Succeeding in a Weak Matrix Organization

Here are some hints on managing the move from one Project to another in a different organization. It is my take away from an excellent workshop on Project Management Leadership facilitated by Don O'Hara that I took this past week with colleagues from HP. 

-o-

Moving from one Project to another is a challenge that we should not underestimate. Thinking about what is going on, can help us fine tune ourselves and perform better in the  environment and organization that we are joining. 

My last change of Project brought me several adjustments. I share with you this week what was going on, the impacting it had on me, and what I did some research and asked for feedback from fellow Project Managers as part of a workshop on Project Management Leadership I took this past week. 

Organizational Structures 

One of the tools available to assess the context of a Project is the classification of Organizational Structures. It is a simple taxonomy which describes how a Project is coupled into the functional structure of an organization. 

This business decision will have a deep impact on key elements of the Project and the assigned Project Manager, like the readiness and availability of resources, the degree of commitment of team members, and the role that Project Manager is expected to play, as well as its degree of formal autonomy and authority . 

As y ou can see in the figure below, there are three types of organizational structures: Functional, Matrix , and Projectized. The Matrix Organization is further breakdown into three different sub-types: Weak Matrix , Balanced Matrix , and Strong Matrix . 

Let's check them out briefly . 

Functional: in this environment, the projects are approached from the very same functions in the organization, team members are most likely to tackle the Project without leaving their normal departmental duties. Nothing happens without the approval and agreement of the functional managers, which change the goals and decisions on the project as they see fit. Here the role of the Project Manager is reduced to that of an administrative facilitator. 

Weak Matrix: this type of organization is subject to the influence of the functional organization as I described above. The role of the functional manager still has a strong influence but the Project Manager has some more space to action than in the pure functional Organization. He or she serves as a coordinator for the Project. 

Balanced Matrix: in this type of organization the Project Manager and the Functional Manager share more or less the same level of authority . It is in this type of organization where the role of the Project Manage begins to be more of what we find in the text books on Project Management. 

Strong Matrix: an organization where a great deal of authority and independence is given to the Project Manager, often above of that of the Functional Manager. Decisions are taken around the success of the Project whereas operational priorities need to find room to accommodate. It is typical on critical Projects with a high strategic impact or with heavy restrictions involving important costs.

Projectized: here there is no concept of management functions, the organization is built  entirely around the Projects undertaken. From another perspective, the same Project Manager occupy the functions of management; so there is no need to interact with any functional manager. Whenever a Project is completed, the team members are disbanded and must be absorbed by other Projects. 

Challenges of Weak Matrix Organizations 

Weak Matrix Organizations can be a challenge for the Project Manager given the strong influence of the Operational structure and the Functional Managers. Specially if the Project Manager comes from a Balanced Matrix Organization or a Strong Matrix Organization. As it was the case for me during my last transition at the beginning of this year. 

The figure below summarizes the challenges I was facing and how I was reacting to them. Can you identify yourself with any of them? 

Thriving in a Weak Matrix Organization

As we started our workshop at the beginning of the week, I raised my interest on getting some feedback about what I could to cope better with my circumstances. Other colleagues expressed their need to touch other specific subjects. Our trainer asked us to put together a couple of slides to present our situation and drive discussion, which led me to prepare the slides I am sharing with you right now. 

The slide below summarizes what I discovered once I investigated on the subject and discussed it with my peers and our facilitator during our workshop. It was an eyeopening experience for me, allowing me to relate a piece of the theory on Project Management which was pretty familiar to me, with my day to day. It provided me with perspective and sound advice to put into practice. 

I hope it comes useful whenever you face a similar change.

Until next week!

  -Sergio Calvo

Note: I used the following sources to put together my presentation:

Succeeding in a Weak Matrix Organization - UAB School of Engineering

Nothing Weak About It: Thriving in a Weak-Matrix Project Environment

Weak Matrix vs Functional,Strong Matrix vs Projectised

Beyond the Triple Constraint

I comment this week about the extra elements which complement the Triple Constraint: Risk, Quality, and Resources. One of the reasons while it is often said that the Triple Constraint is not really triple. 

