Introduction
An organization is a set of people with a particular structure who are under a central administration and has a collective objective. An organization is centrally managed and has departmental structures, each with a specialized delegation that works together with an aim of achieving one objective.
The central administration defines the duties, responsibilities, powers and activities for each department of the organization as well as the structure of the organization’s management. An organization, being defined as a set of people, therefore has its fundamentals vested on the people under it. It is the people who manage an organization as well as carry out its activities.
The productivity of an organization will therefore depend to a large extent on the participation of the people who are part of the organization. The participation of the members of an organization on the other hand depends on a number of factors.
Some of the factors affecting participation include efficiency of the members, attitude, knowledge and skills, administrative structure of an organization and the environmental factors of the given organization among others.
Organization theories have over time been developed to help in the day to day running and management of organizations. The theories have been expressed in each and every department or sector of organizations. The sectors such as finance, marketing, human resource, information and technology and communication among others have adopted different theories to enhance their operations.
The theories or concepts employed in these departments are primarily aimed at ensuring that particular projects adopted and initiated by the departments or the organization as a whole are successfully accomplished and that the intended goals achieved. This paper seeks to discuss the aspects of theory and behavior in an organization with respect to project management.
The paper will explore the various aspects of human behavior in organizations and how they influence the results of projects undertaken by their organizations. The paper will also look at the influence that an organization’s culture has on the outcomes of its projects.
The Organization
Daft Richard formerly defined an organization as a social unit with laid down goals and objectives, whose structure and systems are administrated with a link to the surrounding of the entity. The core aspect of an organization is the people in the organization and their relationship with each other.
Organization administrators have established the fact that this is the basis of every organization and efforts are nowadays being made to enlighten and empower the human resource on the achievements of the organization’s objectives.
Moves such as promoting horizontal interactions and cooperation in an organization’s activities as well as friendly relations with its environment which include its “customers, suppliers and even competitors” (Daft 11) is a key towards achieving goals and objectives.
Among the important concepts in an organization include: administrative levels and authority, conflict resolution and management, establishment and implementation into goals and objectives as well as evaluation into their success, adjusting to the emerging issues in the organization’s environment as well as meeting the expectations of its relevant stake holders.
The management of organizations has evolved to their structure and context in relation to their environments. The key to success therefore depends on the organization of the people in these social units to meet the expectations of organizations (Daft 15).
Project Management
Haynes defined a project as “an undertaking that has a beginning and an end, and is carried out to meet established goals within costs, schedule and quality objectives” (Haynes 3). Projects are temporary undertakings which are supposed to be completed in a given time span with the objectives achieved.
The whole project should include: establishment of the project to be undertaken, planning, implementation, completion and evaluation of the project.
The important variables in the project management strategy are time, quality and cost. The quality of the project results relate to the final results of the project with reference to its goals and objectives. (Haynes 7). The project process includes planning which is supposed to offer an outline to the project.
The implementation process of a project management factors in the administrative role of organizing the available resources, of which human resource is an element, motivating the human resource into productivity, providing instructions into what is supposed to be done as well as exercising control over the people and the processes involved in the project.
The processes and activities are however not distinct and varies from one project to another and from one organization to another (Cleland and Ireland 53).
Organizational Culture and Human Behavior
Culture refers to practices and modes of operation that have been employed in the past period and, due to their effectiveness, adopted as acceptable practices. Fused into organization’s project management, the organization culture are practices that have been outlined and adopted by an organization as a result of their long term application in the organization’s projects.
The practices are therefore introduced to the organization’s new members as guidelines. The organization’s culture can range from its “structures and practices, strategies, goals, philosophies and assumptions” (Koster 51) that has over time been adopted by the organization (Koster 51).
The cultures are in most cases management measures that are adopted to enhance productivity of individuals in the attainment of the goals of the project. Some of these measures look into the issues related to the human resource employed by the organization for a particular project.
Organizational cultures often cover the level of autonomy and involvement of the organization’s members to a project, adaptability to processes, and welfare of the project workers as well as recognition of diversity in the organization (Koster 51).
According to Wong, human behavior refers to the aspects of an individual person that induces emotional effects to part of or the whole body of a team. The human behavior is caused by factors such as experiences in life and relations with people.
An understanding of human behavior is important in the interaction of members of a team to a project and the outcome of a project in general. The behavior or attitudes of team members towards each other will influence the results of a project in either a positive way or a negative way (Wong 3).
