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QUESTION 1

Project Management is integrated ian organization setting in many ways. This also does not include settings where you are surrounded by your peers. There does exist project managers who work remotely on solo projects or even remotely in virtual offices or groups. In an organizational setting, it is important to know your surroundings, your peer's abilities, and also the magnitude of capabilities that your employer or organization are extent to having on a regular basis. Having a community of other project managers or even managers that have different titles but rely on project managers all must have a similar overall goal in mind. Times of critical and analytic needs are when the true colors in my opinion, of project managers come to light. Senior project managers within an organization setting are important to have as well to ensure the team of management on projects have oversight and there is guidance and control of the overall goals.

A great challenge I notice in an organization setting is that there will always be more skill from one project manager in a certain subject than another project manager on the same project. This creates, many times, an internal conflict on performance. If one project manager is getting paid the same amount then another but the first project manager is doing most of the work, this creates a motivational disruption to the project and also the project team. In an organization setting, performance reviews are important to implement and maintain to ensure fairness and the highest level of productivity.

Communication is also a key aspect in an organization setting for a project management department. Executive level communication being passed down must be precise and expressed at an efficient pace and caution. Executives at times do no want to communicate 'too much' to avoid distractions to projects.

As stated prior, a good leader integrated in the organization to lead project managers to their full potential is healthy in a setting that involves multiple tasks. Leaders should ensure that overloading one project manager due to skill level becomes habit. This can result in losing or having a project manager, "burn out." This would cause a heavier workload on other project managers in the organization.

Integration of Project management within an organization setting is the responsibility of the top management of the company and involves the incorporation of project inputs and outputs into a companywide framework. The organization needs to define the project manager’s job, degree of authority, and relationship to the organization other projects and to other units in the organization.

The project Management Institute identifies the following types of organization structures:

· Functional Organization. In this type of organization, hierarchy exists where each employee has one defined superior. Staff members are usually grouped by specialty and their functions, such as accounting, production, marketing engineering and so on.

· Projectized Organization. This kind of organization is structured along project lines. Project manager possesses significant authority and autonomy in terms how he leads the project.

Matrix organizations are somewhat of a functional and project organizations mixed together. The authority of a functional manager and the influence of the project manager are balanced. Several types of matrix organizations exist:

· Weak Matrix. In this kind of matrix, the project manager has limited authority. Their role is part time and there is no staff that reports to them. The functional manager controls the budget, while the project manager’s role is more of a coordinator.

· Balanced Matrix. In balanced matrix organization, project and functional mangers share the authority. Project manager assigned to direct a project and reports to one of the functional managers.

· Strong Matrix. In the strong matrix organization project managers and functional managers are on the same level. Individual project managers are assigned to a specific project, with staff assigned from various functional areas.

· Composite Organization. This type consists of some parts of the organization aligned with functional structure while the other parts of the organization aligned as purely project organizations.

The level of authority a project manger processes defines all of these organizational structures. The proper organizational structure is a key success of any project, organizational structure coordinates the work that is being done. Misaligned organizational structures create a negative impact on the outcome of the project.

Project management is integrated within an organization by collecting various processes and ensuring the various elements of the projects are properly coordinated. It involves making trade-offs with competing objectives and alternatives to meet or exceed the expectations and needs. Integrated project management is intended to work at a whole organization scale. An often mistake for many organizations involves the project management knowledge remaining in individual departments such as IT’s process for managing a process that is not shared with the product team’s approach.

Two questions an organization should answer when looking to integrate project management are the following:

· What is the level of complexity from which an initiative should be treated as a project (and when there is an official project manager role)?

· Which initiatives should be treated as a process and which as a project?

A higher level of an organization’ maturity impacts the level of use of the standard processes for initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing projects and that the level of the project manager’s authority doesn’t give them the power to change the processes used in their project.

Project management development should focus on the organization as one entity with the very rapid development of project management practices in the departments. The integration of company processes, competencies, and structure can increase the effectiveness of the project. For many organizations, it can be frustrating building project management from one department’s point of view since different levels of maturity exist in many units.

In the article titles “Integrated project management in the organization” by Maciej A. Bodych, it gave a great example of why when your project is in trouble, you should not lose your strategic perspective and start taking over, and that organizations should implement experience from the lessons learned. The example included a pilot who had lost an engine and took the issue into their own hands, which caused the plane to turn on its back because the autopilot couldn’t stabilize. Organizations should learn from the lessons learned and share these lessons to the organization as a whole to better improve the organization’s functions.

Define how Project Management is integrated within an organization setting?

