This is quite difficult because the question is very open, think about roles and responsibilities of the PM and functional managers, responsibility for time, cost and technical quality, processes for assigning resources. It is not asking for pro and cons?
Paul Naybour
LinkedIn ProfilePaul Naybour is a seasoned project management consultant with over 15 years of experience in the industry. As the co-founder and managing director of Parallel, Paul has been instrumental in shaping the company's vision and delivering exceptional project management training and consultancy services. With a robust background in power generation and extensive senior-level experience, Paul specializes in the development and implementation of change programs, risk management, earned value management, and bespoke project management training.
I do like the way the email signed off with “have a nice day”. Are there specific pointer to help us find where to start?
In a matrix organization the staff work for their own line managers, like in a functional organization where staff work under a line manager (Functional Manager). However the big difference is that in a matrix organization although they work under a line manager they can be utilized to work under a project manager when and if needed for that specific project. This can cause issues with where staff members priorities should be, with their line manager or the project manager and can in turn cause conflict between the two different roles.
In a matrix organization skills are utilized across the different projects and therefore staff are gaining far more experience than they would otherwise be in a project or functional organization. This eliminates the need for resourcing outside of the business as much, as you have the in-house capacity to house staff in each of the projects in the specific roles needed.
The Project Manager is able to take staff from a function and utilize them when and if he/she needs them (Part-time/Full-time), this enables cost control for the specific projects and gives a far more efficient and timely approach to the project. Although it can be interrupted by use of resources elsewhere, however visibility of resource skills and availability is made clear here.
The functional manager has the following responsibilities: He decides how to do the work, he is responsible for scheduling the project work, co-ordinates activities of the different functional members and evaluates project performance. The functional manager is therefore a successor of the PM and therefore the PM must listen to the functional managers instructions.
This type of organization is suitable for multi-project organizations and is widely used in large construction companies whereby each project is looked after by the project manager and he/she is supported by the functional managers and functional staff within the company.
Paul, this was not an easy question at all. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ben
Sarah
Sorry about the nice day its hard coded into the software we use for this group. Ben has done a really good job of answering this question. I would structure it around.
1) An overall description of the organisation in which project managers and functional managers share resources.
2) A description of the role of the functional manager, in developing the resources and capabilities of the organisation
3) The responsibility of the PM to deliver project, often to customers
4) The need for an effective resource management system to resolve conflicts between different projects and functions.
5) the fact that is it is the most common form of structure because of it’s flexibility and efficiency.
Paul