The organizational culture and human behavior is discussed in the following aspects
Organizational Culture Influence
A culture that is adapted by an organization has a critical effect in shaping the environment within the organization. Aspects of performance such as ability to learn, creative reactions to challenges at work, reactions to threats or even emerging opportunities highly depends on the working environment in the organization.
A culture that has been adapted by an organization establishes a uniform guideline to all the members of the organization. By setting common standard or tradition, the organization creates unity and harmony among its members as their interactions and conducts are based on the same principle. A tradition towards positive achievements will also have an influence on the individual employees of the organization.
A person who would otherwise possess contrary opinion to that adopted by the organization would feel alienated and sort of a rebellious element as the rest or the majority is aligned to the traditions of the organization.
A strong organizational culture that is based on the aspects and fundamentals of success will promote this success as new employees and teams in the organization always adopt the already running culture of an organization. This ensures that objectives, conducts and relations within the organization are guided by the organization’s main agenda.
An organization that empowers its employees and gives them the room and freedom to adapt and change in accordance with emerging circumstances, for example, promotes positive results. One of the effects of this liberalization is that it motivates the workers into responsibility and authority (Daft 387).
According to Daft, there is a significant relationship between organizational culture and the level of success of the organization. It has been established that “companies that intentionally manage cultural values outperformed similar companies that did not” (Daft 387). The culture adopted by an organization can however have a negative impact on the activities and success of the organization.
A culture adapted by an entity can over time be outdated or become regressive due to environmental changes. This is because a culture is adapted and then implemented over time. The innovations, practices and other aspects that proved successful and became acculturated into the organization may after some time be ineffective due to changes like technology and knowledge that undermines the organization’s culture.
A characteristically nomadic culture is therefore the best idea for an entity. The culture in an organization should have the capacity to offer room for adjustments and adaptation to the changing external environment.
The adaptive culture recognizes elements such as minimum boundaries both in the organizational structure and with its environment, equality and trust among employees, risk taking and adjustability to change and improvements among others. It is therefore important that an organization develops cultures that are flexible to enable it instill values in its structures as well as adapt to its changing environment (Daft 390).
Project Leadership
The implementation of a project plan is occasionally a team work that is headed by a leader. The leader, in most cases and to a great extent, determines the level of success of the project. Lewis explains that the type of a project leader and the type of leadership offered is very fundamental to the outcome of the project. Lewis described effective leaders as the leaders who are never “satisfied with the status quo” (Lewis 94).
The leader who will drive the project to its success does not sit back to accept a situation posed by challenges but insists on solutions to the breakthrough of the project. He however argued that the way in which the leader challenges his or her subjects is also an equally important aspect of the success to the project.
The leader must have an impersonal way of challenging those under his or her supervision since a personal approach could have a negative impact on the workers, an issue that can derail the success of the project. The leader must also be able and willing to venture into risk taking activities that have not yet been explored.
This, in one way or the other, could motivate the other team members to innovativeness that can create means into breakthroughs in the project. The leadership into effective results also calls for facilitation rather that authoritative imperialism. The effective project leader will promote interdependence among team members and empower the team members.
As a result, a motivated spirit of teamwork is developed that creates eagerness to success. The authoritative leader on the other hand could lead team members into working as a formality rather than out of interest with a result of a poorly implemented project. Lewis also described effective leadership as the leadership by example.
The facilitator-leader who is willing to venture into risks and as well demonstrate, in a participatory manner, how the project is to be worked out stands a higher chance of winning the loyalty of team members into hard work and determination. The project leader should also be an individual who is optimistic to create hope among his or her team members.
Encouraging people to have hope and focus on the final results can generate strengths where people would have been discouraged by challenges in their project. The leadership offered in the project is therefore important in terms of motivating people to success or discouraging the same people into ruining a particular project (Lewis 101)
Creating and Managing a Successful Project Team
Project teams often comprise of strangers. This is partly due to the fact that most projects are short term agenda and organization therefore source for the personnel when a need for a project arises. The project leaders therefore have the task of creating successful teams out of these individuals for the realization of the objectives of the project.
Once the individuals have been developed into a desired team, managing their productivity becomes the next interest. Exercising influence over the team members is one aspect of creating a successful team. This exercise ought to be free from any sort of authoritativeness or imperialism which can indicate some sense of dictatorship on the group members.
The establishment of an effective, or in other words a successful team, requires a number of steps and measures. Some of the measure required for a successful project team is a solid sponsorship for the project. The project sponsor, whether the subject organization or a client, must put in place steps to ensure that the management of the project is not compromised.