-o- 

In my last post I commented about the Triple Constraint of Scope, Time and Cost, which is one of the basic building blocks of Project Management: how to align and make sound decisions around (highly) competing demands. Whereas there is general consensus that other critical factors also compete against these three; there is not always agreement on which ones are those elements. This week I will elaborate around some of them: Risk, Quality and Resources. Some authors like Rita Mulcahy use for example Customer Satisfaction instead of Resources. Others may use other factors.

Risk – from the Arabic term “rizq” which means “what the providence brings”, risk management is one of the most challenging demands in a project, always impacting at least one or more of the other components of the triple constraint. Whereas most of the time it is associated with events that can make the things go wrong, it can also refer to events that can make things go well. In summary is like having your radar on at all times, trying to catch as early as possible what could go wrong and try to make something about it; and  also catch what could make things go well, and try to make that happen. It often requires a pragmatic mindset depending on the context of the project. 

Quality – another concept which is not very easily achieved, it deals with how well specific requirements, standards, parameters or guidelines are met. In the most desirable scenario, quality is preferred to be built in, than to be inspected in. In plain terms it tells that if you are doing something, it is worth it to do it right from the beginning; instead of waiting until the end to check how good is it, and find that you need to fix lots of things or do it all over again. It requires clarity, discipline, but also a realistic approach. 

Resources – this is what you have available to complete the project (people and resources). Depending on these elements the other components of the Constraint will be likely impacted. It is not the same to tackle a project with a junior team than with a team of seasoned colleagues. The availability of specific resources or their characteristics would likely affect the outcomes of your project. 

At the end of the day the Triple Constraint is a conceptual model to help us understand the nature of the project, its purpose and the several elements that need to be aligned, balanced and prioritized to get it right. 

No matter the specific framework that you choose to approach your work, it should be systematic, consistent, and disciplined; otherwise you may find yourself lost instead of finding yourself managing the project.

Have a rewarding week!
- Sergio Calvo

The Triple Constraint

I leave you today with one of the core concepts in Project Management. The triple constraint of Scope, Time and Cost. They are at the core of the discipline and anyone interested in achieving success in a project should stay tuned with the basics of their relationship. 

-o- 

You can’t have everything you want all the time. This is as true in Project Management as it is in life itself. The more you deny it, the more you are likely to suffer it. It is perfectly fine to try to get as much as you can with whatever you have. But it is also wise to assess when you can’t push it any further to avoid jeopardizing the  goals of the project you pursue. 

That’s what the triple constraint reminds us. 

There is the scope - the product, result, or service that you want to achieve. Everything that you want to get done; and not less important, what you don’t want to get done. 

There is the time - how much time do you have to get the product, result, or service that you want. 

There is the cost - how much it is going to cost you get the product, result, or service that you want by the time that you want it. 

These three are constrained with one another. The more you want to get done is almost certainly to increase your cost and likely to demand more time. The less time you have to get the things done is likely to increase your cost for it or would demand to decrease eventually what you want done. An increase in your costs for whatever reason is likely to force you to reduce what you want done or the time to do it or both. 

That’s just how they work. Your role as a leader is to be aware of that inherent relationship, to monitor and properly document how a change in one of them impacts the others, to stay grounded to the earth about them and to use your skills and those of your Project Team to get done as much as you can, for the best possible cost and in as less time as suitable. 

That’s easier said than done. 

In fact you may choose to look the other way instead of doing it. However reality is going to come back at you the hard way. You may end up working for free. You may fall short on your commitments with your customer. Your customer may end up paying more than expected or getting less than expected. Your project would be at risk and eventually your reputation would suffer.  

All the frameworks and the theory in Project Management are developed to help those involved in the discipline to manage these three things as effectively as possible. 

The following questions may come handy when you are dealing with these three:

- When is the final deadline for the project?

- Have you broken the product, service or result pursued down to its more basic packages?

- Have all the involved costs being calculated? Could there be any hidden costs so far?

- Are we going to work holidays, weekends, extra hours? How would that affect cost?

- What does the contract say about scope, time and costs?

- Are there any penalties for being late, for leaving a feature behind, for additional fees?

- Is any of the elements more tightly restricted than the others? 

