JEFREY A.

DE LEON BSCE V-A

CONSTRUCTION METHOD AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ORGANIZATION

The success of a construction project mostly lies on how it is being managed. Moreover,

construction Project Management greatly influences the development and success of every

construction project (Harrin, 2018). This management requires full understanding of the design,

construction processes involved and most importantly, the construction project organization

(Project Management Institute, 2000).

A project organization is a structure that facilitates the implementation of project

activities (PM4DEV,2016). As we all know, construction projects involves widely dispersed

construction activities. This makes project management even more complicated and in order to

address this, every project must be organized in order to accomplish it effectively and efficiently.

FIGURE 1. EXAMPLE OF A PROJECT MANAGEMENT CHART

Source:

https://image2.slideserve.com/3984473/construction-management-organization-chart-n.jpg
JEFREY A. DE LEON BSCE V-A
CONSTRUCTION METHOD AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

This explains that project organization plays an important role to the concept of an

effective project management. Moreover, it suggests that the main reason of having a project

organization is to establish a working environment that helps every project participant to foster

interaction among them. These interactions help them in exchanging vast amount of information

and knowledge that helps an effective project management. In this report, we’ll get to know

more about project organization and its structures. Additionally, this aims to explain the different

organizational structures and how it is being applied to different construction projects.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

An organizational structure describes how a particular company or organization is being

established or setup. In usual times, organizational structure is being presented through a

hierarchy chart that determine how people or groups functions within an organization

(Harrin,2018).

FIGURE 2. EXAMPLE OF HEIRARCHY CHART OF AN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Source: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_project-management-from-simple-to-complex-
v1.1/section_05/4d5c6614219d066051295b6c4f1a68a3.jpg
JEFREY A. DE LEON BSCE V-A
CONSTRUCTION METHOD AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Organizational structures also address the uncertainty and confusion that usually

happens during the start of a project. Establishing an organizational structure can help define

the relationships among members of the project and relationship with their external

environment. Most importantly, it helps to establish a hierarchy chart that shows the hierarchy of

authority among the participants of a project (PM4DEV,2016).

According to the Project Management for Organization (PM4DEV, 2016), to decide the

form of an organizational structure for a project is being considered as one of the important

decisions to be made in project management. Moreover, in establishing an organizational

structure, project manager should consider the environment and the project characteristic in

which it will be conducted. Further, each project has its unique characteristics that require a

distinct form of project structure. These various forms have its advantages and disadvantage.

Taking into consideration all of these pros and cons can help you decide what structure is the

most appropriate to your project.

FACTORS IN DESIGNING A PROJECT STRUCTURE

Designing a project structure is not an easy task. It requires understanding to the

different aspects of every construction projects. According to PM4DEV (2016), two (2) design

factors are being considered that greatly influences the development process of a project

structure. These factors should be considered during the process of designing project

structures. Being able to do so will help the project team to maximize the effectiveness of the

structure.

Specialization

Determining the degree of specialization of every members helps to establish the

effectiveness of a structure. Moreover, this helps every project member to focus on a specific

area of development. As we all know, construction projects involves many construction areas or
JEFREY A. DE LEON BSCE V-A
CONSTRUCTION METHOD AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

activities which requires different needs for it to be accomplished. Also, these areas might

require different approaches for it to be successfully executed. This is the reason why

considering specialization is an important factor in establishing a project structure for your

project. Ultimately, considering this can maximize the productivity of every project member in

order to attain their personal goals and sooner achieve their project goals (PM4DEV,2016).

Coordination

Another important factor to be considered is the coordination. This enables every

members and every team to bring unity to the various elements that make up a projects. The

project managers must assure that every components or elements of a structure must be

integrated with each other so that their efforts will contribute equally to the overall objectives of

the projects. Also, the specific objectives of every team in a project must be coordinated or

aligned with the main objective of the company for the said project(PM4DEV).

As an Engineer, it is very important to have the knowledge about the different

organizational structures that are being used in a project. Being aware of all of these, can

greatly help you decide what structures to be used if we are going to manage a project in the

future. Moreover, the right organizational structure can be our key in accomplishing our projects

effectively and efficiently. At last, always remember that the success of a project lies on how it is

being managed. That is why our skill in project management is our major equipment in attaining

the success of every project that we are going to handle.