Responsibilities towards stakeholders: The Project Manager and the Functional Manager can be compared in addressing various stakeholders as below:
Organization: The first and foremost stakeholder of any manager is the parent organization.
The project managers are responsible for the successful completion of the project within the given time, budget and resources constraint and they have to make sure a precise and well-timed communication.
The responsibilities of the Functional managers make backbone of the organization. They have to be at the forefront in the communication for their respective functions.
Customer and the Project: Project managers work more closely with the clients and they have to maintain the overall integrity of the project intact. They have to maintain a balance between the customer demand and the other stakeholders. They are more focused towards the objectives of the project. Functional managers don’t have to deal directly with the clients. Their focus area will be the overall objective of their line of business
Project Team Members: Project Managers have to arrange the team members with the befitting skills. Once the team is formed, they have to maintain the motivation of the team members by proper work allocation, rewards & recognition, addressing the grievances etc. Training programs have to be arranged for the team members to match the gaps.
The involvement of functional managers with the project team members depends on the structure of the organization. In the Matrix structure, team members report to the functional managers as well, however; in a tight project based organization; functional managers have to focus on the planning and coordination with the staff.