Task 4 - Hierarchy

Hierarchy had been termed as “a system of ranking and organising things or people…”[1] It is structured in two main ways flat and pyramidal organisation. The speed of collaboration is determined by these structures.

Pyramidal structure tend to occurred in large project where the owner sits in the peak of the structure, information then travel down from one level to the next, as seen in figure 1.

Figure 1

Often on each level meetings are conducted if there is any conflict or any decision making needed to be resolve, the solution of the meeting is then communicated to other levels, and possibly need the approval of the top levels, therefore the collaboration is slow, as decision are often pass back and fore, if this can be condense it will “helps control costs by reducing the number of revisions during the design and construction.”[2]

A flat structure allowed communication to travel faster as there is only one level of management to report to with other layer of management being removed. This structure is becoming popular due to the following features “…faster decision making, shorter communication paths, stimulating local innovation…”[3]

All levels in both the flat and pyramidal hierarchy play an important role in the project collaboration, just as all five fingers play a part in the functioning of a hand. The cease of collaboration of one division will cause delay to the project, in both monetary and non-monetary terms, as the “ability to meet schedule commitments and remain within budget is directly related to the performance of both the design team and the owner”[4], which basically mean everyone within the hierarchy.

There is also the hierarchy of the tasks which involve organising and determining task priority. This allow for a comprehensive overview of the project, allowing every divisions in the hierarchy to have a clear project goals and aims.

The project that we are working on in my opinion has a flat hierarchical structure, with all five of the team members reporting to the group leader. With the collaboration of all members decision-making has been easy and fast. Communications are vice versa and efficient, through methods as face to face meetings, email, blogging, wiki, every member is informed simultaneously. The flat structure of the team has offered a chance for every member to collaborate and contribute their design innovation freely.

The group has also planned out the hierarchy of the fabrication tasks in order of priority by:
1) Collecting images of interior design to simulate ideas in term of styles, colour scheme, etc.
2) Modeling of furnitures and fittings, focusing on rooms that are most interesting placing hierarchy of importants on different spaces.
3) Create, insert map and texture.
4) Programming in unreal – adding sound effect on the environment, animation of doors, windows.

The above tasks guideline has help­­­­ed the group to have clear project goals and objectives.
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[1] Wikipedia, “Hierarchy”, Wikipedia, (21 March 2008), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy, (viewed 9 April 2008).
[2] American Society of Civil Engineers, “Quality in the Constructed Project: A Guide for”, (US: ASCE Publications, 2000), p.28.
[3] Kettley, P., “Is Flatter Better? Delayering the Management Hierarchy”, IES, (July 1995), http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/summary/summary.php?id=290, (viewed on 11 April 2008).
[4] American Society of Civil Engineers, op. cit., p. 80.
[Figure 1] American Society of Civil Engineers, op. cit., p.90.