Project
Human Resource or Project team or Project Staff are people with different
skills, assigned in different roles and responsibilities for the project
activities in order to complete the project. These team members can be from
internal or external organization, they can work in part time or full time
basis and moreover, they can be added or removed from the team as the project progresses
according to the needs. It is advised to involve them in the planning stage in
order to strengthen their commitments to the project.
As
a project manager, there is a need to be aware of how to influence the project team in
order to avoid impacts on the project. Note that factors like team working
environment, geographical location of the team members, cultural background,
political interest, communication, race, religion, age gap etc may affect the project
performance. Therefore it is better to know how to handle the project team
well.
Planning
Human Resource is another knowledge area in the planning stage which involves
only one process named as Plan Human Resource Management. It is used to
identify and determine human resources with necessary skills required for the
success of the project.
PLAN
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Plan
Human Resource Management by definition is the process of identifying and documenting project
team roles, responsibilities, required skills, reporting relationships and
creating a staffing management plan as well as project organizational chart.
The
process uses the following inputs:
- Activity Resource Requirements – in order to determine the human resource needs for the project activities.
- Enterprise Environmental Factors – which show the organizational structure, organizational culture, the existing human resources as well as marketplace conditions for persons.
- Organizational Process Assets – which explain the organizational policies, descripitions of different roles and positions for the projects, lessons learnt from the previous projects regarding the organizational structure as well as the process of plan human resource management.
This
process can be done by:
- Using Experts who will list the required skills, assess roles, determine number of resources needed, determine the reporting relationships, provide guidelines for staffing, identify risks associated with staffing and recommend programs if needed.
- Having a meeting with the management in order to reach an agreement concerning the human resource management plan
- Using Organizational theory which provides the information about the behavior of the people and units within the organization. This will help to be flexible in leading the team, adapt the changes where applicable in the project life cycle and increase efficiency.
- Using networking whereby people from one organization or another interact formally or informally through seminars, meetings, events, conferences, workshops etc in order to improve and access to human resources assets such as strong competencies, specialized experiences and partnership opportunities.
- Using Organizational charts and position descriptions whereby roles and responsibilities of the team members are documented in different three formats:
o Hierarchical (organizational chart) –
a graphical structure with top-down format that shows the positions and
relationships of the team members. This is arranged according to the existing departments/units
or project activities listed. The following is an example.
o Matrix (responsibility chart) – a
grid which shows the assignment of human resources to the activities in order
to avoid confusion and increase accountability. RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consult,
Inform) chart is one of the tools used as the responsibility chart or
responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) when the team consists of internal and
external resources for the purpose of ensuring clear divisions of roles and
expectations. The following is an example.
o Text oriented (role description) – a
document which provides a detailed descriptions about the team members’ responsibilities
such as name of the position (role), responsibilities, competencies,
qualifications and authority. Here is an example
The
output of this process is called Human Resource Management Plan explaining how the human
resource is defined, staffed, managed and released in the project. The plan
will include roles, responsibilities and competencies required, authorities,
the project team members’ chart with their reporting relationships, as well as
staffing management plan.
Staffing
Management Plan is a component within Human Resource Management plan which explains
how and when to acquire the team members and for how long they will be needed.
This includes:
o Staff acquisition which explains if the team members are from
internal organization or external as contracted persons, if they can work at
central location or distant locations, the costs associated basing on their expertise and level of assistance needed for the project team.
o Resource calendars which provide the
time frame for each team member. This can be represented by histogram whereby the
number of hours for a person, unit or team members that will be needed each
week or month over the project is indicated.
o Staff release plan which explains the
methods and time of releasing the team members.
o Training needs which explain how the
project team members will be trained to improve their competencies for the
project if needed.
o Recognition and rewards which will
be provided to the team members basing on their activities and performance
under a person’s control in order to promote the desired behaviors within the
team.
o Compliance whereby strategies for
complying with contracts, regulations and policies are well included.
o Safety which explains how the
project team will be protected from safety hazards.
References:
PMI (2013). A Guide to the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide 5th Ed.) USA, Project Management Institute
https://www.slideshare.net/vivianweeks16/hr-slides-epsilon-team
http://hosbeg.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-human-resource-planning/
http://www.conceptdraw.com/How-To-Guide/orgchart-software
http://pmtips.net/blog-new/responsibility-assignment-matrix
Thank you and please don't hesitate to ask, suggest or comment below.
HAVE A BLISSFUL DAY.
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