2008 PMP Chap9 HR Management

Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

CommentGo Back

Download

9

Introducing ProjectHuman ResourceManagement

CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVES

9.01 Preparing for Human Resource Planning9.02 Completing Organizational Planning9.03 Examining Organizational PlanningResults9.04 Managing Staff Acquisitions9.05 Acquiring the Needed Staff 9.06 Assembling the Project Team9.07 Developing the Project Team9.08 Leading Project Team Development9.09 Examining the Results of TeamDevelopment9.10 Managing the Project Team

✓

Two-Minute Drill

Q&A

Self Test

344

Chapter 9: Introducing Project Human Resource Management

P

roject human resource management is multifaceted. It is the ability to lead, direct, andorchestrate the project team, the customers, project partners, contributors, and anyother stakeholders to achieve the desired results for the project’s purpose.

Project managers cannot, and must not, do everything. They must rely on theproject team to complete the project work. Have you ever worked on a projectwhere the project manager wanted to do the work? Or the project manager assignedthe mundane tasks to the project team and did the most important activities himself?Or the project manager completed the activities with the highest exposure? Not good.Project managers must delegate activities.Project human resource management relies on the general management skills wediscussed in Chapter 2:

■

Leading

■

Communicating

■

Negotiating

■

Problem solving

■

InfluencingProject managers must find ways to motivate the project team to complete thework. There is a tendency, in many projects, for the project team to be very excitedabout the project at the start and then the excitement wanes as the project movestoward completion. The project manager must coach and mentor to develop theproject team to ensure that the excitement, willingness, and dedication to theproject work continues.Throughout the project, the project manager will have to address project teamretention, labor relations, performance appraisals, and, depending on the nature of the project work, health and safety issues. As most projects are new and temporary, sotoo are the relationships between the project team members and the project manager.As the project progresses, the number of stakeholders in the project may change.The project manager and the project team will need to be aware of the coming flux of stakeholders and how this change may affect the dynamics of the project team and theproject work. An approach to project human resources may work well in one phase of the project but not in another due to the stakeholders that have become involved.Project human resource management may not be completely in the hands of theproject manager. The performing organization’s HR department may have controlover the majority of the assignment and the recruitment of the project team, but

Preparing for Human Resource Planning

345

the project manager will need some knowledge as to their responsibility, power, andautonomy in order to comply with the organization’s policies.

CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVE 9.01

Preparing for Human Resource Planning

Human resources planning is the process of mapping the project’s roles, responsibilities,and reporting relationships to the appropriate people or groups of people. HRplanning identifies the people involved with the project and determines what theirrole in the project is, whom they may report to—or receive a report from—and whattheir overall influence on the project work is.Consider a project to create a community park. The project manager works fora commercial entity that will complete the project work. She identifies the peopleresponsible for activities within her organization, the designers, engineers, installers,management, and so on. She will also have functional managers to coordinateemployees’ availability, financing to arrange procurement of resources needed forproject completion, and senior management to report the status of the project work.The project manager will also work and communicate with government officialsfor approval of the design, change requests, and overall schedule of the project.There’ll be safety issues, landscaping questions, and other concerns that will comeup as the project progresses.Finally, the project manager will likely communicate with stakeholders thatare not internal to her organization—for example, the people that live in thecommunity and enjoy the park, and various government officials. These stakeholderswill need to be involved in the planning and design of the park to ensure it satisfiesthe community’s needs.As you can see, HR can involve both internal and external stakeholders. In mostprojects, organizational planning happens early in the project planning phase—butit should be reviewed and adjusted as the environment changes. Organizationalplanning is all about ensuring that the project performs properly in the environmentit is working in. Much of organizational planning focuses on communications—whichwe’ll cover in the next chapter.

of 00

Leave a Comment