Where does a project manager fit in a business unit's organization chart? Given that a unit has a Director and a Manager, whom does the Project Manager of that unit ordinarily report to, the Director or the Manager? It seems that if the Project Manager reports to the Director this would create all kinds of issues since the PM has no tasking authority over employees who are supervised by the Manager. If the PM reports to the Manager though then the Director has no direct line to the PM to execute tasks the Director may need. There is probably no right or wrong way to set this up, but how is it usually done?

There is no canonical answer to this question. A project manager might report to:

* The PMO for the organization.
* A steering committee.
* The project sponsor.
* The line manager or executive responsible for the project's deliverables.
* A customer-facing engagement manager.
* The budgeting authority for the project.
* All of the above.



Other answers are also possible. Not only is the reporting structure variable, but the scope of the role and its "authority" (real or imagined) are also highly variable between frameworks and organizations. In short, your mileage will vary.