Before we can understand the importance of project management for organizations, we need to understand that most projects are temporary. Project management is integrated within an organization setting by using the collection of processes that ensures various elements of the projects are properly coordinated. In other words, the purpose of project management is to plan and manage a project to complete its listed goals. It involves identifying and managing risks, careful resource management, smart budgeting, and clear communication between the teams as well as the stakeholders. The project is developed, implemented and monitored through project management to create a specific result in the organization. Project management’s values lie in the appropriate allocation of resources to help the project become completed efficiently. The value of project management is that it delivers consistent results, reduces the cost, increases efficiencies in the process, improves customer service and satisfaction, and provides a competitive advantage to your company. Project management is important because it ensures a project's progress is tracked and reported properly so that they fit well within the broader context of our client’s strategic frameworks. Good project management ensures that the goals of projects closely align with the strategic goals of the business. This data is invaluable not only for tracking progress, but it helps clients gain the trust of other stakeholders in their organization, giving them easy oversight of a project's progress. Effective project management gives businesses a competitive advantage. Business owners who constantly try to stay competitive may find themselves in areas they are unfamiliar with on projects. Project management helps the business owner by using the experts in the areas needed while allowing the business owner to serve as an adviser to the project. Project management is the art of managing the project and its deliverable to produce finished products or services. In conclusion, Project Management and the practice of the same have become indispensable to the modern-day project manager and they form the basis of much of what is achieved during a project. Thus, the idea of a project being managed professionally lends itself to the concepts and processes laid out for the practitioners of the art of Project Management.

QUESTION 2

Project management process is an administration process that involves the practice of initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing the work of the team in order to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time. During the project lifecycle, project manager can be involved into a great number of different processes. For example PMBOK defines 47 project management processes that can be divided into 5 process groups: initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing. Knowledge and planning for the five project management stages will help a project manager to plan and organize projects so that everything goes smooth. Basically, the project management process is a five-stage framework planned to assist project managers in completing projects successfully.

Project Management Process Stages:

The first stage in the project management process is initiation, as it involves starting up a new project. This stage provides an overview of the project and also the strategies required to attain desired results. In this stage of the process feasibility study is often undertaken; project scope, project deliverables and project stakeholders are identified, business case is developed. Probably the most important outcome of the initiation stage is the creation of the project charter, which is a document that describes the purpose of a project and its scope and also legally authorizes the beginning of the project.

The second stage in the project management process is planning. It is probably the most important stage of any project as tells everyone where they are going and how they are going to get there. It is often the most challenging stage for a project manager, as one needs to make an educated guess about the staff, resources, and equipment needed to complete the project. The planning stage involves creating a project plan and a resource plan, budget estimation, gathering resources; anticipating risks and possible roadblocks. The plans created during this phase will help to manage time, cost, quality, changes, risk, and related issues.

The third stage is executing. In this stage the plan is put into action and the work actually gets done. The main goal is to achieve the outcome following the budget, timeline and schedules as they were mentioned in project management plan.

The fourth stage in the project management process is project monitoring and control. This stage involves measuring performance of the project and tracking progress. It is usually implemented during the execution stage.

The last stage in the process is closing. In this stage the project scope is completed and, hence, final product is ready for delivery. It involves administrative activities including finalizing the paperwork needed to finish the project. It is the time for the project manager to highlight strengths and weaknesses, list the takeaways and “lessons learned.”

The project management process helps to manage the project in an organized structure and a healthy way. It assists with completing the project with the desired outcome. The project phases make up the project life cycle and these phases are tailored to the project’s needs. The project management process is made up of five phases. These phases are project initiation, project planning, project execution, project monitoring, and project closure.

Project initiation is the first phase, and its goal is to define the project at a broad level. This phase involves researching whether the project is feasible and if it should be undertaken. A project initiation document will need to be developed that outlines the purpose and requirements of the project. This document will discuss business needs, stakeholders, and the business case.

The second phase is project planning. This phase involves setting goals and developing a roadmap of the project. A popular method that I am familiar with is S.M.A.R.T. goals, which is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. This phase also involves identifying cost, quality, resources, and the timeline of the project. Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined. Documents that are created during this phase include a scope statement, work breakdown schedule, milestones, Gantt chart, communication plan, and a risk management plan.

The third phase is project execution and is where deliverables are developed and completed. Tasks completed during this phase are developing a team, assigning resources, executing project management plans, procurement management if needed, managing project execution, setting up tracking systems, executing task assignments, holding status meetings, updating the project schedule, and modifying project plans as needed.

Project monitoring is the fourth phase and the primary purpose is measuring progression, performance, and ensuring the project stays on track. A project manager uses KPIs to measure project performance. KPIs include project objectives, quality deliverables, cost tracking, and project performance.

The final phase is project closure and represents the project closure. This phase involves evaluating and understanding lessons learned and valuable team members are recognized. A punch list of things that did not get accomplished are scheduled to get completed and a final budget report is created.

The Project Management process consists of five steps: project initiation and conception, project planning, project execution, project monitoring and control, and project closure.

Step 1: Project Initiation and Conception

This first step of the Project Management process involves the gathering of information and possible recommendations from your group that could be use for the entire life and ultimate outcome of the project. Preparing lessons learned sessions and conducting lessons learned are two activities for identifying a project. In briefing of the commencement of the project, there is many times a research survey project usually attached to the initiation of the project. A research survey will include multiple categories for organization.

Step 2: Project Planning

Documenting ideas, planning steps, and sharing findings on the beginning life of a project is the second step of Project Management. This step includes a variety of reports as well on the surveys taken in step 1. These reports are important to provide to upper management to further asses and project future outcomes of a project. This is a critical communication for everyone involved in the life of a project. Planning as well internal goals and milestones will help keep the project and the managers on track. Budgeting is also a key aspect in this step.

