PROJECT MANAGEMENT

MANUAL

HUMAN RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT & GOVERNANCE
PART 10

Ignacio Manzanera, CCC, MBA, ME, CPM

2012
 Table of Contents

Subject Page

Human Resources Mangement 945

Human Resource Theories 946
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory 947
Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory 948
McClelland’s Acquired-Needs Theory 949
McGregor’s X and Y Theories 950
Ouchi’s Theory Z 951
Thamhain and Wilemon’s Influence on Projects 951
Covey’s Approach to Improving Personal Effectiveness 952
Human Resource Planning Interactions with Other Processes 955
Developing a Team 964
Five-Step Model for Team Development 966
Team-Building Activities 970
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®) 971
Conflict Management 979
Overview of Six Sigma Technology 919
Perform Quality Assurance Process 923
Perform Quality Control 932
Creating a Cause-and-Effect Diagram 937
Governance 982
Program Management and effective governance 986
The role of IT Systems in Program Management Governance 989
Knowledge Management 990
Roles and Responsibilities 992
Program Reporting and Control 994
Standards and Documentation Governance 997

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Human Resources Management

Project Human Resource Management includes the processes that organize and manage the
project team. The project team consists of all project team members, including the project
management team, the project manager, and for most projects, the project sponsor. The
project sponsor is the person or group that provides the financial resources for the project.

The project team comprises the individuals who have been assigned roles and
responsibilities for completing the project. The type and number of project team members
can often change as the project progresses; stakeholders on a typical team include:

 Sponsor;
 Project manager;
 Project management team;
 Project team members;
 Support staff; and
 Contractors or other procured staff.

The project management team is a subset of the project team and is responsible for project
management activities such as such as planning, executing, monitoring and controlling
work, and closing the project.

This group can be called the core, executive, or leadership team. The project sponsor
works with the project management team, typically assisting with matters such as project
funding, clarifying scope, and influencing others to the benefit of the project.

In some instances, project management responsibilities may be shared among the entire
team. In all cases, it is important for team members to take an active role in planning and
decision-making. Early involvement of team members adds expertise during the planning
process and strengthens the commitment to the project.

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Human Resource Theories

Merely identifying groups of people who will perform work on a project does not create
the team synergy that is required to make the project a success. Over the years, much effort
has been undertaken to understand how to manage people at work so that employers can
achieve the best results possible. This effort has resulted in many theories about how to
optimize investment in human capital.

Industrial-organizational psychologists and management theorists have attempted to

understand and measure human behavior in order to improve both employee satisfaction
and employers' ability to select and promote the best people. Psychological studies have
been conducted to analyze the issues that affect how people work and how well they work.
These studies typically focus on:

 Motivation
 Influence and power
 Effectiveness

Motivation
Many psychologists, supervisors, and managers struggle to understand what motivates
people. Theorists feel there are two types of motivation:

 Intrinsic motivation – Related to personal enjoyment (the carrot approach)

 Extrinsic motivation – Stemming from the desire to avoid punishment (the stick
approach)

It is interesting to consider why some people need no external motivation to produce high-
quality work, while others require significant motivation to perform at all. Motivational
theories developed by well-known behavioral theorists are:

 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory;

 Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory;
 McClelland’s Acquired-Needs Theory;
 McGregor’s X and Y Theories; and

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  Ouchi’s Theory Z.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory

According to Abraham Maslow, human behavior is motivated by a sequence of needs as
shown in the following diagram.

 Physiological needs are biological needs, such as the need for air, food, and water;
 When physiological needs are met, the need for safety will emerge. Safety and
security rank above all other non-physiological needs;
 After physiological and safety needs are met, the need for social interaction
emerges. This involves relationships based on emotion, such as friendship;
 Esteem needs include the need for the respect of and recognition by others, and the
need for self-respect.; and
 Self-actualization is the instinctual need of a human to make the most of his or her
unique abilities.

Few people ever reach self-actualization, and most do not move above safety or social
motivators. Successful project managers recognize the importance of identifying the
individual motivational needs of all team members.

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Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

To better understand employee attitudes and motivation, Frederick Herzberg performed

studies to determine which factors in an employee's work environment caused satisfaction
or dissatisfaction. He published his findings in the 1959 book The Motivation to Work.

Herzberg’s studies included interviews in which employees were asked what pleased and
displeased them about their work. He found that the factors that contributed to job
satisfaction (and presumably motivation) were different from those that created job
dissatisfaction. The result of this study produced the motivation-hygiene theory. He called
the job satisfiers “motivators” and used the term “hygiene” to describe maintenance
factors that are necessary to avoid dissatisfaction.

Herzberg concluded that motivating factors for job satisfaction include:

 Achievement;
 Recognition;
 Responsibility; and
 Advancement.

Factors that contribute to job dissatisfaction include:

 Company policy;
 Quality and amount of supervision;
 Relationship with manager;
 Work conditions; and
 Salary.

Herzberg reasoned that because the factors causing satisfaction are different from those
causing dissatisfaction, the two feelings cannot simply be treated as opposites of one
another. The opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, but rather, no satisfaction.
Similarly, the opposite of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction. Herzberg’s theory explained
why attempts to use positive factors such as reducing time spent at work, increasing wages,
offering fringe benefits, and providing training in human relations and sensitivity do not
instill motivation.

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He argued that people want to self-actualize and therefore need stimuli for their own
growth and advancement needs. Management must not only provide hygiene factors to
avoid employee dissatisfaction, but must provide factors intrinsic to the work itself to
ensure that employees are satisfied with their jobs. He also believed that job enrichment is
a continuous management process.

McClelland’s Acquired-Needs Theory

David McClelland is best known for his acquired-needs theory, which is based on the
concept that a person's needs are acquired over time and are shaped by experience.

McClelland believed that most personal needs as well as individual motivation and job
effectiveness are directly linked to one of three needs: achievement, affiliation, or power.
His theory emphasizes the following needs:

 People with a high need for achievement are motivated to excel and tend to avoid
both low and high-risk situations. Achievers need regular feedback to monitor the
progress of their achievements. They prefer either to work alone or with other high
achievers;
 Those with a high need for affiliation require harmonious relationships and need to
feel accepted by others. They tend to conform to the norms of their work group and
prefer work that provides significant personal interaction; and
 People may need power in one of two forms: personal power, the desire to direct
others, or institutional power (also known as social power) the desire to organize
the efforts of others to further the goals of the organization. The need for personal
power is often perceived as undesirable. Managers with a high need for institutional
power tend to be more effective than those with a high need for personal power.

