In previous posts in the Project Management Guide, I have alluded to the project management structure, the organisation that you as project manager will sit in. In keeping with the aim of teaching project management to absolute beginners, I’m now going to flesh out this idea a bit.

First of all, why do we need a project organisation? As we’ve already learned, a project is a temporary endeavour. A project also tends to be cross-functional, meaning people from across your business will be needed. That means people will be brought together for a relatively short period of time to work on the project, and their line management structure is unlikely to fit with what is needed for project management structure.

Because of this, we set up a project organisation. This organisation can be logically broken down into different levels:

1. Overall corporate (or programme) management
2. Project Executive with information from Project Board / Guidance Group
3. Project Manager
4. Team Manager
5. Team

Now, this seems like an awful lot, but don’t worry – they won’t all be involved day-to-day!

Let’s have a look at each of these levels.

1. Overall Corporate (or programme) management

This level represents the people at the very top. These are the people who have the final say over whether a project starts, stops, or varies. However, they are likely to be involved very rarely – they have responsibility for appointing a Project Executive to kick the project off, and to be available to guide the Executive should he need it.

2. Project Executive with information from Project Board / Guidance Group

The Project Executive is the person with overall responsibility for the project. You, as the project manager, will report to the Executive – he is your boss. It is the Executive’s responsibility to represent the business interests in the project. This means, for example, he or she will need to ensure the Business Case is kept up to date, that the project is still meeting a business need, and so on.

The Executive also monitors the progress of the project through two routes, the information you provide as project manager, and through the project assurance route. More on that later.

In addition, it is also useful to have the interests of the user (of the final product of the project) and the supplier (who is making that product) represented at this level. This can be done through the formation of a project board, with a User Representative and a Supplier Representative on it. However, this doesn’t make the board a democracy – it is still ultimately the Executive’s responsibility to guide the project to success.

3. Project Manager

That’s you! You have responsibility for the day-to-day management of the project. The Project Executive and other members of the board are likely to be doing their project roles in addition to their normal jobs. Because of this, you need to enable them to manage by exception.

What this means is that you should seek their approval at the beginning of each chunk of work (which should last a reasonable length of time). You will also set tolerances, as discussed in Project Plans – The Art of Prophecy. When that is done, you keep the Executive updated regularly, but only go back to him or her for a decision when either you have finished the chunk of work that was approved, and need to have the next section approved, or because something has gone wrong, and you have gone over one of your tolerances.

Obviously there is far more to the role of Project Manager, but this explains how it fits into the project organisation.

4. Team Manager

This role is the management of the team carrying out the project work. It is an optional role – the project may be of a size that the Project Manager also does this work. However, for various reasons, such as the complexity of the work, the technical knowledge needed, or even because the team is in a different company to the project manager (think of a client – supplier relationship), you may want to have this as a separate role.

The team manager agrees with the project manager the scope of the work the team is to carry out. This is generally done through the agreement of a package of work. The team manager then reports on progress to the project manager.

5. Team

These are the people that actually do the work! They are responsible for building the end product to the required quality, on time, and on budget.

One last role

That’s the broad overview of the management structure, but there is another function that I also want to talk about. This role can be called Quality Control, Project Assurance, Project Monitoring, etc. While it has many names, the main purpose is to ensure that the project is on track, and that the information that the Executive is getting is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

This role needs to provide an independent check on the information the project manager is providing. In addition, it can also provide information and guidance to the project manager, if there is something that he or she has missed.

Because the role needs to be independent, the project manager shouldn’t have anything to do with appointing or managing them. Ideally, the Executive, and User and Supplier Representatives if present, should each choose someone to perform this role for them. The Executive’s choice should focus on ensuring the project’s work and outputs are meeting the needs of the business, the User’s the needs of the users, and the Supplier’s the needs of the suppliers. This provides more information for the Executive / board and the project manager.

That’s a quick whistle-stop tour of a sample project management structure / organisation that I have used in the past. The structure can be formal and rigid, or informal and relaxed. Of course, every project and every business is different, and has different needs and drivers, so don’t be surprised to find very different management structures out there!

What about you? What type of project management structures have you worked in in the past? Do you prefer a formal structure where everyone knows what is expected of them, or a more relaxed structure where everyone can jump in where they think they can help? Let me know!

29th Jan: Edited to make role of Project Board / Guidance Group clearer