Step 3: Project Execution

After the first two steps are completed and have been analyzed thoroughly, step 3 is where the the most time consuming part of the project begins. This is the project execution stage and management begin. With the analyzations and planning from the first two steps, managers are required to keep management of items such budgeting, risk, timelines and punctuality, and quality. There are major steering points in the project management and organization process.

Step 4: Project Monitoring and Control

Goals being accomplished that were set a few steps back are extremely important to monitor, personally and organizationally. Reviews on performance and the total controlled health of the project will lead this step into the last step of completion. Deliverables are also very important as accountability and reporting will keep everyone on track.

Step 5: Project Closure

This is the last and final step of a project's life. It is important that companies ensure a proper closure of a project therefore the purpose of the project can enjoy a healthy longevity if needed. Discussing as well the positives and negatives of moments from the previous steps will be helpful to know for future projects as well. Celebrations are also a fun part of this step and very much anticipated.

QUESTION 3

· Describe how would analyze the effect that work teams have on the Project Management Process?

Many would agree that one of the most important role of the project manager is to assemble a project team of skilled people that can work together efficient in facilitating project management performance. The difference between successful and unsuccessful performance can often be associated to the effectiveness of the project team. Hence, the leaders of the project management process have a team development role to facilitate activity, delegate tasks, instruct the team, offer support, and ensure communication and collaboration is on point.

Project teams can use several tools and techniques available to assist in managing the team members, such as conflict management, decision making, emotional intelligence, and influencing. These tools and techniques must be understood by the project managers in order to handle conflict and manage it proactively. Conflict is not always a bad think, sometimes it can produce important results like new ideas, better alternatives, and even motivation to work harder. Project managers must understand and realize that as decision makers, they have to incorporate different viewpoints and insights to create an environment that encourages positive and productive ideas.

Of course there are many other approaches project managers can use when managing workers through the project management process. They will focus on using their work challenge and expertise to influence workers rather that emphasizing authority, money, or penalty. Furthermore, project managers should use empathy when listening to the workers because it builds trust and power to influence later. If you allow worker to get satisfaction from self-actualization at work, in return they will give back their utmost ability and the project will greatly succeed. Additionally, to support their well-being, project managers could use techniques such as job rotation, broadening of skills, generalization versus specialization, and offer continuous training.

Such an inclusive approach will provide many benefits in the beginning of the project management process as well as ensure its members are motivated and dedicated to completing it successful. Leading to trust relationships among the team members and exchange the information within that team results in more effective team decision making process and more effective project control systems to monitor project performance. Use or develop a team feedback mechanism to continually measure the team performance will prevent and correct various team issues.

The work teams have a tremendous effect on the Project Management Process. People do the project work and people, i.e. project teams are directly involved into the project management process. I think it is really important for future project managers to understand what is project team. It will help to establish teamwork, maintain constant training, establishing productive communications and supporting collaboration. While doing some research for this week’s discussion question, I found an essential definition of project management team on the MyManagementGuide.comwebsite. The website describes project team as “an organized group of people who are involved in performing shared/individual tasks of the project as well as achieving shared/individual goals and objectives for the purpose of accomplishing the project and producing its results.

Also, article10 Reasons Why Teamwork Matters in Project Management by Elizabeth Harrin shows advantages of teamwork. The article explains how project teams may boost productivity, speed up the achievement of targets and help overcome obstacles.

10 reasons why teamwork is vital to effective project management:

· Promotes creativity. Working together creates a better environment for creativity, involves more brainstorming and sharing ideas.

· Encourages risk taking as you have the support of the other team members, share the responsibility in case of failure.

· Helps to improve conflict resolution skills. Team is made up of different individuals with different views. Conflicts are unavoidable. Therefore, you have an opportunity to built conflict resolution skill set.

· Builds trust. Effective teamwork can exist only in a healthy trust environment, where members respect and rely on each other.

· Brings together diverse strengths. People from different spheres are involved in a project each one is unique and brings in their talents and skills. This diversity can lead to a more successful project outcomes.

· Increases accountability. People do not want to disappoint their team members and try to do their best to achieve the common goal.

· Teamwork increases project momentum. Effective teamwork speeds up the whole process.

· Getting feedback. Feedback helps to understand if the project is moving in right direction.

· Finding solutions to complex problems. Bringing together a number of experts in one team, helps to resolve really complex problems with the wisdom of the team.

· Using everyone’s skills. Teamwork brings different skills to work together on a particular project. Everyone has something that they can contribute – some useful ability.

· Builds leadership skills

Work teams that are performing well are the essence of a successful project. In such teams, it is important that everyone shares commitment, and that a common vision exists. The objective and vision of any project has to be clearly specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based. Another factor that plays into a successful high-performing team are clearly assigned roles and responsibilities. This prevents duplicate efforts on the same tasks and ultimately accomplishing more by having simultaneous tasks versus all efforts on one task, avoiding “too many cooks in the kitchen”.

