Jackson Henry
9/12/2021
Organizational Culture and How it Can Improve Integration Project Management
Integration management runs off of every team member working together cohesively in order to come up with a strategy. Many project managers argue that it isn't the organizational structure or the staff that cause many problems, it's the culture. According to Information Technology Project Management by Kathy Schwalble,Ph.D,PMP. “Organizational culture is a set of shared assumptions, values, and behaviors that characterize the functioning of an organization”. This is a good definition telling us that there are definitely underlying assumptions in a workplace and a way people are expected to act. For anyone that has worked in a team in a work environment you understand the feeling. As a project manager, it is crucial that you have a good understanding on how to create or maintain a good work culture. Organizational culture can change people's mood whether it be either positive or energetic. A good work culture can make agreeing on goals much more seamless because everyone has a similar mindset. Especially nowadays with the current COVID-19 situation, it is becoming more and more difficult to keep a good organizational culture. Organizational culture can improve integration management, bring a more positive attitude and help during a difficult time.
As a project manager, it is important to understand some basic characteristics of organizational culture. According to Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy Judge, they have provided many characteristics on organizational structure. For example, group emphasis, an organization emphasising groups working together instead of individual work. Reward criteria is another great characteristic; helping employees work towards something like a salary raise instead of favoritism or seniority. Member identity is characteristic where employees identify with the organization instead of their chosen profession. Member identity can be huge when it comes to dedication and teamwork. One of the most important characteristics is open-systems focus which is the degree to which an organization monitors and responds to changes in the external environment. This works really well with projects. Because projects are a part of a larger organizational environment, it is important to have a more open system. All of these characteristics help work towards a good organizational culture.
When working with integration management there are a lot of steps you and your team have to go through, having a solid culture can make that process go so much smoother. For example when writing the project scope you and your team have to figure out the structure for all the tasks and how to execute all the tasks. If we use one of the characteristics of organizational culture like reward criteria this can help out during this step. For example if your team is expected to get a reward after completing the tasks then they are more likely to take on more challenging tasks. Open-systems focus is another characteristic that helps with integration management. During the project execution it is better to have your team members to be more open and flexible. Giving everyone more freedom during a project execution can sometimes bring good results in the project closing.
Today, COVID-19 makes the process of developing a good organizational culture even more difficult than before. A journal entry from the University of London titled “Organizational Culture and COVID-19” by André Spicer asks some very important questions:
“While the profound dislocation introduced by COVID-19 presents some significant challenges for managers, it also offers some significant opportunities for researchers. The first involves asking just how resilient organisational cultures actually are. Do organisational cultures actually change when there is a wide scale societal jolt or do they remain stubbornly similar? Which components of a culture are transformed and which are kept?”.
The answer to the question of whether a wide scale change affects the organizational culture is a definite yes. Where once employees would be sitting face to face enjoying a coffee can only see each other during a zoom call or meeting. These drastic changes play a huge role in the characteristics we mentioned before. For example, group work has another layer of challenge put on it. Not being able to physically show plans for a project can really hinder communication. To answer the next question on what aspects of the culture are lost and which are kept, we have to look at what characteristics will work with the current situation. Reward criteria can always work no matter what the environment is. Project managers can always reward employees for going above the call of duty with a reward other than favoritism or seniority. Member identity is another characteristic that if maintained properly can stay even through these tough times. Even with the new challenges that come with COVID-19, there are many solutions.
As a project manager, you can combat these drastic changes and still have an excellent organizational culture. In terms of keeping a strong group characteristic, there are plenty of internet/cloud based applications that can keep employees connected. For example, the ever popular Microsoft Office applications are now accessible through a web browser allowing multiple users to work on the same document. Video conference applications like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Hangout, and many more make group work achievable. Open-system focus is also another characteristic that can be achieved during COVID-19. Monitoring employees or groups has never been easier when everyone is online working instead of in an office. Another advantage to being online in an open-system focus is that everyone can work together on their own time and in their own way instead of following the policies of a general workplace. Member identity can be maintained during COVID-19 by implementing more group based activities or holding social events. Many organizations today are holding big events through streaming platforms allowing employees to feel like they belong to something bigger. With advancements in internet/cloud based technologies, there are several ways to keep a good, strong organizational culture.
Organizational culture plays a huge part in making integration management as smooth as possible. As a project manager, culture can play a huge role in having a successful project. A good culture can provide motivation and energy towards a goal bigger than their individual job. Characteristics like group emphasis, reward criteria, member identity and open-systems focus can really make employees feel like they belong to something bigger. When trying to improve your organizational culture during COVID-19, there are plenty of ways to answer all the big questions. With all the major leaps in internet/cloud based technology, we can surely create a strong organizational culture.
Sources
Schwalbe, Kathy. Information Technology Project Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2019.
Spicer, A. (2020). Organizational Culture and COVID-19. Journal Of
Management Studies, 57(8), pp. 1737-1740. doi: 10.1111/joms.12625