Functional, Matrix and Pure Project Organizational Structures Essay

Functional, Matrix and Pure Project Organizational Structures - Essay Example A well-defined organizational structure makes the employees and the managers aware of their roles and responsibilities regarding completion of the missions. Let us now discuss three primary project management organizational structures in order to get a better understanding of the situations in which each of these structures serves best to manage the project teams. Functional Organizational Structure Functional organizational structure is the most commonly used form of structures in which the decision-making authority remains at the top management level and the projects are assigned to the functional units based on the types of the projects. In functional organizational structure, there is the strong concept of subordination and the focus of the management is towards jobs. The function-based jobs, which are similar in nature, are grouped together in such a way that they form a separate department. In functional organizational structure, the employees of each department have a unique s et of roles and responsibilities, which make their duties different from the employees of other departments. For example, the employees of the human resource department perform the tasks of hiring and training, whereas the employees belonging to the operations department deal with different types of business operations, activities, and functions. Some of the main characteristics of the functional organizational structure include a well-defined chain of command, the formation of separate departments, strong concept of subordination, centralized decision-making, concentrated leadership, professional similarities between the employees belonging to any specific department, well-defined progress path for the employees, and clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Along with many considerable benefits, there also exist some negative aspects of the functional organizational structure. Some of the most negative aspects include the bureaucratic style of decision-making, inefficient proble m solving among the employees, lack of client focus, the ineffective flow of communication between any two departments of the company, narrow vision of organizational goals and objectives. The situation where the functional organizational structure can be the best method to manage a project team is one in which increased efficiency of the workforce is required. This type of organizational structure works best in stable work environments where the managers do not change the business strategy or approach towards the completion of mission very frequently. Therefore, if managers of a company need to complete a project by the given deadline without changing the business strategy, functional organizational structure can be the best option because in this situation, employees of all departments are aware of their roles and responsibilities and the hired specialists can share their knowledge and experience for the completion of the projects. Matrix Organizational Structure The matrix organi zational structure is the most commonly used form of organizational structures for the project-based teams. It is basically the merger of functional and pure project organizational structures.