McClelland's theory is sometimes referred to as the three needs theory or as the learned
needs theory.

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Project managers should recognize that people with different needs are motivated
differently:
 High achievers should be given challenging projects with reachable goals. They
should be provided frequent feedback. While money is not an important motivator,
it is an effective form of feedback;
 Employees with a high need for affiliation perform best in a cooperative
environment; and
 Management should give power seekers the opportunity to manage others.

McGregor’s X and Y Theories

Douglas McGregor examined the behavior of individuals at work and formulated two
models, which he called Theory X and Theory Y. McGregor discussed these theories in
his book, The Human Side of Enterprise, published in 1960. He found that although many
managers expressed the “right” ideas, they actually followed a very different set of
assumptions about worker motivation.

 Theory X Assumptions: Most people dislike work and will avoid it if they can.
People want direction, dislike responsibility, and desire security above everything.
This theory is also referred to as the classical systems theory; and
 Theory Y Assumptions: Expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as
natural as play or rest. People will direct themselves if they are committed to the
aims of the organization, and the average person learns, under proper conditions,
not only to accept but to seek responsibility.

McGregor theorized that most managers tend toward Theory X, although he views Theory
Y as the preferable model and management method, as it produces better results and allows
people to grow and develop.

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Ouchi’s Theory Z

In 1981, William Ouchi published his best-selling book, Theory Z: How Americans Can
Meet the Japanese Challenge. Theory Z combined American and Japanese motivational
approaches that emphasized trust, quality, collective decision-making, and cultural values.
Ouchi’s Theory Z is more holistic than McGregor’s theories in that it not only emphasizes
the way in which management views its workers but also includes the workers’ perception
of management. One of the main characteristics of the Theory Z approach is trust. Theory
Z assumes that employees can be trusted to perform their jobs well as long as management
considers their personal satisfaction and welfare.

Theory Z also promotes:

 Long-term employment;
 Collective decision-making;
 Individual responsibility;
 Slow evaluation and promotion;
 Implicit, informal control with explicit, formalized measures;
 Moderately specialized career paths;
 Job rotation; and
 Broadening of skills providing generalization rather than specialization.

Thamhain and Wilemon’s Influence on Projects

Thamhain and Wilemon researched the various approaches that project managers have
used to influence workers, and examined how these approaches affected project success.
Nine bases of influence are available for project managers:
 Authority — The legitimate hierarchical right to issue orders
 Assignments — The project manager’s perceived ability to influence a worker’s
future work assignments
 Budget — The project manager’s perceived ability to authorize others’ use of
discretionary funds
 Promotion — The project manager’s ability to improve a worker’s position
 Money — The ability to increase salaries and benefits

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  Penalty — The project manager’s perceived ability to dispense or cause
punishment
 Work Challenge — The ability to assign work that capitalizes on a worker’s
enjoyment of doing a particular task or job, tapping into an intrinsic motivational
factor
 Expertise — The project manager’s perceived special knowledge that others deem
mportant
 Friendship — The ability to establish friendly personal relationships between the
project manager and others

Thamhain and Wilemon observed that projects were more likely to fail when project
managers relied too heavily on using authority, money, or penalty to influence people.
Instead, they recommend using challenging work and expertise to influence people. This
approach validates the studies of motivation by Maslow and Herzberg.

Covey’s Approach to Improving Personal Effectiveness

Dr. Steven Covey is a leadership and time management expert teacher, and organizational
strategy consultant. His work is an extension of the research completed by Maslow,
Herzberg, and other industrial-organizational psychologists.

Covey's behavioral theories embrace integrity and humanity, and contrast strongly with the
process-based ideologies that characterized management thinking in earlier times. His
book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, became a blueprint for personal and
organizational development when it was published in 1990.
 Be proactive – This is the ability to control your own environment, rather than
have it control you. This habit promotes self-determination, choice, and the power
to control responses to external stimuli and circumstances;
 Begin with the end in mind – This habit focuses on personal leadership. It focuses
on relevant activities, allowing people to avoid distractions and increase their
productivity;

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  Put first things first – This habit focuses on personal management, since it relates
to organizing and implementing activities that support the second habit;
 Think win-win – This habit focuses on interpersonal leadership. It is based on the
assumption that success follows a cooperative approach more naturally than the
confrontation of win-or-lose;
 Seek first to understand and then to be understood – This habit focuses on
communication, and involves the practice of empathic listening, which is listening
with the intention of understanding;
 Synergize – This habit focuses on creative cooperation, which is based on the
principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It promotes the
importance of recognizing the value of others’ contributions; and
 Sharpen the saw – This habit focuses on self-renewal, and it enables and
encourages the other six habits to happen and grow.

In his more recent book, “The 8th Habit”, Stephen Covey introduced an eighth habit,
which focuses on personal fulfillment and helping others to achieve fulfillment.

Leadership, Collaboration, and Personal Skills

The graphic below illustrates the need for project managers to have a variety of
interpersonal and general management skills to manage the project team. In addition,
strong communications skills are critical to the project manager’s ability to effectively
negotiate, share information, and manage conflict.

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Leadership Responsibilities
Working as a team involves a delicate balance of personality, expertise, and cooperation.
For a team to function, everyone must keep the best interests of the project, the company,
and the team in mind. It is the responsibility of the project manager to develop and manage
an effective project team. This can best be accomplished by:

 Believing in the value of teamwork;

 Choosing and reassessing the most productive model for team leadership;
 Communicating expectations about how the team will operate;
 Nurturing all team members by delegating, coaching, and providing formal training
appropriate to their needs Rewarding and discouraging behavior in accordance with
the chosen model for team leadership and the expectations communicated; and
 Setting aside time in team meetings and in one-on-one sessions with team members
to focus on the team’s performance and development.

