Project Management Office - How to structure your project

The day to get organised is now, not later.

?The way I look at project management,?it's more like, life is project management.?Everything in life is project;?building a house, buying car, going on a vacation.?Everything we do there's a start and end deal.?What we see across?the board in anything and everything we do,?there's a tremendous amount of friction in the system.?In the decision-making, in?the budgeting, everything in life.?That applies equally to software program management,?or even if you are in the construction industry.??

If you see right from starting the construction project,?to really getting the bids and all the stuff.?

There's a tremendous amount of chaos from?the perspective of that you know,?are the right people connected??Are the right decision-making people in the meeting??Are there the right number?of approvals that we have in a timely basis???

There are many of these things?that I had witnessed during?my career and even at my current projects,?that those were not efficient and?those were really adding a huge risk?or exposing the risk late in the development cycle.?That is what I had seen as a chaotic world.?

So why and how to handle the chaos on a daily basis?

Without having some organisation for your project, you run the risk of sending an extensive and time-consuming project spiraling into abject failure.

A well-organized project ensures that everyone knows what’s expected of them, what their authority is and what they need to do. It provides the track on which to run a project. Without it, a project is in shambles. PMO or a Project Management Office is?the answer to structure of the project.

What Is Project Management Office (PMO)?

Organisations are on a continuous journey, to deliver greater value from project portfolios that continually grow in complexity and size, as the worlds' economy becomes increasingly projectified.

To improve the project outcomes, many organisations are turning value-based delivery approaches that focus on achieving a flow of value to the customer. As organisations shift away from traditional delivery models, the role and purpose and even the name of the project management office (PMO) is changing in tandem.

From a point of view of understanding the project office as a program manager here are some findings from some projects completed by our team.

The project organization is the structure of the project. It’s created separately, with specialists and workers from various departments. These personnel work under the project manager. Project organization is a process. It provides the arrangement for decisions on how to realize a project. It decides the project’s process: planning how its costs, timelines, personnel, and?tools to be used. The project organisation or PMO is then presented to the project stakeholders.

Figure 1: Common Names for PMO/Support Offices

Source: PMI and PwC Global Survey on Transformation and Project Management 2021

Areas of Responsibility

There are three areas of competence and responsibility in a project organisational structure: project leadership, the project team and the project board. The project leadership is responsible for the?management of the project?and the project team implements the project. The project board is the decision-making body that defines project success and decides the life expectancy of the project.?

Types of Project Organizational Structures

There are a variety of project organizational structures. Here are three:

• Functional?is when the organizational departments are grouped by areas of specialization. In this case, the project is usually executed in a silo environment.
• Projectized?is when the entire organization is organized by the project.
• Matrix has teams report to both a functional manager and project manager, sort of a hybrid of the previous two structures.
• Organic?project organization embraces flexibility.
• Virtual?is when the project manager is the hub in the network.
• Multi-division?means that functional groups are decentralized.

Understanding what type of organisational structure to use determines?a project management. The structure provides the bones for the project, and therefore the project plan must align itself with the structure. This is usually done with a project organization chart.

Organizational Charts

Project Organizational Structure Charts

Figuring out what structure to make a project organization is only the start of organizing a project. The real work is implementing and applying that project organization. That’s why a project organization chart is so important. It establishes the formal relationships between the project manager, project team, development organization, the project itself and project stakeholders.

Best Practices

The project manager creates the project structure, which must meet the project needs throughout its phases. The project organizational structure, however, cannot be too rigid or too loose but strike the right balance between those two points. The object of a project organization is to help the team achieve the project goal and do their best. Therefore, a project manager must analyse their team members’ strengths from the start and, when assigned, ask them if they’re comfortable in their roles.

While the project organization chart fosters collaboration in a cost-effective way, avoiding duplication and overlaps of effort, it has only limited value. That’s because it is only illustrating a hierarchical relationship among the team, not how they’ll do the work. That said, it is still a valuable tool and part of any well-planned project or portfolio.

How to Make a Project Organization Chart

The project organization chart will identify the roles and responsibilities of the team, but also detail those team members selected for those roles. This includes identifying training if needed, recognizing how to?allocate resources?and determining appropriate ways to involve stakeholders. To do this, there are six steps to take.

1. Identify Personnel

First, who are the people that are related to?the project scope? These are those who have an impact on the project. They are the key staff. These people can run the gamut from marketers to salespeople, department heads and IT personnel to consultants and support staff, etc.

2. Create Senior Management Team

The next step is to get a team that is responsible for the project. These are, of course, those individuals with a vested interest in the project and are committed to its success. This team is usually made up of?project sponsors?or the client, though it can also include experts who offer guidance throughout the project.

3 Assign Project Coordinators

There’s a need to have a point person, or group at the mid-to-low management level, to carry out duties that fall to this level. This person or group will help synchronize team tasks. The number of coordinators will be determined by the size of the project, but always focus on three areas of a project: planning, technical and communications.

4. Note Stakeholders

Outside of the team that will execute the project, it is key to identify the stakeholders, as they are also impacted by the project and participate in the project development.

5. Identify Training Requirements

Sometimes teams are proficient at their tasks and with the tools that have been furnished to help them. Sometimes they’re not and need a period of training before the project can be executed. This is the point where any training that is needed is established and offered to the team. The project coordinator is usually managing the task of?upskilling project team members.

6. Create Project Organization Chart

Finally, it’s time to develop the project organization chart. First, review the previous steps and then make this visual representation of how the people in the project will collaborate, what their duties are and where they’re interrelated.

The project organization chart must have the primary decision-makers listed. Each person involved in the project must have an assignment and identified the role and the responsibilities of those roles are clearly defined. Any links connecting roles must be identified, as well as all the stakeholders. Be sure that the reporting and communications channels are also defined and described.