When selecting team members, project managers should try to find the most qualified resources, each with expertise in their required fields. In addition to that, team member’s skills should complement each other, normally project managers will solicit the help of that person's direct manager to obtain insight on the colleagues attitude and work ethic. The PM should look to create diversity and enable the team to approach problems and solutions in appropriate ways.

The leadership of the team is another component of a successful working team. Good leaders remind their team of their shared goals, and are building confidence and commitment within their teams. They lead by example, ensure that there is constant communication and manage relationships and conflicts if they arise. Leadership needs to be the point of contact and provide the necessary motivation and commitment to push the team members forward.

What is important to note is that every team goes through five distinct developmental stages which is known as the five-phase model.

· Forming - the team members who usually do not know each other slowly get acquainted. There is no real commitment for the project yet.

· Storming - this is where conflicts might occur since roles have not been clearly assigned at this time.

· Norming -roles are assigned, and team members begin to work together as an entity.

· Performing - the team is full-functioning, everyone is working towards a shared goal.

· Adjourning -lessons learned are written down for future use and the team celebrates the success of the project.

If you have a non functioning team the success of your project is very low.

QUESTION 4

Identify and categorize different organizational structures in detail?

There are different types of organizational structures that can be determined by a set of characteristics, such as the number of employees, products or services offered, revenue, types of customers and geographical positioning. However, the general classification of organizational structures distinguishes three main ones: functional, divisional (project), and matrix.

The functional organization is characterized by its division into groups with specific tasks or roles, and hierarchy of command. The staff have specialized skills in their respective departments, such as engineering, IT, marketing, finance, human resources, and others. Moreover, each department has a manager or director who answers to an executive. Communication generally takes place within each functional department and is transmitted across departments through the department head. Functional organizations are usually encountered for large corporations with similar product lines. Within smaller organizations, employees are required to have responsibilities of several functions/departments.

Divisional structure of an organization allows for much more autonomy among groups within the organization. Here, each division essentially operates as its own company, controlling its own resources and expenditures on projects of the division. The divisions can be determined geographically, by markets, products, or service groups. Additionally, each division usually consists of its own multiple departments, such as purchasing, accounting, finance, sales, etc. This divisional structure is beneficial because if one division fails, it doesn’t directly threaten the other divisions. Some organizations use this flexibility to enhance their operation. Of course, there are disadvantages of divisional organizational structure that can include increased accounting and tax implications.

The matrix organizational structure represents the hybrid between functional and divisional structures. Personnel report to two or more managers depending on the situation or project. Project managers have authority horizontally across the department. In some cases, the matrix organizational structures can have two chains of command that are one for the project and another for the functional skills coming into the project. An advantage of such organizational structure is the possibility to share information more freely across assignment restrictions. Additionally, the specialization of professionals can increase the depth of knowledge and assign individuals according to project needs. Of course, there are disadvantages to this organizational structure. One is the increased complexity in the chain of command that can run vertically and horizontally, when employees are working with functional and project managers. Employees can receive conflicting instructions, creating stress and confusion when setting priorities and executing. Managers will require a higher tolerance for conflict and more experience handling difficult situations. In the end, distorted power can result in reduced agility in decision making and conflict resolution.

An organizational structure could be described as the official line of authority and control within an organization. Project management structures show how reporting relationships work in a particular organization and how project management structures affect resources allocation. I think that project management structure is one of the key factors of a project’s success as proper organization of the project structure gives support to the work that is being done. The project Management Institute identifies the following types of organization structures:

· Functional Organization. This structure represents a hierarchy system where authority-driven decisions on budget, schedule, and equipment are the responsibility of a functional manager who possesses a significant level of expertise in the same field. In this type of organization, hierarchy exists where each employee has one defined superior. Staff members are usually grouped by specialty and their functions, such as accounting, production, marketing engineering and so on.

· Projectized Organization. This kind of organization is structured along project lines. Project manager possesses significant authority and autonomy in terms how he leads the project. He has jurisdiction over the project’s budget, schedule, and the project team.

· Matrix organizations are somewhat of a functional and project organizations mixed together. The authority of a functional manager and the influence of the project manager are balanced. Several types of matrix organizations exist:

· Balanced Matrix. In balanced matrix organization, project and functional mangers share the authority.Project manager assigned to direct a project and reports to one of the functional managers.

Recently, one more structure is being identified:

· Composite Organization. This type consists of some parts of the organization aligned with functional structure while the other parts of the organization aligned as purely project organizations.

Depending on which management book or scholarly article that you read, there could be many structures available and it is constantly evolving. However, the three consistent structures within organizations are divisional, functional, and matrix. All have pros and cons and it depends on the industry of the business, as well as the business having the burden to determine the best fitting structure. Leaders have to keep that in mind when they create their goals and objectives.

Functional organizations divide their working groups into departments by function. This type is a very traditional structure, companies that apply this usually have functions like marketing, HR, accounting, senior management, etc. Since all departments consist of people sharing the same expertise in a specific area, it is in general fostering specialists. However, due to the lack of diversity in departments, this structure is not made to respond to change quickly. It can be hard for a business project or approval since every department is focused on their personal needs.