Human Resources Planning

Human Resource Planning ensures that assigned roles, responsibilities, and reporting
relationships are clearly defined and documented so that all project participants understand
their roles and responsibilities in relation to other participants. The individuals and groups
involved can be part of the organization performing the project, or they can be external to
it.
Ineffective Human Resource Planning can lead to underutilized staff, perhaps leading to
layoffs.

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Conversely, it may also lead to overstretched team members who then become difficult to
retain. Effective Human Resource Planning helps organizations meet production and
service deadlines at the expected quality level, while ensuring effective utilization of all
staff members. It can also:

 Clearly define effective workforce requirements;

 Establish flexible work arrangements; and
 Improve output by developing a better understanding of the relationships among
productivity, organization, and technology.

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Human Resource Planning Interactions with Other Processes

Human Resource Planning occurs throughout different stages of project planning and often
interacts with many processes at one time. Typically, the Human Resource Planning
process interacts with the following processes:
 Create a WBS;
 Plan Purchases and Acquisitions;
 Activity Definition;
 Activity Resource Estimating;
 Activity Duration Estimating; and
 Schedule Development.

Examples of Human Resource Planning Process Interactions

Examples of the Human Resource Planning process interactions include:

 Create WBS: The WBS dictionary developed by this process defines each resource
requirement for the WBS work packages. After initial team members create a
WBS, the team may need to acquire additional members;
 Plan Purchases and Acquisition: The outcome of a make-or-buy analysis may
reveal that purchasing an item is more cost-effective than renting it. Such
considerations can affect the long-range strategy of the project team’s organization
by identifying a new skill or competency level absent from the organization’s
existing resource pool;
 Activity Definition: The activity attributes developed during this process provide
the primary data used to estimate the resources required for each schedule activity;
 Activity Duration Estimating: When activity durations are estimated before all
team members have been assigned, the actual competency levels of new team
members can cause activity durations to change. For example, during early
planning of a technical project, the project manager may decide that many senior
and junior software engineers are needed. However, as resource needs are refined,
the pool may be reduced to include only engineers with expertise in a particular
programming language;

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  Activity Resource Estimating: Activity resource estimating is dependent on the
output of Human Resource Planning that provides information on which resources are
potentially available; and
 Schedule Development: Schedule Development can require that resource
estimates be reviewed and revised. If Human Resource Planning is done at an early
stage, the project schedule will remain preliminary until the assignments of the
resources have been confirmed.

Together, these interrelated planning processes gather information of different degrees of

completeness and certainty from many sources. As new information is revealed, additional
dependencies, requirements, risks and opportunities, assumptions, and constraints will be
identified and resolved.

Project management is multidimensional and causes repeated loops and feedback that can
continue indefinitely. Procedures set by the performing organization determine when the
planning efforts are complete.

Human Resource Planning Process inputs

Enterprise Environmental Factors

It is important to understand the culture and structure before planning which human
resources will be required for a project. The definition of project roles and responsibilities
is developed by analyzing the types of skills and skill levels required for the project, the
anticipated team member interactions, and the existing reporting relationships.

Relevant enterprise environmental factors involving organizational culture and structure

include:
Organizational Factors
 Organizations, departments, and groups involved in the project; and
 How these organizations, departments, and groups interact, both formally and
informally.

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Technical Factors
 Disciplines and specialties that will be needed to complete the project work;
 Different disciplines, equipment, or methodologies required for the project; and
 Unique challenges associated with the transitions from one life cycle phase of the
project to the next.
Interpersonal Factors
 Formal and informal reporting relationships among project team candidates;
 Existing job descriptions;
 Supervisor-subordinate relationships;
 Prior relationships between team members and clients or vendors;
 Cultural or language differences among prospective team members that may affect
working relationships; and
 Levels of trust and respect that exist between prospective team members.
Logistical Factors
 Distance that separates the people and groups that will be working on the project;
 Time zones that affect the collaboration of geographically dispersed team members;
 Feasibility of virtual teams; and
 Tool and telecommunications support requirements.

Political Factors
Organizational goals and tensions that may drive stakeholders;
Existing alliances that may affect the ability to successfully manage the project; and
Groups and people that have informal power in areas important to the project.

Project Constraints
Constraints in the enterprise’s environment limit the project team options when defining
roles and responsibilities.

Examples of constraints that can limit flexibility in the Human Resource Planning process
include:
Organizational structure/policies of the performing organization — An organization
whose basic structure is a weak matrix means a relatively weaker role for the project
manager.

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Collective bargaining agreements — Contractual agreements with unions or other
employee groups may require certain roles or reporting relationships.
Economic conditions — Hiring freezes, reduced training funds, or a lack of travel budget
are examples of economic conditions that can restrict staffing options. In general, the
financial situation of the performing organization will affect the project ability to purchase
or otherwise acquire labor.
Preferences of the project management team — If members of the project management
team have had success with certain structures in the past, they are likely to advocate similar
structures in the future.
Expected staff assignments — The way the project is organized is often influenced by the
skills and capabilities of specific individuals.

Organizational Process Assets

Organizations with mature project management methodologies often have a repository of

lessons learned from completed projects, allowing the project manager to draw on past
Human Resource Planning experiences to plan the current project.

Organizational process assets can help reduce the amount of time needed for Human
Resource Planning at the beginning of the project and reduce the likelihood of missing
important responsibilities. These assets include:
Templates
 Role and responsibility definitions or reporting relationships for a similar project;
 Project organization charts;
 Position descriptions;
 Performance appraisals; and
 A standard conflict management approach.
Checklists
 Common roles and responsibilities;
 Typical competencies for particular skill levels;
 Applicable training programs;
 Team ground rules;
 Safety considerations;

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  Compliance issues; and
 Reward ideas.

Human Resource Planning Process tools

The tools and techniques used for Human Resource Planning are often readily available
within the performing organization. These items may include the established human
resources practices, policies, and procedures of the organization, as well as pre-existing
templates from similar projects that can be used as is or modified.

The Human Resource Planning tools and techniques fall into three categories:
 Organization Charts and Position Descriptions;
 Networking; and
 Organizational Theory.

Acquire Project Team Process

Adding the right players to the team will increase the probability that project goals will be
met, potentially bringing competitive advantage to the organization. The ability to attract,
hire, and retain the right resources is challenging but critical to the success of the project
manager and the organization.

Lack of Project Manager Control

The project manager may or may not have control over the selection of project team
members. The size of the organization, the relative priority of the project within the
organization’s portfolio, and other organizational or political factors my leave the project
manager with little authority for resource selection.
The Economy and Competition
The health of the economy impacts all industries. When the economy is good,
organizations compete for resources and may have difficulty recruiting and retaining good
employees.

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Employee Demographics
Pools of available talent in the labor market fluctuate by industry. Shifting population
demographics may cause a flood of available resources in some industries and labor
shortages in others. When there is a surplus of talent in the market, organizations should
take proactive steps to attract strong resources and thereby fuel their organization's growth.

Recruiting Practices
Today’s organizations have a wealth of options to recruit potential employees, such as
web-based job search engines, advertisements in various media, job fairs, employee
referral programs, and incentive programs. Recruiting the right resources to satisfy both
long-term and short-term needs involves significant time and cost investments. Effective
screening and assessment methods become critical processes for the organization.
Companies without an internal recruiting infrastructure may outsource employee
recruitment to an external firm.

Acquisition from Outside Sources

When the performing organization lacks the in-house staff needed to complete the project,
the project management team may hire consultants or subcontract some of the work to
another organization.

Techniques for planning such acquisitions and selecting consultants and contractors are
related to the processes of the Project Procurement Management Knowledge Area, such as
Request Seller Responses and Select Sellers.

Virtual Teams
The use of virtual teams creates new possibilities when acquiring project team members.
Virtual teams can be defined as groups of people with a shared goal who fulfill their roles
with little or no time spent meeting face to face. They interact primarily through electronic
means such as e-mail and conference calls, although they may occasionally meet in person.
Examples of virtual teams include people working at different geographic sites and a
project team whose members telecommute.

Team membership may be relatively stable or change on a regular basis. Members may be

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drawn from the same organization or from several different organizations (e.g., if a project
involves consultants or other external resources).

Many organizations establish virtual teams because of differences in time and space for
team members.

Specifically, teams may be distributed because of the new realities facing organizations
such as:
 Organization-wide projects or initiatives;
 Alliances with different organizations, some of which may be in other countries;
 Mergers and acquisitions;
 Emerging markets in different geographic locations;
 The desire of many people to telecommute;
 The continuing need for business travel, information, and communications
technologies available to support this travel;
 A need to reduce costs; and
 A need to reduce time-to-market or cycle time in general (the increasing velocity in
business).
Virtual teams are supported by both hardware and software. General hardware
requirements include telephones, PCs, modems (or equivalent), and communications links
such as the telephone system and local area networks. Software requirements include
groupware products such as electronic mail, meeting facilitation software, and group time
management systems.

Virtual Team Benefits and Challenges

The virtual team format provides many benefits:

 Teams can be formed of people recruited for their competencies and expertise,
regardless of whether they live in widespread geographic areas;
 Employees can work from home offices and during different hours and
 Projects that may have been neglected due to travel expenses can move forward, as
related expenses can be reduced and sometimes eliminated.

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The virtual team format also presents many challenges, not all of which are directly related
to technology.

Many challenges of managing a virtual team are related to:

 Time and location;
 Culture and diversity; and
 Communications.

Time and Location

When teams work in times zones that are two or more hours apart, this can translate to
significantly different work hours. Project management teams can work to overcome this
challenge by creating ground rules to accommodate all work schedules and specifying core
hours of operation within a normal workday.

Culture and Diversity

Technology may create diversity among team members, especially if part of the team is
together in one location and other members are dispersed. Some team members may feel
isolated. An additional consideration is that virtual team members may come from
multicultural backgrounds. In this situation, the team should be made aware of customs,
phrases, and gestures that differ from country to country.

Guidelines for Acquiring Virtual Team Members

When acquiring virtual team members, project managers are not constrained to a particular
geography. However, the skills required to work on a virtual project team differ from those
required of a worker on a more traditional team. The skills listed below may assist project
managers in the recruitment, assessment, and selection of effective virtual team members.

 Use technical tools proficiently, such as email, collaborative software systems, the
Internet, desktop videoconferencing systems, and teleconferencing;
 Form team relationships quickly and effectively by asking questions, showing
interest in others, adapting to the working styles of other team members, and being
aware of one’s interpersonal style;

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  Communicate effectively in a virtual environment, with strong written and oral
communication skills and a sensitivity to the cultural differences among team
members;
 Plan and organize individual work to correspond with team schedules;
 Participate effectively in group problem-solving, cooperating with others; and
 Prioritize work and establish personal and professional goals.

Guidelines for Ensuring Effective Virtual Team Communications

Miscommunication is more likely to occur when team members do not meet in person and
there is no nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication includes facial
expressions, tones of voice, gestures, eye contact, spatial arrangements, patterns of touch,
expressive movement, cultural differences, and other "nonverbal" acts.

Research suggests that nonverbal communication is more important in understanding

human behavior than words alone; the nonverbal "channels" seem to be more powerful
than what people say. Miscommunication leads to distrust. The issue of trust is at the
center of successful virtual team management. Old-style command and control
management, based on constant scrutiny, is simply impossible in a virtual environment.

Communications planning becomes much more important in a virtual team environment.

Potential communication issues can be reduced or eliminated by using the following
approaches when establishing a virtual team.

Include Face-to-Face Time if Possible

Include periodic face-to-face meetings throughout the life of the project. These meetings
will help establish relationships among the team members and create an effective working
environment where the team members work interdependently.

Provide a Big Picture of the Overall Flow of the Project

Always send team members copies of the updated project schedule, or provide an
electronic view of the project schedule online using the Internet. Team members need to
know where they fit in the big picture and the expected direction of the project.

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Establish Information Distribution Guidelines
Include a policy of acknowledging a request for information within 24 or 48 hours. A
complete response to a request may require more time, but at least the person requesting
the information will know that the request is being addressed. Establish a communications
management plan for transferring information among project team members, helping to
ensure that project information is distributed on time and to the right people.
Expand Text-Only Communication
Use the Internet to store charts, pictures, or diagrams so that everyone has access to them,
or use the fax machine to disseminate this information.

Developing a Team
A group of people is not necessarily a team. It is through the effective merging of group
skills and talents that new possibilities are created, including collective intelligence,
increased creativity, broader experiences, and cultural richness.