- How this change in one of them would impact the other two?

There are other factors pretty closely related: quality, resources and risk. This is why some people say that the triple constraint is not really triple. We shall come with these ones at a later time. 

Have a nice week! 

- Sergio Calvo

How about Crowd Conferencing?

Hi There! 

I take the chance to say hello from BarCampCR where we will be participating today. If this name does not sound familiar, please check here.

I dare to share this crazy idea of Crowd Conferencing because though it is a less disruptive term than UnConferencing, from my perspective it captures better the essence of the event.

We started around 11 AM with an opening message from Mr. Otto Rivera from CAMTIC, which accurately inquired us about the central roles of divergent perspectives and execution defined as pure dreams pursuit for entrepreneurship.

By that time the nearly 60 slots available in the board were being filled fast, offering diverse topics from the latest technology trends such as Big Data, Cloud Computing; to mobile development tools, including free software, innovation and creativity. Every attendant willing to do so sharing its knowledge and skills to everyone else, according to everyone's interests.

I enjoyed a lot the speech from Leopoldo Rojas from Arckanto Software dealing with Emerging Technologies. And I also got a recommendation about a book on one of my favorite topics that sounds good: The Lean Start up by Eric Ries.

I will contribute in a few minutes with a presentation about Project Management as an unexpected way to add competitive value. You can take a look at a the slide deck (in Spanish) here.

I invite you to question how are you taking advantage of the knowledge, talent and availability of the people that you have around you today, as well as your willingness to share unassumingly yours with your closest ones.

Cheers! 

- Sergio Calvo

Professional Development Units

Also known as PDU’s, Professional Development Units are a concept made popular by the Project Management Institute. They are from my perspective one of the most interest concepts well-crafted by this worldwide professional association. In a world strongly ruled by the discourse of rights and by the imperative of what I can get from my profession; emphasizing on values such as professional responsibility and accountability is in some sense refreshing. It provides a framework to shift the focus into the more important question of what can I do for my professional field.

This shift in perspective is ruled from the ground up as it is defined in the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. This code adhered to by any member of the PMI, any person volunteering with the PMI or any person holding or pursuing a PMI certification, ties Project Management reputation as a professional field, and its subsequent advancement, directly to the practice of every individual practitioner. 

In this sense, a three year cycle starts as soon as a Project Manager approves the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. In that time frame a minimum of 60 PDU’s must be gained and reported to the Institute, in order to renew the certification and PMP status. These PDU’s are gained by performing different sorts of activities previously categorized by the Institute. All of them aim to give back to the profession. They vary from training other colleagues for taking the PMP exam, publishing articles on the field of Project Management, volunteering Project Management duties with NGO’s, participating in conferences and forums – either as a speaker or participant – or even working in Projects on a daily basis. 

This triggers an interesting dynamic in which for one hand the institution secures a very interesting cash flow in an ongoing basis once the professionals achieve the certified status. Several of the development options and events available are offered by third parties having the Project Management discipline and training as a business. Some of those are sponsored or held by PMI itself, others are credited through an independent process for Project Management consulting and training firms. On the other hand, these chained businesses promote the professional progress. In a relatively recent field like that of Project Management, looking in the past few decades to consolidate itself as a professional practice with true and intrinsic business value, this is a very desirable objective. From my perspective and judging by the results, the overall strategy has been very successful. 

At the end of the day this approach has paid significant benefits both to Project Managers and to the companies which have taken the not always easy decision to invest in Project Management. For willing businesses, Project Management has demonstrated to be a discipline capable of achieving value and ultimate financial results if practiced in an appropriate manner. For practitioners around the world, an increasing demand and renown for Project Managers has been a constant for some years now. 

As long as we continue to show commitment and contribution to our professional field, to our everyday duties as Project Managers, and to the progress of both of them, this virtuous circle will continue; both for our professional good and for the good of our companies. No question it would be also for the good of the Project Management Institute. From my perspective that’s just fair enough. Its value resides precisely in the fact that as an institution they crafted, formalized and put to work these principles. As a practitioner of the discipline it is rewarding to be part of a professional association like this one. 

- Sergio Calvo.