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22 ORGANIZING FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT

to define expectations, make the periodic measurements, and meter out re-
wards. The manager was also expected to provide for personal development
and career opportunities.

While this subordinate dependency upon a single boss was not always the
healthiest arrangement, at least the individual contributor knew whom he re-
ported to and what was being measured. And there was some continuity.

There is no reason why these individual contributor needs cannot be sup-
ported in the matrix and team modes. But it is more complicated because it
would require the involvement of multiple managers. More and more measure-
ments (evaluations) are being made on a peer-to-peer basis. However, the system
has to be administered at the managerial level.

Who Knows What, and Where Are They?

Another potential hurdle is maintaining an inventory of skills. In the matrix and
team modes, there must be a fresh database containing information about the
firm’s human resources, their skills, their availability, their experience, their loca-
tion, and so on. This need has been recognized by the increased availability and
sophistication of what has come to be called workforce management software. For
the firms that have very uneven resource demands, these software systems are
being used to hold data about temporary resources (outsourcing) as well as inter-
nal resources. Some of these programs are even linked to outsourcing suppliers so
that they can respond to demand forecasts and bid on the opportunities.

Benefits of Teams

We have already stipulated that some type of matrix or team approach is neces-
sary for the success of a project-oriented enterprise. This is to imply that there are
usually improved results from adopting these models. Benefits of the Matrix Or-
ganization are discussed previously. Although the preceding paragraphs warned
of many potential stumbling blocks for the team approach, the potential benefits,
when implemented successfully, are many in number. For instance, Cleland lists
the following positive results, from studies done on team implementations.

• Productivity increases.
• Quality improvements.
• Cost reductions.
• Earlier commercialization.
• Improved supplier relationships.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction.