Behavioral Aspects of Project Mgt.

Workshop #2

        Today’s trend towards greater project-based complexity makes organizational culture and designs the central theme behind the ultimate success and failure of any given project. With the emergence of global markets, projects now take on a wide distribution of project teams scattered across multiple organizations in a particular supply chain. If a particular organization is not trained to take on these new complexities, the selection of a project is thus limited towards smaller and menial tasks. Most organizations fall under two specific forms- organic and mechanistic (Olson & Branch, 2002). Organic companies have a culture in place that deals more with rapidly changing markets and technologies. Mechanistic companies are more effective in stable markets that usually do not require a quick turnover of new projects (Olson & Branch, 2002). Depending on how the organizational design and the employees who drive these decisions are defined, the culture is often times the overlooked intangible that will determine success.

         Technology enables employees to better manage complex projects, but without the right people and the right organizational culture in place, the propensity for delays, increased costs, and poor quality will ensue. Effective project management is a function of teamwork, leadership, communication and cultural ambience. Marvin Weisbord author of Organizing for the Future, states that project based organizations must be comprised of the four following elements needed for success:

  • Interdependence (working on important problems in which each participant has a stake)
  • Leadership
  • Joint decision (all members agree to participate)
  • Equal influence (each person has the opportunity to influence the agenda)

He mentions that each organization should seek to develop these necessary elements and make them an integral part of an organizational culture (Weisbord, 1987). The blending between a firm strategy and organizational culture creates a competitive advantage for the organization in general and in its ability to handle projects (Weisbord, 1987).

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        Every organization to some degree is in possession of some form of internal politics. Politics can take on both a negative and positive connotation. If an organization is primarily made up of a negative politics, conditions such as the scenario above will consistently act as a barrier between accomplishing the determined goal. It is important to note that projects are done by people… not software. Elements of panic, disillusionment, and punishment to employees will net negative results in project planning.

Project leadership plays an important role in the success of a project but is not an absolute must for ...

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