Project Organisation

Improving the Organisation of Project Teams

How Important is Project Organisation?

Organisation is the way we deliver projects! Effective organisation is crucial to the successful delivery of projects on time, to budget and to specification. However:

• How much time and attention do we really pay to Project Organisation when initiating new projects?
• How much time and effort do we spend on improving the organisation, initiation and mobilisation of strategic projects?
• How serious are Organisational issues and their consequences?
• What is the cost to the business of not addressing project organisation effectively?

What's involved in Effective Project Organisation?

It involves, for example:

• Identifying all key roles and in particular defining their responsibilities (i.e. not just your own element)
• Defining crystal clear terms of reference and accountabilities for all key roles and bodies; e.g. sponsor; steering committee etc
• Defining clear supplier/ partner / customer interfaces, at all levels, and their specific responsibilities
• Defining ‘ways of working' for your team, describing how you will work with key partners, supplier and the customer(s)

Organisation can also involve areas such as:

• Effective mobilisation of new projects
• Developing team charters
• Defining a Governance structures that covers key responsibilities, accountabilities, authorities and decision making
• Developing all key controls, specific measures of performance and metrics that will be used by the entire team.

Project Management Competency Models

Many businesses are now defining competency models to help with the selection of individuals for key projects roles, and as an input to Personal Development programmes for project staff.

Some organisations are extending this further to include the personal competencies (qualities) that are ideally required for all levels of project management positions. PMIS believes this will become a very important area of project management in future years.

Current Trends in Project Organisation: Integrated or Collocated Teams?

Many industries are starting to realise the benefit of closer working relationships and more integrated working environments on projects. Approaches like collocation have existed for some time, but many organisations resisted, often on grounds of cost, to adopt such methods. It can also be a large commitment in terms of changes to working practices; values, long held beliefs and many other aspects within business.

Despite this, Project Management is starting to mature at individual and corporate levels, and businesses are understanding not just the benefit, but the fundamental need to adopt such practices if they are going to deliver projects ‘faster, better, cheaper'. Such aims are truly attainable, but only if less effective organisational practices are replaced by more concurrent and integrated project organisation, particularly during key phases of projects such as definition and design.

In many cases, this will involve businesses working together much earlier in the project cycle, which can challenge traditional methods and thinking. Many industries are now seeing that the benefits far outweigh the risks, and are embracing new ‘ways of working'.

Where this is the aim, cultural resistance can often arise. This may give rise to the need for a change programme.

Executive Presentation: Effective Project Organisation

PMIS has an Executive Overview of: Effective Project Organisation and would be happy to work with you to deliver this to your organisation.

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