Strong vs Weak Matrix Structure - Essay Example

? PROJECT MANAGEMENT Strong vs Weak Matrix Structure The literature indicates that weak matrix organizations are no less than a nightmare for project managers. This is true because although, they have the authority and power to make plans, divide the project strategy and even closely monitor the execution as well, project managers do not have any real authority over the project team members, most of whom remain reliant on their functional managers for provision and use of resources. Therefore, in these organizations, technically the project managers do not remain “managers” in the truest sense but their role is reduced to that of project “facilitators” (Gottlieb, p. 109). Project managers within a weak matrix organization often fail to motivate their employees to the utmost degree because of the fact that they have little loyalty to the project managers and little motivation to work on the project. They are well aware of the fact that they the chain of command indicates that they report to their functional managers who decide their promotions, achievements and write their annual reviews. Project managers might have to report and discuss the issue of non-performing employees with the functional managers and then hope that the functional managers will help them (Daft & Willmott, p. 36). Some project managers, despite all difficulties, successfully complete their projects in weak matrix organizations but it becomes nearly impossible to attain any kind of success for the project manager when the functional managers decide to obstruct the work and oppose the approaches of project managers. In this case, they might not allow project managers to use resources and prevent their employees from working with full productivity on projects, thus making the life of the project managers miserable. Figure 1 Weak Matrix Structure with project team members scattered in many functional departments and working under primary authority of their respective functional managers Strong matrix organizations provide a better framework and structure for project managers to operate. In fact, it appears that strong matrix organizations emerged on to the scene primarily in order to satisfy the needs of project managers. Rather than leaving the project managers at the mercy of different functional managers, the organization empowers the project managers so that they could exercise their authority over budgets, resources, expenses and even employee appraisals (Lewis, p. 106). Employees are more likely to report to two bosses at the same time, one their functional managers and the second their project manager but they see the incentive in being equally loyal to both of them. Project managers remain concerned with the project related issues of the employees whereas all the human resource and operational issues and responsibilities remain with the functional managers who overlook them. In these types of organizations, there is even a different department of project managers, which reports to a head project manager holding tremendous authority within the authority (Daft & Willmott, p. 36). In strong matrix organisations, project managers would usually draw up plans about the projects and then contact the functional managers about their needs and demands in terms of employees. Important here to note is that when functional managers and project manager negotiate, it is highly likely that project manager would have an upper hand (Cameron & Quinn, p. 309). A potential pitfall in these types of organizations is that with extreme power of project managers, functional managers might find it troublesome to perform the necessary functions for keeping the organization afloat and running. Furthermore, a great deal of training is required to ensure that employees do not confuse the dual chain of command where they have to report to two bosses and maintain between their functional and project duties. In addition, constantly and quickly changing projects and new team members may also cause a sense of discomfort amongst certain employees who prefer to settle down and stick with certain tasks for quite some while. However, there are many advantages, which can be associated with these structures. These organizations can work on several projects, every now and then, and hope to complete these assignments successfully. These project managers can easily get access people having specialized knowledge and skills thus creating a team of experts and streamlining operations (Galbraith, pp. 85-89). Figure 2 Strong Matrix Structure indicating clear authority of Project Managers and Functional Managers but Project Managers having the upper hand Skills required for Project Management Over the years, project management has come into the spotlight of the corporate world. These days, more and more organizations are creating structures to facilitate their project teams and searching for capable project managers. Large corporations believe that project teams are just the right recipe for creating a controlled chaos within the organization, which would in turn foster creativity and innovation (Galbraith, pp. 85-89). Nevertheless, these goals might never be met if the project team has a less-capable project manager. Since project managers have to deal with great deal of ambiguity, stress, and uncertainty, they need a variety of skills, which can be difficult to classify. However, researches and studies reveal that there are certain skills that appear at the top of the list. First, project manager, since he or she has to “lead” the team, must have the ability, tools and techniques to assume the role of a “leader”. Leading here refers to the responsibility of inspiring people for the achievement of common goals. It is important for project managers because projects can only be successful if an inspired, dedicated, and motivated team is working to achieve it and a leader is the one who is responsible for motivating the team members. The project manager must have a personality, skills, and behaviors, which could help them to motivate people to give up their best for a project, which they know, would not last forever (Kerzner, p. 259). Second, in order to inspirational and successful, a project manager has to have great or even extra ordinary communication skills. Even a glance at the history and literature would reveal that one thing which sets a part great managers and leaders from the average and below average was the difference in communication skills. Great managers and leaders would always come up with expressions, symbols, logos, slogans, one-liners, words, tones and others, which would inspire people to leave their comfort zones and put in their best (Cameron & Quinn, p. 309). Third, a project manager should also have great deal of expertise in Human Resource Development (HRD) skills. In most cases, the most important resource available at the disposal of project managers is the human resource and their ability to manage the human resource decides a part of their success as well. HRD activities include coaching, mentoring, training and development, recruitment and selection, career management, creating a learning environment, conflict management and others. It is central to the job of project managers to identify, analyze, and satisfy the needs of their team members in order to boost their productivity (Lewis, p. 106). Works Cited Cameron, Kim S., & Quinn, Robert E. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Daft, J. M., & Willmott, H. Organization theory and design. Cengage Learning EMEA, 2010. Galbraith, Jay R. Designing Matrix Organizations that Actually Work: How IBM, Proctor & Gamble and Others Design for Success. John Wiley and Sons, 2008. Gottlieb, Marvin R. 2007. The matrix organization reloaded: adventures in team and project management. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. Kerzner, Harold. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Lewis, James P. Fundamentals of Project Management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 2010. Read More