget is managed by the organization’s owner or operator.
Functional
A functional structure isolates every department and project by function, such as Sales, Marketing, Finance, IT, and Manufacturing. Every department sponsors its own projects, and departments may have to “buy” services from one another using internal dollars and cost centers. The functional managers have all of the project power, and project managers may actually be called project coordinators or expeditors. The project budget is managed by the functional manager
Multi-divisional
De-centralized structure, which means replication of
functions within each division (such as each division would have its own IT department or IT group). The project manager likely has little to no authority and is a part-time role. The functional manager manages the project budget.
Weak Matrix
In a weak matrix, the project manager has little authority or project power to make decisions. The functional managers have more authority than the project manager. The functional manager controls the
project budget.
Balances Matrix
The project manager and the functional managers
share project authority, though there’s often a power struggle over project decisions. The functional manager and the project manager have shared ownership of the project budget.
Strong Matrix
The project manager has more authority over project
decisions than the functional managers. The project manager is a full-time role and the project manager manages the project budget.
Project Oriented
This structure assigns all of the authority to the project
manager, and the project team is on the project full-time. The project team does not serve on other projects, as in a matrix, and they’ll work on the project until the project is closed. The project manager manages the project budget.
Virtual
The organization is a network structure with points of contact for each group within the organization. The project manager can be full-time or part-time, and the project manager and the functional manager share
management of the project budget.
Hybrid
This structure is a hybrid of different attributes of these defined organizational structures. An organization can design its own structure and power assignment based on its needs. A composite structure doesn’t necessarily assign more power to the project manager, as it’s created by the organization based on the needs within the organization.
PMO
PMO usually means project management office, but could mean portfolio or program management office. The project manager has high to total power over the project, is a full-time role, and manages the project
budget.
At what portion of a project does a stakeholder have the most influence on
the project scope?
Project stakeholders have the most influence on the project during the early stages of the project. It is in the early stages, especially of project planning, that the stakeholders can define what features, functions, and
requirements they’ll expect from the project. If the stakeholders make changes later in the project, the project team may have to undo work to incorporate these changes, and that can introduce costs, risks, and other issues.
You have just completed a project phase. Before the project may move on to new phases, the stakeholders must review the project work to determine the validity of what the project has done so far. What term is assigned to the review of the project work before the project may move forward?
Scope validation is the formal process of the stakeholders reviewing the project work to confirm that the project work is acceptable. This activity might also be called stage gate or phase gate reviews in some organizations.
What are characteristics of a project risk?
Project risks are uncertain future events that can have either a positive affect or a negative effect on the project’s outcomes. Risks are often seen as negative, but it’s the impact of the risks that hurt the project’s ability to reach its objectives.
