Organization Structures
Three classic structures affect how a project team is assembled:
- Functional — employees grouped by specialty (dev, QA, DBA). Project manager has little authority; work flows slowly across silos.
- Projectized — full-time teams dedicated to one project. Strong PM authority but resources idle between projects.
- Matrix — weak, balanced, or strong matrix; team members report to both a functional and a project manager.
Typical Software Team Roles
- Project manager — plans, tracks, removes blockers.
- Product owner / business analyst — represents the user.
- Systems analyst — requirements, modeling.
- Software architect — high-level design.
- Developers — build the product.
- Testers / QA engineers — verify quality.
- DBA — database design, tuning.
- DevOps / release engineer — CI/CD, deployment.
- UX designer — interaction design.
Agile Team Roles
- Product Owner — owns the backlog and priorities.
- Scrum Master — protects the team, removes impediments.
- Development Team — cross-functional, self-organizing.
Tuckman's Stages of Team Development
- Forming — polite, unclear roles.
- Storming — conflict over direction.
- Norming — agreed working style.
- Performing — high productivity.
- Adjourning — project ends.
Leadership Styles
- Autocratic — leader decides.
- Democratic / participative — team input.
- Laissez-faire — hands-off.
- Servant leader — supports the team (common in agile).
- Transformational — inspires change.
Motivation Theories
- Maslow's hierarchy — physiological → safety → social → esteem → self-actualization.
- Herzberg's two-factor — hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction; motivators create satisfaction.
- McGregor's X and Y — pessimistic (X) vs optimistic (Y) views of workers.
- Vroom's expectancy — motivation = expectancy × instrumentality × valence.
Communication
Project managers spend 80-90% of their time communicating. Use the right channel: face-to-face for complex or sensitive topics, email for records, chat for quick questions, reports for stakeholders. Keep a communication plan that states who gets what information, when, and how.
Conflict Management
Thomas-Kilmann identifies five styles:
- Competing — assertive, uncooperative.
- Collaborating — assertive and cooperative (win-win).
- Compromising — middle ground.
- Avoiding — sidestep.
- Accommodating — yield.
Summary
A project's success depends as much on team and leadership as on process. Pick a structure suited to the work, staff with the right roles, and lead with the right style. Understand motivation and manage conflict constructively.
Important Questions
- Compare functional, projectized, and matrix organizations.
- List the roles in a typical software team.
- Describe the three Scrum roles.
- Explain Tuckman's stages with an example.
- Compare autocratic, democratic, and servant leadership.
- State Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
- Explain Herzberg's two-factor theory.
- List the five conflict management styles.