Four frames of organization

Managers integrate business and organizational issues into their planning. It also helps them look at projects as a series of interrelated phases. When you integrate business and organizational issues into project management planning and look at projects as a series of interrelated phases, you do a better job of ensuring project success.

2.2 UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONS
The systems approach requires that project managers always view their projects in the context of the larger organization. Organizational issues are often the most difficult part of working on and managing projects. In fact, many people believe that most projects fail because of organizational issues like company politics. Project managers often do not spend enough time identifying all the stakeholders involved in projects, especially the people opposed to
the projects. Also, project managers often do not spend enough time considering the political context of a project or the culture of the organization. To improve the success rate of IT projects, it is important for project managers to develop a better understanding of people as well as organizations.

2.2a The Four Frames of Organizations
As shown in Figure 2-2, you can try to understand organizations better by focusing on different perspectives. Organizations can be viewed as having four different frames: structural, human resources, political, and symbolic.

  • The structural frame deals with how the organization is structured (usually depicted in an organizational chart) and focuses on different groups’ roles and responsibilities to meet the goals and policies set by top management. This frame is very rational and focuses on coordination and control. For example, within the structural frame, a key IT issue is whether a company should centralize the IT personnel in one department or decentralize across several departments. You will learn more about organizational structures in the next section.
  • The human resources (HR) frame focuses on producing harmony between the needs of the organization and the needs of people. It recognizes that mismatches can occur between the needs of the organization and those of individuals and groups, and works to resolve any potential problems.
    For example, many projects might be more efficient for the organization if employees worked 80 or more hours a week for several months. However, his work schedule would conflict with the personal lives and health of many
    employees. Important IT issues related to the human resources frame are the shortage of skilled IT workers within the organization and unrealistic schedules imposed on many projects.
  • The political frame addresses organizational and personal politics. Politics in organizations take the form of competition among groups or individuals for power, resources, and leadership. The political frame emphasizes that organizations are coalitions composed of varied individuals and interest groups. Often, important decisions need to be made about the allocation of scarce resources. Competition for resources makes conflict a central issue in organizations, and power improves the ability to obtain those resources. Project managers must pay attention to politics and power if they are to be effective. It is important to know who opposes your projects as well as who supports them. Important IT issues related to the political frame are the differences in power between central functions and operating units or between functional managers and project managers.
  • The symbolic frame focuses on symbols and meanings. In this frame, the most important aspect of any event in an organization is not what actually happened, but what it means. Was it a good sign that the CEO came to a
    kick-off meeting for a project, or was it a threat? The symbolic frame also relates to the company’s culture. How do people dress? How many hours do they work? How do they run meetings? Many IT projects are international
    and include stakeholders from various cultures. Understanding those cultures is also a crucial part of the symbolic frame.

Project managers must learn to work within all four frames to function well in organizations. Organizational issues are discussed further in Chapter 9, Project Human Resource Management, Chapter 10, Project Communications Management, and Chapter 13, Project Stakeholder Management. The following sections on organizational structures, organizational culture, stakeholder management, and the need for top management commitment provide additional information related to the structural and political frames.