The sponsor must also ensure that avenues are created to handle conflicts and problems that could arise in the process of undertaking the project. During the establishment of the team, commitments in terms of time and energy must also be required of the team members. Success cannot be achieved if members are either not available for the project or they are not willing to put in the necessary efforts when required.
A clear outlining of roles of each member of the team is also necessary to ensure responsibility and accountability. Common ground among team members also helps in building interpersonal relationships among team members, an aspect that promotes team work.
The project is itself a unifying factor among the team. Other factors could be things like personal interests, hobbies and past experience in project works. Establishing the notion of team work is also a tool to creating a successful project team (Kendrick 84).
Once a successful team has been developed, it becomes necessary to ensure that the level of efficiency, commitment and integration created within the team is not lost. A management strategy is therefore necessary to ensure that the team operates at its established level of productivity. Kendrick describes this measure as maintaining the unity and motivation of the team.
The management of a successful project team requires an established loyalty of the team members to the team leader and to the organization. It calls for the need to provide necessary support to the team members and the provision of resolution mechanism to emerging issues such as conflicts and problems encountered in the project work.
This will generate confidence among the team members and enhance their cohesion. Effective communication mechanisms together with appreciation and recognition of the team members are also necessities in maintaining the effectiveness of the successful team (Kendrick 85).
Managing Relationships
Managing relationships require a deep understanding of the different aspects of emotional behavior. In order to manage relationships in the project team to foster success of the project, the manager needs to understand the team members in terms of their behavior as pertains to “self-awareness, self-management and social awareness” (Mersino 150).
Understanding the emotions of the team members as well as other stake holders improves the relationship and even trust and loyalty to the project manager. This as a result creates a more cohesive atmosphere for the success of the project. Enhanced communications also ensures a better understanding among the stakeholders in the project.
Communication between the team leader and the team members, the team leader and other stakeholders like the organization’s management and other relevant parties of interest as well as the interpersonal communication between team members are important.
The communication among team members can be strengthened by organizing interactive forums as well as training on communication skills and the importance of communication. The team leader can enhance his or her communication with team members by being a coach and a mentor.
Interactive one to one experiences between the leader and the team members and even among the team members is an important tool in developing the relationship in the project team. Enlisting an accountability partners is also a step to improving relationships.
An accountability partner has the role of a guide to help a person develop in areas of weakness. Once relationships are effectively managed, the project team members together with other stakeholders to the project can work collectively for the success of the project (Mersino 154).
Influence of Organizational Structure on the Success of a Project
The success of the project also depends on the structure of the parent organization. The degree of the influence of the organizational structure however depends on the risks involved in the project. In cases where the project risks are high, the organizational structure notably affects on the success of the project. The structure actually hinders the success of the project.
The matrix structure is under these circumstances preferred as opposed to the organizational structure. In a matrix structure, a person is under the supervision of two managers. The normal organizational structure puts team members under the supervision of one team leader. Its inefficiency is however realized when the project is complex and more expertise is required.
Extra management, supervision and directions are then called for. The normal organizational structure cannot under complex inter departmental projects get an all round team leader who is an expert in all the involved fields. An adoption of the organizational structure would undermine expertise which in turn might lead to failure or inefficiency in the results of the project work (Lewis 348).
A functional type of structure has departments aligned according to the functions that they perform in the organization. Employees are grouped with respect to the types of activities they perform in the organization. A cross functional structure on the other hand has people who perform different expertise duties working together in a given department to perform a given task.
A matrix structure on the other hand involves operation to achieve more than one field of objective. An example is when a team is working on an innovative production of a commodity. In this case, a production as well as a research or design expertise is needed at the same time. The choice of the structure adopted can negatively influence the success of a team if necessary expertise is not available.
Adopting a functional structure when cross departmental expertise is required will lead to poor outcome due to lack skills in cross departmental functions. Types of organizations in terms of whether they are mechanical, or organic also affects the success of a project.
An organic organization is characterized by decentralization, flexibility, inter-relations which empower the employees. A mechanical organization on the other hand is on the other hand characterized by strict cultures and bureaucracies that leave the employees to puppets of the management’s orders. A mechanical organization can limit innovation to success contrary to an organic type of organization (Darft, 104,110, 154).
Organization Design
Organizational design is a tool that is used by the organization to “integrate people, information and technology” (Autry 1) in the organization. Organizational structure on the other hand refers to the framework of the organization in terms of its authorities, roles and responsibilities.
The organization’s design is therefore means to achievement of objectives while the structure is a defined strategy to the achievement. As a tool, the organization design is used to reconcile an organization and the objectives that it aspires to realize. The aim of the organization’s design is to enhance the chances that the human resource applied will in the end be successful.
In establishing an organizational design, both the administration and the other members of the organization consultatively define the desirable system through which the organization can operate in its optimum capacity. The design defines the administrative hierarchy of the organization and the authority vested upon each level of the structure and each member of the organization.
The challenge of organization designs is that they are dynamic. The effectiveness of a design varies with the activities of an organization as well as the people in the particular organization. Subjecting a project team to a design that is not favorable to either the project or the team members will negatively affect the success of the project.
Organizations should therefore not acculturate designs as one design that succeeds in an organization could terribly fail in another due to difference in the nature of the organizations or the people in the organizations. This effect on the organization will then be reflected on teams of the organization such as project teams.
The concept of organization design can also be applied to the design of project teams. An implementation of an inappropriate design will most likely ruin the success of the project (Autry 1).
Motivation
Motivation of project team members can take a variety of forms. One of the most common modes of motivation is rewarding employees besides their usual remuneration. Rewards are given following an attained “results, performance, competence or even skills” (Beel 6).
There are many reasons for rewarding employees. Among the aims of rewarding includes: appreciating people for the value that they have contributed to the organization, promoting the growth of the culture of performance, instilling the culture of commitment to the activities of the organization and improving efficiency and morale among employees.
Leaders are also meant to motivate, build on employee satisfaction and to “encourage behavior that contributes to organizational objectives” (Beel 6). Even though rewarding employee is an extra expenditure to the organization, it promotes the success of an organization.
A model illustrated by Beel indicated that once motivation has been developed among the employees, their performance level is boosted and the success of the organization is eventually achieved.
Even though the concept of employee motivation has been welcomed by professionals on the corporate world, issues have been raised that extrinsic motivational approach has geared employees’ focus towards getting rewards rather than their responsibilities in organizations.
Though the motives towards getting extrinsic motivations may be different among employees, its net effect is to improve the performance of the employees and hence the success of the organization (Beel 10).
Communication and Interpersonal Skills
Communications among members of an organization or a project team is an important tool in creating a collaborative environment. Communication is necessary both vertically and horizontally across the organizational structure. A good communication is defined in terms of its “quality, content and frequency” (Babler and Ekins 195).
An effective and efficient communication also enlists an individual’s personality, skills and character. The interpersonal communication skills helps in maintaining good ties and interpersonal relations, a factor that improves cohesion and hence unity in objectivity in a project team and an organization as a whole (Babler and Ekins 196).
Inefficient communication is always pointed out as asset back in the success of a project. Cornelius indicated that each and every assessment conducted after a project indicated that better results would have been obtained with better communication.
Improved communication in a project work to the expectations of the project team members is therefore an important factor in enhancing the success of a given project (Cornelius 3). For effective communication within the project team, an effective communication plan should be developed and implemented.
A good communication plan should predefine: the types of communication that are necessary for the project, the person in charge of communication, the methods to be employed in communication, the timings of the communications as well as the rate or frequencies at which the communications will be made. The communication should also be comprehensive to include the project plan.
In the project plan, the goals, expected time frame and outcomes together with the organization’s vision and the team’s vision are outlined. If implemented, this outlined communication will ensure the cohesion, unity and motivation among the project team members and hence enhance the success of the project (Cornelius 4)
Productivity and Total Quality Management
Total quality management is a management approach that puts emphasis on the quality stages and activities that are involved in the production of goods and services. If imitated by the organization’s top management and facilitated by the notion that quality is critical in production processes, the total quality management can lead to an outstanding success.
Total quality management also focuses on empowerment of employees and the enhancement of team work. The use of total quality management may however not yield much success if it lacks a proper implementation process and sufficient managerial support. Lack of proper focus on the desired results is also a drawback to the success of total quality management on the productivity of an organization (Grobler and Wamich 143).
The control and monitor stage of project management involves analysis of measurements and trends in the project process in order to reconcile the actual processes with the ideally expected trend in the project plan. The stage ensures that inefficiencies are detected and corrective measures are taken.
The monitoring and control stage is therefore a tool to achieving the total quality management by checking for and ensuring that efficiency is maintained in the project processes. The monitoring stage of the project management has a significant effect on the level of productivity of a project.