The divisional structure can be broken down into two major areas of focus: products, and geographic structure, in which groups are based on either of the focus areas. In a product structure, groups are formed around different products and consist of specialists from different functions. For example, a company could be working simultaneously on three products, and thus have three divisions, Product A group, Product B group, and Product C group. If it is focused on the geographic structure, work teams or divisions are based on their geographical location within or outside the country. An issue that can arise with this structure is that there is not a bond or sense of togetherness between the different groups but instead a sense of competition.

Lastly, there is a matrix organizational structure. It is a combination of both functional and divisional structures. It is mainly used in high-velocity industries that require the use of both structures to function optimally. Here, departments are first divided by function, and within these units are further split up into projects and products. This structure enables companies to be flexible and quickly respond to changes in the markets. This approach can cause confusion on whom to report results or problems to, as there are multiple hierarchies involved.

A functional organizational structure divides an organization based on a specialty, which results in various departments such as marketing, human resources, and sales. Employees in a department report up to a functional manager, who then reports up to executives. The communication is vertical, thus why this structure is often referred to as “silos”.

The matrix structure splits authority between a functional manager and a project manager. They must work together to share resources and they can have multiple projects occurring at once. There are three types of matrix’s; strong, weak, and balanced. In a strong matrix the project manager has more authority and it is more project oriented. In a weak matrix, it is more functional, and the project manager has less control over budget and decisions. In a balanced matrix, the project manager and functional manager often work together. While the project manager does not have total authority, they are more involved in making decisions.

A flat organizational structure is unique in that everyone is essentially viewed as equals. This “self-managed” structure is used to empower employees to make decisions. The benefits of this type of structure is you cut out middle management, which speeds up the decision-making process. In a project oriented organizational structure a project manager has full control over the project, and they are authorized to make decisions. They have a designated team that reports directly to them thru the duration of the project.

In a virtual organizational structure, an organization keeps the core of the business while other processes are outsourced in order to maximize growth. A divisional organizational structure organizes groups by function into a division. This type of structure is beneficial for organizations that operate in various geographical locations or produce various products. In both a virtual and divisional organizational structure, a project manager can have varying levels of authority depending on the needs of the organization.

Identifying the type of organizational structure is important because it will have a direct impact on the project in terms of levels of authority. For example, in a project-oriented structure a project manager has a dedicated team, they can make quick decisions and have control of the budget. In a matrix structure a project manager needs to share resources with functional managers, and often they do not have much authority over a project.

QUESTION 5

Explain the relationship between organizational functions and organizational structure within Project Management?

In explaining the relationship between the organizational functions and organizational structure, it is important to remember that the structural frame shows how the organization is designed and emphases different groups’ roles and responsibilities to meet the goals and policies set by top executives. Hence, the organizational structure takes different forms, and one of them is functional. Project managers need to understand their current organizational structure and the level of authority that it gives them. For example, project managers have more authority in pure-project oriented organizational structure and less authority in a pure functional organizational structure.

Here we can say that the organizational structure defines the relationship between the shares of a business, and identifies how the chain of command runs through the different stages. Usually, a business structure is set up around the organizational functions, and both of them influence each other constantly. Moreover, the majority of businesses choose to adopt a functional organizational structure with clear chain of command, knowing who reports to whom as well as each department functions. The clean line of authority makes the decision process easier as well as allows clear tracking of mission and tasks progress. Understanding your work circumstances well, will help grow above organizational problems and level the way to successful project management.

For project management is it vital that an organization or project team has structure and control over what’s being done to achieve success of any project. Skewed organizations as well as project management teams create a negative impact on the outcome of a project because the organizational structure influences the authority of the project manager, which in turns affects how the project is monitored and completed. In order to decide if the functional organizational structure is best suited for the project, project managers must determine the kind of environment the organization operates, their goals and the nature of work being done.

In the end, to help us all visualize the relationship between organizational functions and organizational structure within Project Management we need to visualize an organizational chart showing the lines of authority and control running between the departments and levels of management. Such chart can help determine the best organizational structure for a particular project within that organization.

As we discussed last week, organizational structures define the hierarchy of an organization, and determine the way information flows within it. When deciding on the company organizational structure, the owners have to choose structure that best aligns with the company’s principles and goals and the way it outlines and sets up tasks for employees. It is a really important moment as organizational structures have an impact on responsibilities and superior-subordinate relationships, communication flow, on overall management and growth. The type of organizational structure a business leader selects for their business can vary due to size, need, and the role of the business in their respective industry.

Article What is the relationship Between Organizational Functions & Organizational Structurewritten by Fraser Sherman compares relationship between organizational functions and organizational structure to a flow chart. Business structure can be set up around organizational functions and even if not , function and structure will influence each other sooner or later. Organizational functions of a company are the things it does – production, sales, marketing, research and billing, etc. The organizational structure defines the relationship and interactions between the parts of organization and identifies how the chain of command runs through the different levels.The three main types of organizational structure are:

Functional organizational structure represents a hierarchy system where authority-driven decisions on budget, schedule, and equipment are the responsibility of a functional manager who possesses a significant level of expertise in the same field.In this type of organization, hierarchy exists where each employee has one defined superior and clear lines of authority. Staff members are usually grouped by specialty and their functions, such as accounting, production, marketing engineering and so on.

