Lesson 10: Organizational Context

This BLOG provides answers to three important questions related to projects and project management. The first is where do projects typically originate? The second, who are the key role players and the third how does the organizational culture influence project outcomes? The paragraphs that follow provide more detail in this regard:

Where do projects originate?

The question, where projects originate is important in that it provides insight into what should be regarded project work and what not. This is best illustrated through and example. Consider the management team of a company that manufactures mid-sized vehicles for the urban commuter. Further assume that this company do their annual strategic planning and realize that they will have to contribute to reducing carbon emissions. Based on this they decide to investigate ways to adjust their production processes to accommodate the new strategy. Thus, a new initiative is born, while at the same time the normal production work continues. However this broad strategy is not a project yet . An optimal solution needs to be found, feasibility tested etc, prior to this. The important point however is that in most cases projects originate from new strategies initiated by top management . Further, that prior to launching a specific project the new initiative needs to be prioritized, and potential solutions need to be investigated. It is here where research is done, and feasibility of the potential solutions modeled. Once an optimal solution is found the project moves into the cycle to produce the final deliverable

Key Role Players (Stakeholders)

In the previous lessons the importance of managing expectations were mentioned. It needs to be realized that, for stakeholders to have a clear sense of what the benefits will be from producing the final deliverable, they need to be kept "in the loop" .This also implies they need to be identified as soon as possible. While authors differ about the exact definition of what a stakeholder is, it is useful to identify those role players who have an interest ('stake') in the project and can influence its outcome. The main stakeholders in this regard include the following:

• Project Manager - the individual responsible for managing project work
• Customer/User/Beneficiary - the individuals, group or organization who will use the product or benefit from the solution
• Sponsor - the individual or group who represent those who provide finance and also "owns" the business case
• Performing Organization - the individuals, groups and organizations who would probably be involved in the planning and execution of the project as well as ongoing maintenance following delivery

Organization Culture

It should always be remembered that projects are not planned and implemented in a vacuum. The culture of the organization is a strong force that needs to be navigated to ensure that the final deliverable is produced. Per definition the organization culture is a set of assumptions (learn t over time) upon which organization behavior is based. While culture is difficult to identify it is also true that it affects everything that happens in an organization. In terms of this think about the "artifacts" like the building, what the boardroom looks like, etc. What does is say about "the way we do things here"? It is this way things are done, that needs to be taken into account and the only way to negotiate through this and deliver is to ensure that you keep control of the Iron triangle and manage expectations effectively.