Project Human Resource Management

chapter 9

Project Human Resource Management

Project Human Resource Management includes the processes required to make

the most effective use of the people involved with the project. It includes all the

project stakeholders—sponsors, customers, partners, individual contributors, and

major processes:

9.1  Organizational Planning

identifying, documenting, and assigning proj others described in Section 2.2.  Figure 9-1  provides an overview of the following ect roles,

responsibilities, and reporting relationships.

9.2

Staff Acquisition

getting the human resources needed assigned to and working

on the project.

9.3

Team Development

developing individual and group competencies to enhance

project performance.

These processes interact with each other and with the processes in the other

knowledge areas as well. Each process may involve effort from one or more indi-

viduals or groups of individuals, based on the needs of the project.

Although the processes are presented here as discrete elements with well-

defined interfaces, in practice they may overlap and interact in ways not detailed

here. Process interactions are discussed in detail in Chapter 3.

There is a substantial body of literature about dealing with people in an oper-

ational, ongoing context. Some of the many topics include:

ٱ

Leading, communicating, negotiating, and others discussed in Section 2.4, Key

General Management Skills.

ٱ

Delegating, motivating, coaching, mentoring, and other subjects related to

dealing with individuals.

ٱ

Team building, dealing with conflict, and other subjects related to dealing with

groups.

ٱ

Performance appraisal, recruitment, retention, labor relations, health and

safety regulations, and other subjects related to administering the human

resource function.

Most of this material is directly applicable to leading and managing people on

projects, and the project manager and project management team should be familiar

with it. However, they must also be sensitive as to how this knowledge is applied

on the project. For example:

The temporary nature of projects means that the personal and organizational

relationships will generally be both temporary and new. The project manage-

ment team must take care to select techniques that are appropriate for such

transient relationships.

ٱ

The nature and number of project stakeholders will often change as the

project moves from phase to phase of its life cycle. As a result, techniques that

are effective in one phase may not be effective in another. The project man-

agement team must take care to use techniques that are appropriate to the

current needs of the project.

ٱ

Human resource administrative activities are seldom a direct responsibility of

the project management team. However, the team must be sufficiently aware

of administrative requirements to ensure compliance.

Note: Project managers may also have responsibilities for human resource

redeployment and release, depending upon the industry or organization to which

they belong.

9.1 ORGANIZATIONAL PLANNING

Organizational planning involves identifying, documenting, and assigning project

roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships. Roles, responsibilities, and

reporting relationships may be assigned to individuals or to groups. The individ-

uals and groups may be part of the organization performing the project, or they

may be external to it. Internal groups are often associated with a specific func-

tional department such as engineering, marketing, or accounting.

On most projects, the majority of organizational planning is done as part of

the earliest project phases. However, the results of this process should be

reviewed regularly throughout the project to ensure continued applicability. If the

initial organization is no longer effective, then it should be revised promptly.

Organizational planning is often tightly linked with communications planning

(described in Section 10.1), since the project’s organizational structure will have

a major effect on the project’s communications requirements.

9.1.1  Inputs to Organizational Planning

.1

Project interfaces.

Project interfaces generally fall into one of three categories:

ٱ

Organizational interfaces—formal and informal reporting relationships among

different organizational units. Organizational interfaces may be highly com-

plex or very simple. For example, developing a complex telecommunications

system may require coordinating numerous subcontractors over several years,

while fixing a programming error in a system installed at a single site may

require little more than notifying the user and the operations staff upon com-

pletion.

ٱ

Technical interfaces—formal and informal reporting relationships among dif-

ferent technical disciplines. Technical interfaces occur both within project

phases (e.g., the site design developed by the civil engineers must be com-

patible with the superstructure developed by the structural engineers) and

between project phases (e.g., when an automotive design team passes the

results of its work along to the retooling team that must create the manufac-

turing capability for the vehicle).

ٱ

Interpersonal interfaces—formal and informal reporting relationships among

different individuals working on the project.