A team is a group of people with a high degree of interdependence geared toward

achieving a common goal or completing a task. A team outperforms a group and can
sometimes outperform what is expected of the individual participants.”

A team provides three major benefits for the organization:

 Maximizes the organization's human resources — Each member of the team is
coached, helped, and led by all the other members of the team. All members, not
just the individual, feel a success or failure;
 Produces superior outputs against all odds — The synergistic effect of a team can
normally outperform a group of individuals; and
 Demonstrates continuous improvement — When they pull together as a team,
members will not be afraid to take risks to show what they can do. Personal
motives will be pushed to the side to allow the team motive to succeed.

When nurtured and developed, teams can be very powerful. The combined strength and
collective wisdom of a team can help the team achieve success in meeting and exceeding
project goals. Teams offer advantages in other key areas such as:
 Distributing the workload;

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  Reinforcing individual capabilities;
 Creating participation and involvement;
 Making better decisions;
 Making a commitment to the work; and
 Generating and respecting diversity of ideas.

Project Team Tasks and Characteristics

Team members cooperate in all aspects of their tasks and goals, and they typically share in
tasks such as planning, organizing, setting performance goals, scheduling, assessing the
team’s performance, identifying and solving problems, and tracking progress.

Teams learn and demonstrate behaviors that are not exhibited by mere groups. Members of
a team typically move through four levels of participation as the team develops:
1. Contributing data and knowledge.
2. Sharing in the decision-making process and reaching consensus.
3. Making a decision as a team.
4. Making an imposed decision work as a team.

Characteristics of effective teams include:

 Communication — open, honest, and effective exchange of information between
members;
 Trust — openness in critiquing and trusting others;
 Belonging — cohesiveness by being committed to an understood goal and team
identity;
 Valuing diversity — creating synergy by respecting all individuals;
 Creativity and risk-taking — allowing success and failure to be attributed to the
team rather than to the individual;
 Flexibility — openness to assimilating change; and
 Participatory leadership — allowing everyone to lead to some degree.

The potential benefits of teams make them valuable tools. However, teams will not
typically form by themselves. The project manager must be the catalyst for bringing the
team together.

966
Five-Step Model for Team Development

Dr. Bruce Tuckman published his four-stage model of team development in 1965 and
modified it to include an additional stage in the 1970s. According to Tuckman, all teams
progress through five stages of development:
1. Forming;
2. Storming;
3. Norming;
4. Performing; and
5. Adjourning.
Teams move in and out of these stages, and certain events may precipitate this movement.
Each stage is characterized by unique attributes. Project managers, who are responsible for
team-building, should develop the skills necessary to take their team members through all
stages of team development.

Forming
The forming stage begins when the group assembles and is identified as a team unit. This
stage normally occurs during the initiation of a team, or when new members join the team.
This is a stage of transition from a group of individuals to a team. This stage is necessary,
but little work is produced. Typically, everyone is polite and there is a feeling of
anticipation and excitement. Roles are unclear, so there is usually a greater dependency on
some form of leadership or control.

Management Skills Needed During the Forming Stage

In this stage of team development, the project manager needs to provide directive
leadership. Efforts should be focused on defining goals, roles, and standards for the team.
The project manager organizes and directs the team members in meeting the project goals.

Management skills needed in the forming stage include:

 Organizing;
 Teaching;
 Setting standards and accountability; and
 Determining goals for the team.

967
Storming
During the storming stage, morale may begin to decrease as conflict, confusion, and
frustration arise. This is a normal progression, as team members have different opinions
about how the team should operate.

How much and how long a team storms depends on many variables such as team maturity,
experience, leadership, and purpose. As roles become more defined, individuals begin to
defend their own tasks and accountabilities.

Conflicts may arise between those who prefer to dive right into tasks and those who want
to spend more time planning. Team members will look for structural clarity and rules to
resolve these conflicts.

Storming is typically the most difficult stage for teams to traverse. It can make or break the
team. It is also the stage where members learn the critical skills and processes needed to
resolve issues. Resolving issues in the storming stage of team development enables the
group to begin the next stage, norming.

Management Skills Needed During the Storming Stage

During the storming stage, the project manager must help the team resolve conflicts, using
both leadership and management skills to provide a high level of support and direction to
the team.

The project manager must resolve conflicts by being assertive, openly communicating, and
using active listening. In addition, the project manager must be able to make decisions
regarding the direction of the team and justify the decisions, providing opportunities for
feedback.

During the storming stage, leadership and management skills are needed to:
 Help the team resolve conflicts;
 Provide a high level of support and direction;
 Explain decisions;
 Provide opportunities for clarification;
 Define roles and responsibilities; and

968
  Clarify performance expectations.

Norming
Norming is achieved when team members move from their personal agendas and begin
to focus on the group purpose. During this stage, the team develops a common working
method. Cooperation and collaboration replace the conflict and mistrust of the previous
stage of team development. Morale increases, and any subgroups that may have formed
disband.

Leadership may be shared more within the team, and there is less dependency on outside
leadership. Talents and skills are explored and used to make the team more effective and
unique.

Management Skills Needed During the Norming Stage

Norming marks a change in the team dynamics from dependence on the project manager
for direction toward greater self-direction. The project manager moves into a coaching
role, forming a more collaborative relationship with the team members and providing
constructive feedback.

Management skills in the norming stage include:

 Communicating effectively with team members;
 Providing constructive feedback; and
 Coaching team members and affirming roles of each within the team.

Performing
Performing occurs when the emphasis is on reaching team goals, rather than on team
process. Disagreements may occur, but they are resolved within the team, and necessary
changes to processes and structure are made by the team. Relationships are settled, and the
team members are likely to have built loyalty to one another. Skills and talents have been
applied effectively to produce optimum performance.

The team is challenged to do things better, faster, and more effectively. The team begins to
push itself and explore more creative ways of working.

969
During the performing stage, the team is more strategically aware and shares the same
vision for success. Although the team requires delegated tasks from the leader, team
members do not require instruction or assistance. Team members can now focus on
achieving goals, and they have a high degree of autonomy.

Management Skills Needed During the Performing Stage

Management skills required during this stage include:
 Building a consensus among team members;
 Problem-solving ;
 Rewarding team members when appropriate; and
 Decision-making.