The divisional organizational structure organizes the activities of a business around geographical, market, or product and service groups. Each such division contains a complete set of functions. That means that a particular division would handle its own accounting activities, sales and marketing, engineering, production, and so forth.

Matrix organizational structure is somewhat of a functional and divisional organizational structure mixed together. The authority of a functional manager and the influence of the project manager are balanced. A matrix organization is a structure in which there is more than one line of reporting managers. This type of structure is used in organizations which have diverse product lines and services.

Organizational functions are what an organization does, which can be production, marketing, sales, information technology, etc. These functions tie into the organizational structure, which defines how an organization operates. The functions of an organization directly influence how an organization will be structured. Understanding how the chain of command impacts an organization can help determine what organizational structure would work best.

For an organization to function optimally there needs to be structure in place to keep everything organized. An organization can find success producing and selling product, but if they are using the wrong organizational structure, they will not have growth. In order to see what structure would benefit an organization it is important to look at the size, how long they have been operating for, vision and strategy, and market and industry stability.

In project management the organizational structure can determine resource availability, authority, and the style in which the project will be managed. The nature of the work being performed in an organization will dictate the organizational structure, and therefore, depending on the structure it will determine how an organization practices project management. There are many ways to manage a project, in a project-oriented structure a project manager has a dedicated team that directly reports to them until the project is completed. In a matrix structure a project manager works closely with functional managers to coordinate resources, budget, and the decision process is slower as there is a chain of command.

Each organization can implement project management differently depending on their vision and goals. Although, the core of project management remains the same, how it is implemented will vary from construction to information technology. Even the type of project management software an organization decides to use will depend on what the organizations needs are. There are many questions an organization needs to answer before implementing an organizational structure.

· Does the organization have multiple departments that need to communicate and share resources?

· Does the organization operate across different markets?

· Does the organization outsource functions?

Overall, organizational structure’s exist in order to organize the functions within an organization, which leads to efficiency and productivity. Project management organizes, monitors, and controls these functions according to the structure to ensure the goals of the organization are met.

As discussed in the prior discussion there are three major organization structures that serve different purposes to their business. Organizational functions are activities or processes that are carried out by a department or specific entities or areas of an organization. The organizational structure describes the hierarchy approach a company chooses regarding the reporting relationships and defines who carries out functions and processes.

Depending on the structure and organization chooses, the functions are divided differently, and they are either more or less suitable for a project management approach. For example, a functional organizational structure separates departments by function; e.g. human resources, customer service, marketing, etc.. The departments than are usually led by different functional managers, rather than the project managers. The bigger authority is with the managers versus the project managers. Functional managers are responsible to monitor and conduct tasks, such as establishing payment levels, performance evaluations, and reports. This specific structure is suitable if a company is focused on ongoing operations.

A project-oriented organizational structure is the opposite of the functional structure. The project managers are responsible for meeting the goals following through the project life cycle due no managers being there. The project managers are in full charge of all operations and resources. The project manager will also serve as the reporting team manager.

In a matrix organizational structure, the divisional and functional approach is combined. Hence, there are departments that are divided by function, and then these departments are assigned to divisions or projects as needed. This allows companies to balance projects and ongoing operations. It is a more flexible style as it allows companies to change and adapt as necessary. The reporting structure for responsibilities is shared between functional and project managers. Due to this employees are required to report to both the project manager and the functional managers. This brings us to the downside or drawback of this organizational structure since employees can become confused about the communication necessary for each manager and who to go to for support on their different responsibilities. This, however, brings the flexibility for multiple projects to go on simultaneously with the functional manager and PM.

QUESTION 6

Explain how you would design and implement a viable strategic project management system within an organizational structure?

If I were to design and implement a viable strategic project management system within an organizational structure, I would choose a functional organizational structure. Design and strategic planning will help to determine the short- and long-term goals and objectives of a management system. Designing and implementing a strategy is the heart and soul of managing a system. To achieve my goals and objectives I must be clear on what the group would want to achieve, then work out how we will achieve it. Many elements of strategic designing are the same across the board, but there is no single formula. The time it takes to achieve your goals can depend on the size scale and longevity of your organizations. Without effective strategic planning, it can be difficult to achieve a successful project management system. Designing and implementing a focus on an organization's future by understanding operational priorities and resources available, by setting out clear objectives for desired results, and developing an action plan on how to achieve them. The management process for designing and implementing an organization strategy will be a continuous process that begins with developing a strategic vision, mission, and value, setting objectives, create a strategy, implementing and executing the strategy and lastly evaluate and analyze the external and internal situation and performance. My first step would be to figure out my organizational strategy with a clear outline of the vision, mission, and values. Make a clear strategic vision communicate management’s aspirations to stakeholders about where we are going and helps steer the energies of company personnel in a common direction. Second assess my available resources, capabilities, and objectives to bring my product or service to my potential consumers, which include my available assets, including finances, employees, and equipment. The management purpose of setting objectives is to convert the strategic vision into specific performance targets that relate to financial performance and those relating to strategic performance. I would create strategic initiatives at various organizational levels to tightly coordinate to have the ability to achieve companywide performance targets. Establish clear and specific goals, track the progress of each goal, remain realistic and set goals that are challenging, ensure that the goals are relevant, achievable and beneficial to the overall organization objectives, and include a time target for each goal to create maximum efficiency. Next, I would implement and execute the chosen strategy to achieve operating excellence and assure to execute the strategy proficiently. At this point, I will determine the method to meet the organization's goals and outline the tasks that are needed to develop an action plan. This will include the executing process of staffing, allocating resources, ensuring policies and procedures are facilitated, install information and operating systems, create a culture and work climate, and exert the internal leadership needed to implement and propel the team member. My last step would be to analyze and use corrective action to recognize that a strategic plan is not always set in stone and requires flexibility in plan involvement. I must evaluate and analyze the external and internal situation and performance to identify a needed corrective adjustment to continue or change the organization's goals, objectives, and strategy at this point. An organization's goal, objectives, strategy, and structure to design and implementing a viable strategic project management system within an organization structure are never final, managing strategy is an ongoing process.

