What are the Project Organizational Structures?

A project organization is the way that the project team is organized and is directly related to the way the entire organization is structured. There are three major organization structures to manage work and people.

Program Based -?In a program-based organization, a project team is staffed with people from the same program unit. All the resources needed for the project team comes from the program organization. For instance, if the project is related to the health area, the project resources come from the Health Unit. In a program-based organization, the projects would be broken down by organizational units and each unit would do their own part relatively independently. The biggest advantage of program-based projects is that there is usually clear authority, since the project managers tend to report to or also be the program managers. There is no need to negotiate with other units for resources, since all staff needed for the project comes from the same program unit. A major disadvantage is that the program unit may not have all the specialists needed to work on a project. A Health Project with an Education component, for instance, may have difficulty acquiring education specialists, since the only people available will work in their own program unit.

Project Based?- In the project-based organizational structure, personnel are specifically assigned to the project and report directly to the project manager. The project manager is responsible for the performance appraisal and career development of all project team members while on the project. Advantages include clear authority, and a clear focus since everyone on the team has only the project as their primary responsibility. One disadvantage is duplication of resources, since scarce resources must be duplicated on different projects. For instance, a large project may have its own Monitoring and Evaluation staff, which could duplicate a central M&E unit. There can also be concerns about how to reallocate people and resources when projects are completed.

Matrix Based -?The matrix organization structure is a combination of the program and project structures. This combination helps organizations to achieve higher efficiency, readiness, and quick adaptation to external conditions.?Matrix organizations allow program-based units to focus on their specific development competencies and allow projects to be staffed with specialists from throughout the organization. The main advantage is the efficient allocation of all resources, especially scarce specialty skills that cannot be fully utilized by only one project. For instance, communication specialists may not be utilized full-time on a project, but can be fully leveraged by working on multiple projects. The main disadvantage is that the reporting relationships are complex. Some people might report to a functional manager for whom little work is done, while working for one or more project managers. It becomes more important for staff members to develop strong time management skills to ensure that they fulfill the work expectations of multiple managers.

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