Chapter 11
Organising the Project
In This Chapter
Looking at roles and responsibilities in a project
Comparing three organisational management structures in relation to projects
Examining the connection between structure and effective performance
Being successful in a matrix organisation
In a project, clear organisation is vital. A commonly reported cause of project problems and project failure is unclear roles and responsibilities. This chapter helps you pin down very clear roles and responsibilities.
To get any job done involving more people than just you, some organisation is needed. You need to know who’s doing what, who’s in charge and who’s responsible for different aspects of the work. It’s normal for any group of people beginning a task ranging from pitching a tent to running a major corporate project to say, ‘Right, let’s get organised.’
In this chapter we explore project organisation, show some different options for it and give some hints and tips for getting it right. Getting the right organisation is important for your project for two reasons. First, if you have unclear roles and responsibilities, you’re going to get communications breakdowns and misunderstandings. Second, if the structure doesn’t fit the project properly – for example, if you have a big structure that requires an expensive meeting and lots of people to make a minor decision – you’re likely to get delays and excessive overheads.
Then we move on to set the project organisation in the wider context ...