o start I would find and understand what kind of organizational structure the company in question is using, and after will review any new areas or existing areas that could potentially need improvements or new projects/programs. For example, we will use a functional organizational structure, where employees know their direct management and the chain of command as well as roles and responsibility. Moreover, project managers have higher authority than functional managers are in full control of the process. Now, the viable strategic project management system to be introduced will contain a training of completely new procedures for casinos when reopening to handle safely the COVID-19 virus. Hence, this strategy will be oriented and aligned with the ongoing strategy of the organizations to offer gaming, dinning, hotel, and entertainment to guests. These guidelines have been outlines by the Nevada Gaming Commission and require casinos to provide a detailed reopening plan at least 7 days before opening date. The outlines rules include:

· Properties must limit occupancy to no more than 50 percent of the limit assigned to each gaming area. Security, management, and surveillance systems will estimate occupancy numbers

· Hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes would be available to all casino employees as well as for patron use

· The slot machine floor plan must create proper social distancing between patrons. Chairs and slot machines would be reduced and removed so that patrons cannot sit too close to each other. Employees would ensure the guests do not congregate in groups

· Social distancing is required at all table games as well, limiting players per table to almost half

· Plan requires regular cleaning and disinfecting table games, chairs, dice, slot machines, podiums, tip boxes, etc.

· Keeping signs through all the areas requiring social distancing in accordance with governmental requirements. Restaurants and bars should have reduced seating.

There will be a two-phase training activated after May 17th that will include one week of general training on social distancing throughout the entire property, conducted by HR and Safety. The second week of training will be department specific on how to handle social distancing and sanitation requirements, conducted by management. Throughout the process there will be representatives from third party company to ensure everything is done properly. This is an indefinite training based on the length of the pandemic.

Every organization must have a well-defined organizational structure in order to work efficiently and achieve its goals with fewer risks and obstacles. Modern market is a fast-changing environment. Organizations must be very competitive, efficient, and dynamic in order to survive and grow. Therefore, in order to meet the needs of the client and survive in the market, each organization must build an organizational structure capable of best supporting its goals. Probably this is why project management becomes more and more popular. It is chosen by many companies to manage their business-critical aspects.

Each project has its unique characteristics and the design of an organizational structure should consider the organizational environment, the project characteristics in which it will operate, and the level of authority the project manager is given. The structure defines the relationships among members of the project management and the relationships with the external environment. An organizational structure is essential for the good functioning of a company. Each company should choose its organizational structure according to its specific needs and requirements, since this also depends on the achievement of the prefixed results. Project structure can take on various forms with each form having its own advantages and disadvantages. There are three basic structures to apply project management concepts inside an organization: the functional structure, the matrix structure and the projectized structure.

According to Twproject website, having an appropriate organizational model can bring huge benefits to any organization. Some of these advantages are:

· Allowing an organization to grow.

· Keeping attention on strategic goals, instead of having each department focused and limited on its agenda.

· Joining a group of people and directing them towards a common goal.

· Allowing employees to improve their skills.

· Making the decision-making process more efficient, smoother, and faster.

· Facilitating employee specialization.

· Allowing better control and use of resources.

· Enabling easier and better communication, which helps reducing conflicts.

· Allowing employees to behave better.

· Helping employees to grow professionally, to make a career, and to simplify the inclusion of new colleagues.

· Helping identifying roles and responsibilities in a clear and precise way.

My initial step would be to ensure that the project itself is aligned with the mission and strategic objectives my company pursues. My next step would be to ensure that I have the necessary resources that are considered subject matter experts within the company, or if the task is too technical I would ask for a specific person to be hired for the duration of this project.

The basis for successfully applying project management systems to a project is to ensure that projects are properly planned. I would ensure that the first document that should be created is the project charter. In the project charter the included documents are a statement of work, stating why the project is necessary, and the business case, listing the needs of the project in more detail. Ensure that I have good rapport and relationship with the project sponsor, are they an integral part for creating the project management plan which includes the budget, schedule etc. The project charter will serve as a basis on the frequency of communication to the sponsors and the effective channel.