Adjourning
The adjourning stage occurs when the team is ready to complete the project, or as some
team members are released from the project. They need to recognize what they have done,
and consciously move on.

Adjourning or closing a team is more of an adjunct to the original four-stage model rather
than an extension. This stage views the team from a perspective beyond the purpose of the
first four stages.

The adjourning stage is relevant to all team members, but not to the main task of managing
and developing a team, which is clearly central to the original four stages.

Management Skills Needed During the Adjourning Stage

From an organizational perspective, recognition of and sensitivity to people's
vulnerabilities in Tuckman's fifth stage is beneficial, particularly if team members share a
close bond. In addition, it is important for project managers to acknowledge individual
performance as well as team success.

Stages, Attributes, and Roles

It is important for the core project team to understand the team development stages and to
recognize the team behaviors that signal each stage. By using this knowledge, they can
understand how to help the project team move to the next stage.

970
Depending on where the team is in their development, the project manager will have to
change management roles to facilitate the team-building process.

Team-Building Activities
Team-building activities are designed to help teams bond and build a team vision. Team-
building activities can help team members:
 Build relationships among co-workers working in the same office or at remote
sites;
 Increase communication, learn new strengths, and gain insights about each other
and project needs;
 Build trust;
 Feel valued and rewarded;
 Understand the importance of planning and communicating ideas; and
 Understand their roles in relationship to the rest of the group.

Team-building activities can range from a five-minute agenda item in a status meeting to
an off-site, professionally facilitated session designed to improve interpersonal
relationships. Team-building activities help teams learn about themselves, each other, and
how to work together efficiently.

Understanding behavioral and social profiles of individuals can help project managers
improve working relationships with team members. Management styles can be adjusted
according to individual team member needs. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)
and the Wilson Social Styles Profile are examples of personality and social profiles
through which the project manager can better understand the motivations and preferences
of individuals on their teams.

971
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)

The MBTI® is an instrument used to measure a person’s preferences, using four basic
scales with opposite poles. It is based on the theories of C. G. Jung and was developed by
the mother-daughter team of Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs-Myers. They expanded on
and organized the work of Jung to create a system for measuring psychological type
preferences. The four dimensions of psychological type in the MBTI® scale include:
 Extraversion/introversion (E/I): The first dimension determines whether
someone is generally extraverted, drawing energy from the outside world and
activity, or introverted, drawing energy from the inner world of thoughts and
emotions;
 Sensate/intuitive (S/N): The second dimension relates to how people process
information. Sensating (or sensing) people are typically concerned with facts and
familiar terms, and often describe themselves as practical. Intuitive people give
greater emphasis to insight and to the future, and often describe themselves as
imaginative, ingenious, and attentive to hunches or intuition;
 Thinking/feeling (T/F): The third dimension represents how people prefer to make
decisions. Thinking judgment is based on objective and logical considerations,
while feeling judgment is based on subjective and personal values; and
 Judging/perceiving (J/P): The fourth dimension represents how people prefer to
organize their lives. Judging people make decisions in a structured way, and they
tend to like closure and task completion. They like to establish deadlines that they
take seriously, expecting others to do the same. Perceiving people organize their
lives in a flexible way. They regard deadlines as a signal to start rather than finish a
project. They do not feel work must be done before play or rest begins.

The various combinations of these 4 dimensions result in 16 personality types. Knowing

the personality profiles of team members can help project managers adjust their
management style to improve working relationships with each project team member.

Individual team members can also benefit from an understanding of personality types as
they pertain to team dynamics. For example, when a team meets to resolve a team problem,
each team member contributes a different perspective to the discussion.

972
One person may want to clarify the problem being discussed; another may suggest
structured ideas for resolution; a third may try to analyze the situation and produce an
explanation of how the problem came about. The personality types of the team members
contribute to the effectiveness of the team process.

Wilson Learning Social Styles Profile

Based on the Social Styles Model developed by Dr. David Merrill, an industrial
psychologist, Wilson Learning Corporation developed the Social Style Profile, a tool that
provides a profile of an individual’s interpersonal business style, based on how other
people perceive the individual in the workplace. The Wilson Learning Social Style Profile
categorizes people as having one of four behavioral profiles, or zones, based on their
assertiveness and responsiveness.

The four behavioral zones include:

 Drivers – Proactive and task oriented. The Driver style works best when the
environment is not constrained;
 Expressives – Proactive and people-oriented. The Expressive style works best in an
open environment in which interactions with others are important;
 Analyticals – Reactive and task-oriented. The Analytical style works best when the
elements of a situation are organized and directions for implementing are provided
by others; and
 Amiables – Reactive and people-oriented. The Amiable style works best when the
environment is free of time constraints and pressure.

The following figure shows the four social styles and how they relate to assertiveness and
responsiveness.

973
Each of the styles is expected to work best in a particular set of circumstances.
Understanding social styles will help project managers understand why two individuals
don't respond in the same way to the same set of circumstances. Gaining support and
commitment from different people takes different tactics.

Ground Rules

Ground rules are statements of values and guidelines that teams establish to help individual
members decide how to act. Ground rules establish clear expectations regarding acceptable
behavior by project team members. They should honor free speech and the dignity, respect,
and worth of everyone on the project team. To be effective, ground rules must be clear,
consistent, agreed-to, and followed.

The following examples of team ground rules demonstrate a behavioral model that
addresses how individuals communicate, participate, cooperate, and support each other.

Attitude and culture

 Treat each other with respect;
 Recognize and celebrate individual and team accomplishments; and
 Help where necessary to help solve problems and keep work on schedule.

974
Team meetings
 Hold regularly scheduled team meetings;
 Start meetings on time and expect everyone to be prompt;
 Establish expectations that all will attend unless they are out of town, on vacation,
or sick;
 Cancel meetings only when there are not enough team members to maintain a
quorum or there is insufficient subject matter to discuss; and
 Create and distribute an action item list with assigned responsibilities.
Communication
 Speak one at a time, allowing no side discussions;
 Do not personalize discussion of issues, avoiding personal attacks;
 Respect the group's time and the meeting timetables; be brief and focus on facts,
not opinions;
 Accept responsibility and accountability with the authority given; and
 Listen, be nonjudgmental, and keep an open mind on issues until it is time to make
a decision.