These interfaces often occur simultaneously, as when an architect employed

by a design firm explains key design considerations to an unrelated construction

contractor’s project management team.

.2

Staffing requirements.

Staffing requirements define what kinds of competencies

are required from what kinds of individuals or groups and in what time frames.

Staffing requirements are a subset of the overall resource requirements identified

during resource planning (described in Section 7.1).

.3

Constraints.

Constraints are factors that limit the project team’s options. A

project’s organizational options may be constrained in many ways. Common fac-

tors that may constrain how the team is organized include, but are not limited to,

the following:

ٱ

Organizational structure of the performing organization—an organization

whose basic structure is a  strong matrix  means a relatively stronger role for the

project manager than one whose basic structure is a  weak matrix  (see Section

2.3.3 for a more detailed discussion of organizational structures).

ٱ

Collective bargaining agreements—contractual agreements with unions or

other employee groups may require certain roles or reporting relationships (in

essence, the employee group is a stakeholder).

ٱ

Preferences of the project management team—if members of the project man-

agement team have had success with certain structures in the past, then they

are likely to advocate similar structures in the future.

ٱ

Expected staff assignments—how the project is organized is often influenced

by the competencies of specific individuals.

9.1.2  Tools and Techniques for Organizational Planning

.1

Templates.

Although each project is unique, most projects will resemble another

project to some extent. Using the role and responsibility definitions or reporting

relationships of a similar project can help expedite the process of organizational

planning.

.2

Human resource practices.

Many organizations have a variety of policies, guide-

lines, and procedures that can help the project management team with various

aspects of organizational planning. For example, an organization that views man-

agers as “coaches” is likely to have documentation on how the role of “coach” is

to be performed.

.3

Organizational theory.

There is a substantial body of literature describing how

organizations can and should be structured. Although only a small subset of this

body of literature is specifically targeted toward project organizations, the project

management team should be generally familiar with the subject of organizational

theory so as to be better able to respond to project requirements.

.4

Stakeholder analysis.

The identification of stakeholders and the needs of the var-

ious stakeholders should be analyzed to ensure that their needs will be met. Sec-

tion 10.1.2.1 discusses stakeholder analysis in more detail.

9.1.3  Outputs from Organizational Planning

.1

Role and responsibility assignments.

Project roles (who does what) and responsi-

bilities (who decides what) must be assigned to the appropriate project stakeholders.

Roles and responsibilities may vary over time. Most roles and responsibilities will

be assigned to stakeholders who are actively involved in the work of the project,

such as the project manager, other members of the project management team,

and the individual contributors.

The roles and responsibilities of the project manager are generally critical on

most projects, but vary significantly by application area.

Project roles and responsibilities should be closely linked to the project scope

definition. A Responsibility Assignment Matrix (or RAM, see  Figure 9-2 ) is often

used for this purpose. On larger projects, RAMs may be developed at various

levels. For example, a high-level RAM may define which group or unit is respon-

sible for each component of the work breakdown structure, while lower-level

RAMs are used within the group to assign roles and responsibilities for specific

activities to particular individuals.

.2

Staffing management plan.

The staffing management plan describes when and

how human resources will be brought onto and taken off of the project team. The

staffing plan may be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed, based

on the needs of the project. It is a subsidiary element of the overall project plan

(see Section 4.1, Project Plan Development).

The staffing management plan often includes resource histograms, as illus-

trated in  Figure 9-3 .

Particular attention should be paid to how project team members (individuals

or groups) will be released when they are no longer needed on the project.

Appropriate reassignment procedures may:

ٱ

Reduce costs by reducing or eliminating the tendency to “make work” to fill

the time between this assignment and the next.

ٱ

Improve morale by reducing or eliminating uncertainty about future employ-

ment opportunities.

.3

Organization chart.

An organization chart is any graphic display of project

reporting relationships. It may be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly

framed, based on the needs of the project. For example, the organization chart

for a three- to four-person internal service project is unlikely to have the rigor

and detail of the organization chart for a 3,000-person disaster response team.

An Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) is a specific type of organiza-

tion chart that shows which organizational units are responsible for which work

packages.

.4

Supporting detail.

Supporting detail for organizational planning varies by appli-

cation area and project size. Information frequently supplied as supporting detail

includes, but is not limited to:

Organizational impact—what alternatives are precluded by organizing in this

manner.

ٱ

Job descriptions—written outlines by job title of the competencies, responsi-

bilities, authority, physical environment, and other characteristics involved in

performing a given job. Also called  position descriptions .

ٱ

Training needs—if the staff to be assigned is not expected to have the compe-

tencies needed by the project, those competencies will need to be developed

as part of the project.

9.2 STAFF ACQUISITION

Staff acquisition involves getting the needed human resources (individuals or

groups) assigned to and working on the project. In most environments, the “best”

resources may not be available, and the project management team must take care

to ensure that the resources that are available will meet project requirements.

9.2.1  Inputs to Staff Acquisition

.1

Staffing management plan.

The staffing management plan is described in Section

9.1.3.2. It includes the project’s staffing requirements, as described in Section

9.1.1.2.

.2

Staffing pool description.

When the project management team is able to influence

or direct staff assignments, it must consider the characteristics of the potentially

available staff. Considerations include, but are not limited to:

ٱ

Previous experience—have the individuals or groups done similar or related

work before? Have they done it well?

ٱ

Personal interests—are the individuals or groups interested in working on this

project?

ٱ

Personal characteristics—are the individuals or groups likely to work well

together as a team?

ٱ

Availability—will the most desirable individuals or groups be available in the

necessary time frames?

ٱ

Competencies and proficiency—what competencies are required and at what

level?

.3

Recruitment practices.

One or more of the organizations involved in the project

may have policies, guidelines, or procedures governing staff assignments. When

they exist, such practices act as a constraint on the staff-acquisition process.

9.2.2  Tools and Techniques for Staff Acquisition

.1

Negotiations.

Staff assignments must be negotiated on most projects. For

example, the project management team may need to negotiate with:

ٱ

Responsible functional managers to ensure that the project receives appropri-

ately competent staff in the necessary time frame.

ٱ

Other project management teams within the performing organization to

assign scarce or specialized resources appropriately.

The team’s influencing competencies (see Section 2.4.5, Influencing the Orga-

nization) play an important role in negotiating staff assignments, as do the pol-

itics of the organizations involved. For example, a functional manager may be

rewarded based on staff utilization. This creates an incentive for the manager to

assign available staff who may not meet all of the project’s requirements.

 .2

Preassignment.

In some cases, staff may be preassigned to the project. This is

often the case when a) the project is the result of a competitive proposal, and

specific staff were promised as part of the proposal, or b) the project is an

internal service project, and staff assignments were defined within the project

charter.

.3

Procurement.

Project procurement management (described in Chapter 12) can

be used to obtain the services of specific individuals or groups of individuals to

perform project activities. Procurement is required when the performing orga-

nization lacks the in-house staff needed to complete the project (e.g., as a result

of a conscious decision not to hire such individuals as full-time employees, as a

result of having all appropriately competent staff previously committed to other

projects, or as a result of other circumstances).

9.2.3  Outputs from Staff Acquisition

.1

Project staff assigned.

The project is staffed when appropriate people have been

reliably assigned to work on it. Staff may be assigned full time, part time, or vari-

ably, based on the needs of the project.

.2

Project team directory.

A project team directory lists all the project team mem-

bers and other stakeholders. The directory may be formal or informal, highly

detailed or broadly framed, based on the needs of the project.

9.3 TEAM DEVELOPMENT

Team development includes both enhancing the ability of stakeholders to con-

tribute as individuals as well as enhancing the ability of the team to function as

a team. Individual development (managerial and technical) is the foundation

necessary to develop the team. Development as a team is critical to the project’s

ability to meet its objectives.

