Do you know what "matrix management" is all about ?

Leaving your current development methods unchanged, a person can if they wish draw up a matrix showing what is happening.

I have the feeling that historically people have grabbed such a matrix and used it to manage the project, while jettisoning the agreed development methodologies.

So I think there must have been many projects which were thus destroyed during their development.

Someone could grab the "matrix" and contract out the management of it to someone with no knowledge of the industry.

Each item in the matrix could then be contracted or subcontracted to people with minimal knowledge of the industry.

No alarm bells might be ringing.

But the project has clearly gone off the rails - it's no longer isomorphic to the original plan. (In the original plan, personnel would have been hand-picked - now it's all being outsourced to the bloke down the road, who is further outsourcing it).

To "Project Manager",
Thanks.
Terrific.

Matrix management is not typically something that is implemented at the project level - but at the organization level. Each row in the matrix is a project - each column in the matrix is an organizational functional/resource group.

There also different kinds of matrix - often refered to as weak, balanced, and strong. Each has advantages and disadvantages for the organization. Factors that affect a choice of matrix include the percentage of work that an organization performs versus operational work, and the degree of project management maturity.

Many people work in a weak or balanced matrix without recognizing it as such.

A strong matrix requires a separate project management function, often called the project management office. Certainly outsourcing of parts of the project happens frequently - although this can be done at two levels.

Firstly the project manager may elect to outsource part of the project, for a variety of reasons. This certainly adds to the complexity of the project, but the project manager becomes responsible for overseeing the outsourced work, and ensuring it is coordinated with the rest of the project.

Secondly a resource manager may elect to outsouce all or part of their part of the project - usually for resource capacity reasons. In this situation the resource manager will probably continue to oversee the outsourced work.

Whether work is being done in-house or not, the project manager should have their finger on the pulse of the project at all times.

Does this approach fail ? All the time. Like many approaches however, the success or failure often comes down to the details of the particular implementation, and the abiltities of the people involved.

I have no idea, and neither do you.