The next document I would need is the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) which will help break down the work until they are more manageable. These tasks are to be completed by one person or a specified group of people. The WBS elements are numbered to be referenced in the WBS dictionary, describing every element in detail, which avoids confusion between stakeholders and invested parties.

Another crucial document is the risk management plan, this is important as all projects have known and unknown risks that could influence the outcome of the project’s success. To compose a risk management plan I will use a collaborative approach and review known risks by using the project management plan, project charter, environmental factors, and input from all participating parties. If during the execution phase we encounter issues and we need to make changes to continue we will fill out a request log.

Lastly, upon completion of the project, we will create a lessons learned document, recording what went smooth, issues that we encountered, solutions, and propositions for similar future projects.

QUESTION 7

During the final assignment paper we had to add our takeaways from this program as well, and here is what I have to say. After going through the BAS PM program for around 2 years now, I noticed that most attention of the program was focused on the management time-limited operations related to time, cost, resources, and conditions. Moreover, courses such as management, accounting, and marketing offered opportunities to explore and identify priorities, organize assignments, manage and allocate resources to accomplish projects on time, and with the indicated budget. Of course, besides all this knowledge, the program provides privileged job predictions and earning potential. Employers in many varied businesses are seeking specialists who possess such knowledge as well as specialized business skills in planning, resource allocation, time management, negotiation, conflict resolution, team building, and others. I believe that going through the program enhanced many of such skills and competencies, allowing a differentiation against the competition; specifically those who do not have project management certification. In conclusion, the great effort left is to demonstrate to the employer that we have the desire and commitment to learn and improve ourselves and therefore raise our individual profile to achieve respect and admiration.

Adding my professional experience from the past 10 years in sales, banking, higher education, and management would increase my chances to advance in my career. I have been building many skills through this time because I knew that once I have completed my degree, it would strengthen my abilities to navigate the employers and succeed. Currently, I work in the banking industry that I enjoy and continue to learn everyday building knowledge and experience to later apply in the training and development of the team. However, I keep my mind open for opportunities and have done research throughout the past 2 years to find the best organizations dedicated to employee success and excellence. During my time in the BAS PM program mostly from my management classes, I was able to find many such organizations that seek project management professionals and are ready to recruit and invest in talented individuals. Some of these companies are P&G, Pepsi, IBM, Tesla, Playstudios, Lennar, and many others.

This Project Management Program gave me whole new perspective on what a project is. I think that right understanding of the definition and key characteristics of project is of significant importance. Any project is not just a way to make or do something but it’s an opportunity to achieve some desired result by implementing a systematic management approach. Projects give us a great opportunity to achieve our business and non-business objectives more efficiently through implementing changes in an organized manner and with reduced probability of failure. I’ve learned that the purpose of project management is to foresee or predict as many dangers and problems as possible; and to plan, organize and control activities so that the project is completed as successfully as possible in spite of all the risks. This program definitely showed how to understand and how to solve complexity of problems through project management. I gained a deep understanding of project’s stakeholders involved into a project, learned how they can be identified, analyzed and prioritized through the application of different project management techniques.

I gained an understanding of the roles and responsibilities within a project team. I think it is really important as the people do the job, people are the most valuable resource. Successful projects are usually the result of careful planning and the talent and collaboration of a project’s team members. I had a deeper look at the project manager’s figure, his responsibilities, functions and learned of the specialized set of skills that a project manager must possess to successfully carry out a project.

Also, I gained an understanding of how project management systems are implemented within different organizational structures. We’ve discussed types of project management organizational structures, highlighted their main characteristics and identified their advantages and disadvantages. The CIT classes taught how to use software, such as MS Project, MS Visio and MS Excel to carry out the projects and how to apply this knowledge in practice. I feel that I grew a lot over this past year as a professional and hope now I the right skills set and knowledge to successfully manage projects.

I have learned quite a bit from the project management program. The first thing that comes to mind that I have learned is about creating different charts such as Gantt charts, work breakdown structures (WBS), and flow charts. Each of these have their own importance: Gantt charts help you plan the project schedule and assign collaborate and make changes easily, a work breakdown structures (WBS) allows you to visually plan the tasks your team will need complete, and a flow chart displays the project’s objectives and the processes to achieve them. Another item I have learned is the importance of tracking key performance indicators (KPIs). It is difficult to see how the project is coming along or how you’re doing in progress towards goals without them. KPIs are critical because they ensure that your method of monitoring the project is quantifiable, objective, and communicable. Different KPIs include return on investment (ROI), cost performance index (CPI), and schedule performance index (SPI), and resource capacity. A useful tool is S.M.A.R.T. It is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound and can be used to create an effective project measure. Projects can be very complex and it is critical that you measure the timeliness, budget, quality, and effectiveness of the project along the way. I plan to use the information that I have learned from the project management program by working my way up into a project manager position in a building automation system environment. I currently work on building automation systems by repairing and/ or replacing components, editing or creating new programming, or creating schedules for equipment for energy savings. I would like to move over to managing new projects or current project upgrades. I have been working in this field for several years now, and I have managed several small to medium size installation projects at my last place of employment. I would like to get back to doing that and eventually moving on to very large size projects. I have enjoyed the project management program, and I definitely plan on not letting this information go to waste.