Team development on a project is often complicated when individual team

members are accountable to both a functional manager and the project manager

(see Section 2.3.3 for a discussion of matrix organizational structures). Effective

management of this dual reporting relationship is often a critical success factor

for the project, and is generally the responsibility of the project manager.

Although team development is positioned in Chapter 3 as one of the executing

processes, team development occurs throughout the project.

9.3.1 Inputs to Team Development

.1

Project staff.

Project staffing is described in Section 9.2.3.1. The staff assign-

ments implicitly define the individual competencies and team competencies

available upon which to build.

.2

Project plan.

The project plan is described in Section 4.1.3.1. The project plan

describes the technical context within which the team operates.

.3

Staffing management plan.

The staffing management plan is described in Section

9.1.3.2.

.4

Performance reports.

Performance reports (described in Section 10.3.3.1) pro-

vide feedback to the project team about performance against the project plan.

.5

External feedback.

The project team must periodically measure itself against the

expectations of those outside the project.

9.3.2  Tools and Techniques for Team Development

.1

Team-building activities.

Team-building activities include management and indi-

vidual actions taken specifically and primarily to improve team performance.

Many actions—such as involving nonmanagement-level team members in the

planning process, or establishing ground rules for surfacing and dealing with con-

flict—may enhance team performance as a secondary effect. Team-building activ-

ities can vary from a five-minute agenda item in a regular status review meeting

to an extended, off-site, professionally facilitated experience designed to improve

interpersonal relationships among key stakeholders.

There is a substantial body of literature on team building. The project man-

agement team should be generally familiar with a variety of team-building activ-

ities.

.2

General management skills.

General management skills (discussed in Section

2.4) are of particular importance to team development.

.3

Reward and recognition systems.

Reward and recognition systems are formal

management actions that promote or reinforce desired behavior. To be effective,

such systems must make the link between project performance and reward clear,

explicit, and achievable. For example, a project manager who is to be rewarded

for meeting the project’s cost objective should have an appropriate level of con-

trol over staffing and procurement decisions.

Projects must often have their own reward and recognition systems since the

systems of the performing organization may not be appropriate. For example, the

willingness to work overtime to meet an aggressive schedule objective  should  be

rewarded or recognized; needing to work overtime as the result of poor planning

should not  be.

Reward and recognition systems must also consider cultural differences. For

example, developing an appropriate team reward mechanism in a culture that

prizes individualism may be very difficult.

.4

Collocation.

Collocation involves placing all, or almost all, of the most active

project team members in the same physical location to enhance their ability to

perform as a team. Collocation is widely used on larger projects and can also be

effective for smaller projects (e.g., with a  war room , where the team congregates

and posts schedules, updates, etc.). On some projects, collocation may not be an

option; where it is not viable, an alternative may be scheduling frequent face-to-

face meetings to encourage interaction. 

.5

Training.

Training includes all activities designed to enhance the competencies of

the project team. Some authors distinguish among training, education, and

development, but the distinctions are neither consistent nor widely accepted.

Training may be formal (e.g., classroom training, computer-based training) or

informal (e.g., feedback from other team members). There is a substantial body

of literature on how to provide training to adults.

If the project team members lack necessary management or technical skills,

such skills must be developed as part of the project, or steps must be taken to

restaff the project appropriately. Direct and indirect costs for training are gener-

ally paid by the performing organization.

9.3.3  Outputs from Team Development

.1

Performance improvements.

Team performance improvements can come from

many sources and can affect many areas of project performance; for example:

ٱ

Improvements in individual skills may allow a specific person to perform

assigned activities more effectively.

ٱ

Improvements in team behaviors (e.g., surfacing and dealing with conflict)

may allow project team members to devote a greater percentage of their

efforts to technical activities.

ٱ

Improvements in either individual or team competencies may facilitate iden-

tifying and developing better ways of doing project work.

.2

Input to performance appraisals.

Project staff should generally provide input to

the appraisals of any project staff members with whom they interact in a signif-

icant way.