Co-Location
Co-location is a strategy that involves placing project team members in the same location
to enhance their ability to perform as a team. Co-location can be temporary at strategically
important times during the project, or it can span the entire project.

Co-location strategy can include the use of a meeting room, sometimes called a war room,
which has electronic communication devices, areas to post schedules, and other
conveniences that optimize communication and create a sense of community.

Recognition and Rewards

Part of the team development process involves recognizing and rewarding desirable
behavior to encourage team development. Examples of rewards and recognition include
offering bonuses, trips, or other incentives to recognize accomplishments made by the
project team. Rewards that only a limited number of project team members can achieve,
such as team member of the month awards, can hurt team cohesiveness. Rewarding
positive behavior that everyone can achieve tends to increase support among team
members.

975
Decisions about how teams should be rewarded and recognized are established during the
Human Resource Planning process, and award decisions are made through performance
appraisals during the Manage Project Team process.

Managing a Project Team

The Manage Project Team process involves tracking team performance, providing
feedback, resolving issues, and coordinating changes to enhance project performance.
Results of the process include an updated staffing management plan, input to performance
appraisals, and documentation of lessons learned.

The Manage Project Team process can become complicated when there is more than one
performance review path for team members. In functional and matrix organizations, team
members are accountable to both a functional manager and the project manager.
Sometimes another management layer is added when a team leader manages the team.
Often the project manager is responsible for managing these dual
reporting relationships. In a balanced matrix, the project manager and the functional or
area manager jointly evaluate team performance.

Inputs to the Manage Project Team process

 Organizational process assets: Include information about the organization’s

policies, procedures, and systems for rewarding team members during the course of
the project. The team should look for innovative ideas to reward people, such as
desirable job assignments, flexible hours, gift certificates, additional vacation days,
and corporate or project-related apparel. Typical rewards include bonuses, letters of
commendation, and recognition dinners;
 Project staff assignments: Provide a list of the project team members to be
evaluated during this monitoring and controlling process;
 Roles and responsibilities: Provide a list of team roles, associated levels of
authority and competency, and the work that each project team member is expected
to perform in order to complete the project’s activities. This information is used to
monitor and evaluate performance;

976
  Project organization charts: Provide a picture of the reporting relationships
among project team members;
 Staffing management plan: Lists the time periods that team members are expected
to work on the project, along with training plans, certification requirements, and
compliance issues;
 Team performance assessment: Allows project managers to formally and
informally observe team performance. Continuous assessment of team performance
enables the project manager to resolve issues as they occur, modify
communication, address conflict, and assess team development needs to improve
team interaction;
 Work performance information: Includes observations of team member
performance as it occurs. Direct observation of areas such as a team member’s
meeting participation, ability to follow up on action items, and communication skill
are considered and can assist in assessing training needs to improve individual
contributions; and
 Performance reports: Provide documentation about team member performance as
it relates to the project management plan. Examples of key performance areas
include schedule control, cost control, quality control, scope verification, and
procurement audits. Performance report information helps project managers
determine future human resource needs, recognition and rewards, and updates to
the staffing management plan.

Manage Project Team Process Tools

The tools and techniques used during the Manage Project Team process include:
 Observation and conversation;
 Project performance appraisals;
 Conflict management; and
 Issue logs.

977
Observation and Conversation

Observation and conversation are valuable techniques for monitoring the attitudes and
performance of project team members. The project management team monitors indicators
such as progress toward deliverables, accomplishments that are a source of pride for team
members, and interpersonal issues.

Observation and conversation allow project managers to provide encouragement when

morale is low and reinforce the objectives and vision of the project as needed. Project
managers who have good observation skills can intervene early to prevent conflict from
escalating.

Management by Walking Around (also known as MBWA, or Management by Wandering

Around) is a management style that is as valid today as it was in 1982, when Tom Peters
and Bob Waterman popularized Hewlett-Packard's mantra in their bestselling book, In
Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies. This term refers to
managers who spend a great deal of time away from
their offices, observing and communicating with their team members to stay in touch with
what is really going on with the project.

Project Performance Appraisals

Evaluation and feedback are key methods for encouraging team members to achieve a high
level of performance. Feedback about the performance of project team members is
important, regardless of the size of the project. However, the size, length, and complexity
of the project as well as organizational policies and labor contracts will influence whether
the feedback is formal or informal.

The amount and quality of communications are also major influences in determining the
type of feedback mechanism. Typically, project team members receive feedback from the
people who supervise their project work.

Evaluation information can also be gathered by using 360-degree feedback principles. 360-
degree feedback gives each employee the opportunity to receive performance feedback

978
from all the people who surround him or her at work: supervisor, peers, reporting staff
members, co-workers and customers. Most
360-degree feedback tools also involve self-assessments. 360-degree feedback allows
individuals to understand how their effectiveness as an employee, co-worker, or staff
member is viewed by others.

Objectives for conducting performance appraisals during the course of a project can
include:
 Clarification of roles and responsibilities;
 Opportunity to provide positive feedback in a structured context;
 Discovery of unknown or unresolved issues;
 Development of training plans; and
 Establishment of future development goals.

979
Conflict Management

Conflict can be defined as a pattern of opposition between people (or groups of people)
that positively or negatively affects something important. Conflict is often caused by
scarce resources, scheduling priorities, and differing personal work styles.
Project managers can attempt to proactively reduce the likelihood of conflict by
introducing team ground rules and solid project management practices such as
communications management planning and role definition.

It is common to experience some level of conflict among the project team, stakeholders,
and contractors during the life cycle of the project. In fact, conflict is not necessarily
negative when properly managed.

Differences of opinion are healthy and can lead to increased creativity and better decision-
making. The challenge for project managers is to maintain the right balance and intensity
of conflict. Successful conflict management results in greater productivity and positive
working relationships.

