A company with shared goals, strong leadership and hard-working employees can still fail without organizational structure. While organization is necessary for success, the structure can influence the project management process. A company’s organizational structure may dictate the level of project management, who makes ultimate project decisions, the communication of project goals and tasks and how the project manager works with his team.
Tight or Loose Project Management
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When determining the process for project management, your company’s organizational structure can set whether you will need a tight or loose structure. A looser structure offers a less rule-bound process while a tighter process necessitates a rule-bound structure, where each step is managed closely. A looser scenario is likely if the company is small, new or when the project team has experience working together successfully. A tighter structure is preferred with new team members, larger organizations and complex projects.
Stakeholder Influence
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Project stakeholders typically include the company's most senior executives. Though clients may dictate the need for a project, the collective stakeholders drive the project’s goals. When discourse or disagreement about the project occurs, the project manager often presents issues to the stakeholders to decide the direction and expected outcome of the project. In the end, the project manager and team members, and even clients, may get overruled by the decision of the project stakeholders.
Communications
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Organizational structure can greatly impact communication necessary to complete projects successfully. In a company with structure that fosters interdepartmental communication, frequent dialogue between management and subordinates, projects have a great chance for success. In a company where departments exist in vacuums and one does not know what the other is doing, projects may not succeed. Good communication allows support for projects and less duplication of efforts. If all areas work together to a common goal and agree on the mission and outcome on the onset, projects will thrive.
Chain of Command Impact
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With organizational structure comes a chain of command. The hierarchy of manager and subordinate is nearly always a factor in project management. Though the project management team member understands the role they play in completing project tasks, the project manager is often bound by the chain of command in pulling in the best people for the project. Project managers may feel limited in providing direction to lower-level team members because they need to go through management first. If management is not supporting a project manager by letting him perform as he sees fit the project may fail.