In its implementation, the process ensures that the project is implemented as planned. The monitoring stage also ensures that any flaws or inefficiencies are identified for correction. If properly implemented, the monitoring stage will ensure that every stage and aspects of the project is efficiently handled. This will as a result enhance the productivity of the project (Schwalbe 255).
Decision Making and Problem Solving
Decisions are often made in an organization in an attempt to solve a problem or to initiate a process. The process of decision making in the view of problem solving involves “analysis and creativity” as well as “evaluation and choosing from alternatives” (Maximiano and Pinto 3). The initial step into decision making involves either conceptualization of ideas or critical thinking that is based on observable factors.
Based on the conceptions or the observations, decisions are then made with the aim of developing strategies or helping people to work together. The kind of decision made will to a great extent influence the solution to the subject problem as well as the people who are involved. (Maximiano and Pinto 3). In an effective decision, the team leader should understand the circumstances under which the decisions are to be made.
The possible options should then be extensively considered and an appropriate moment be identified for making the decision. The team leader or any other member making a decision should ensure that they are not under panic when making decisions. The decision makers must ensure that they have the capacity to stay calm ever in events of crisis (Brezina, 8).
Strategies to decision making includes identifying decision to be made as either easy or challenging. The decisions are then allocated the structural hierarchies of administration in their respective order complexity with the simple decisions allocated to lower levels of administration.
Though the classification of problems as simple or complex is not normally an easy task, it makes the decision making process easier. An example of a decision making strategy could follow the order of defining the strategy to use in making the decision, considering the circumstances surrounding the problem, evaluating the cause and effect factors followed by a corrective measure.
A decision that involves skills and strategy is bound to be accepted by team members and to yield successful results in a project (Forgang 36).
Work Environment
The environment in which a project team will work has a significant effect on the results of the project. The work environment is occasionally a concern to project team members even before the work is in progress. The work environment includes the relations among the team members, the work conditions like working hours and motivations among others.
Empowerment of team members is also an element of the work environment. It is the duty of the team leader in collaboration with other stake holders to ensure that an optimum work environment is created for the team members. A favorable work environment that for example promotes relations and interactions among team members as well as a good team leader can foster success of a project work.
The team leader has to be in contact with the team members even if the members are not centrally located. The contact should be preferably to to create a collaborative environment. Flexibility of working condition like office hours are motivational and occasionally yields the same if not better work output.
A good work environment can further be created by motivating team members and providing for satisfaction of their interests. Understanding the team members and influencing their behavior and attitudes towards the objectives of the project also enhances a favorable environment for the team members as opposed to authoritative control over them.
Empowering the team member in a project work is another tool to a favorable work environment. When the team members are satisfied with the environment in which they are working, they are motivated and their efficiency enhanced. This in effect improves their productivity and hence the success of the project (July 48).
Planning
The results obtained from a project work greatly depend on the project planning. The skills taken into account during the planning of the project will determine the level of success of the project, if it is at all successful. The first step in planning, according to Blair Gerard, is the specification.
The project specification is the definition of the project to be carried out and states the goals and objectives of the project. It is important in identifying the activities in the project. Lack of specification can at times lead to an implementation of a wrong project.
It also helps in eliminating misunderstanding and assumptions that could be in conflict with each other. The next aspect of a project plan is its structuring. The framework that includes communication system and allocation of tasks provides cohesion in the team. The planning also ensures that evaluation is done by providing for specifications for testing on fitness of time allocations and purpose of the project.
The planning stage therefore has a direct influence on the processes and activities of the project which in turn dictates the success or failure of the project. the elements of the specification includes the time period allocated to the project, the necessary resource required for the project and the third parties upon which the project may depend.
The resources should include the human resource, competent team leader and members. An efficient planning will under strict implementation and monitoring will ensure success of the project. Allocation of the correct type and amount of resources, including competent members and team is therefore significant in the final success of the project (Blair 1).
Conclusion
Project management, as a process of planning, organizing and managing resources to a project involves a great aspect of human resource. The success of a particular project therefore depends to the behavior of people involved in a project and their response to the environment in which they are working.
The above discussion has focused on the elements of human behavior and aspects of organizational culture with the aim of establishing their effects on the success or failure of a project.
A view of aspects like culture, structure and design of an organization as well as the responsive human behavior establishes the fact that these aspects have a very significant influence on the success of a project. A project will experience success or failure depending on how these elements are handled by the relevant parties in an organization.
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