Harold Kerzner’s book, Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning,

Scheduling, and Controlling, describes five approaches to conflict resolution. These
approaches include Confronting, Compromising, Smoothing, Forcing, and Avoiding.
Confronting – Problem-solving, integrating, collaborating, or win-win style. It involves
meeting face to face and collaborating to reach an agreement that satisfies the concerns of
all parties. This style relies on open and direct communication, with a focus on problem-
solving. It typically provides the best resolution, although it may not be appropriate in all
circumstances, especially for time-critical decisions.
Compromising – "Give and take" style. It involves bargaining to reach a mutually
acceptable solution. It is helpful for maintaining relationships among the involved parties.
Smoothing – Accommodating or obliging style. This approach emphasizes the areas of
agreement and attempts to minimize the areas of disagreement. Unfortunately, conflicts are
not always resolved by the smoothing mode. This approach is beneficial for maintaining
harmony when time is limited and the stakes are low. It will provide a temporary solution,
placing the situation in perspective to control the magnitude of the conflict and establish an
obligation for future negotiations.

980
Forcing – Competing, controlling, or dominating style. Forcing occurs when one party
forces its position on another, ignoring the needs and concerns of the other party. This
approach results in a win-lose resolution, where one party wins at the expense of the other.
Forcing should be reserved for situations when the stakes are high or the relationship
between the parties is not important, as conflict may later increase and relationships may
break down.
Avoiding – Withdrawal style. This approach is viewed as postponing an issue for later or
withdrawing from the situation altogether. It is regarded as a temporary solution because
the problem and conflict continue to recur. It may be effective when there is not enough
time to resolve the issue, or when stakes are low.
Project team members are initially responsible for resolving their own conflicts. If conflict
escalates, the project manager should help facilitate a satisfactory resolution. In early
conflict stages, a direct collaborative approach is used. If a disruptive conflict continues,
formal procedures such as possible disciplinary actions may be necessary.

Issue Log
Issues will arise in the course of managing the project team. An issue log is used to
document obstacles that can interfere with the team’s ability to achieve project goals.
Issues can stem from differences of opinion, situations to be investigated, and emerging or
unanticipated responsibilities that need to be assigned to a team member.

An issue log is a central repository of human resource issues that have been raised
throughout the course of a project. Typically, the issue log is a table or database, listing
each issue, when it was opened, who the “owner” is, and a target date for resolution.

The log helps the team monitor issues until closure. At project closure, the issue log
becomes part of the project archive and is a critical input to the lessons learned
documentation.

981
An issue log can take the form of a spreadsheet and may contain the following fields:
 Issue description;
 Person or people involved;
 Resolution strategy;
 Status (Open, In Progress, Corrected, Verified);
 Issue owner, responsible for the resolution;
 Date logged;
 Target date for resolution; and
 Date closed.

REFERENCES

M. Effron, M.Goldsmith, "HUMAN RESOURCES IN THE 21st CENTURY", John Wiley

& Sons 2003

J.Fitz-enz, "THE ROI OF HUMAN CAPITAL: MEASURING THE ECONOMIC

VALUE OF EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE", AMACOM 2000

NDIA, "EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS INTENT GUIDE", NDIA, 2005

A.Damodaran, "STRATEGIC RISK TAKING", WHARTON School Publishing 2007

W.E. Deming, "OUT OF THE CRISIS", THE MIT PRESS, 1986

M. Imai, "THE KEY TO COMPETITIVE SUCCESS" McGRAW-HILL/Irwin 1986

A.H.Bell, "MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION", WILEY, 2010

M.Crouhy, R. Mark, D. Galai, "RISK MANAGEMENT", McGRAW-HILL, 2001

982
Governance

Corporate governance is a term that refers broadly to the rules, processes, or laws by which
businesses are operated, regulated, and controlled. The term can refer to internal factors
defined by the officers, stockholders or constitution of a corporation, as well as to external
forces such as consumer groups, clients, and government regulations.

A well-defined and enforced corporate governance provides a structure that, at least in

theory, works for the benefit of everyone concerned by ensuring that the enterprise adheres
to accepted ethical standards and best practices as well as to formal laws. To that end,
organizations have been formed at the regional, national, and global levels.

In recent years, corporate governance has received increased attention because of high-
profile scandals involving abuse of corporate power and, in some cases, alleged criminal
activity by corporate officers. An integral part of an effective corporate governance regime
includes provisions for civil or criminal prosecution of individuals who conduct unethical
or illegal acts in the name of the enterprise.

983
When it comes to how to run business and managing the funds needed for investments,
many countries and companies have already issued governance, transparency and
accountability procedures to prevent projects to go astray from their planned goals.

The USA’s Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and UK Companies Act 2004 are just few
examples of such legislations which were issued to protect investors by placing controls to
inhibit and deter financial misconduct and ensure transparency on how project funds are
being spent as well as if promised benefits were attained.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is no different. In November 2011, a decree was issued
to strengthen transparency and corporate governance in the UAE. The decree, issued by
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime
Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, tightens the regulation and constitution of boards
of directors of profit and non-profit institutions as well as corporations owned by the UAE
federal government.

This follows the July 2011 decree that assigned the UAE Audit Bureau besides its financial
supervision task, the fighting of corruption in the entities under its control to ensure proper
management and use of public funds.

Organizations whose growth and success is driven by investing in or delivering projects,

regardless of the project type, size or nature, are required more than ever to adopt
governance practices when it comes to managing their projects. Projects can include
engineering and construction of buildings, infrastructure, plants, refineries and other type
of capital asset projects.

Project failure is analogous to an investment failure where an organization’s loss is not

only limited to the loss of the invested funds but the lost opportunity of having other much
needed benefits if those funds where invested in another project. An organization that is
faced with continuous project failure will soon find out that its business continuity is at
stake.

Although many can argue on what will determine if a project was a success or a failure,
very few could argue that for a project to be successful, the project must deliver the
outcomes and benefits required by the project owner, create the project deliverables that
were defined in the project scope, meet the project milestone dates and stay within the
approved project budget.

The causes of failing to achieve those objectives can be attributed to many reasons
including the lack of strategic alignment, lack of senior effective usage of project and risk
management practices, scope changes, and ineffective project delivery team among others.

984
Projects have their own particulars which require having their own governance framework
aligned with the corporate governance framework.

Similar to corporate governance, project governance should address the areas that relate to
roles and responsibilities, accountability, disclosure and transparency, risk management
and control, decision making, code of ethics, performance and effectiveness and
implementation of strategy.

Most of those areas of governance need to be coordinated with the corporate governance.
For example, the project risk management policy needs to be coordinated and aligned with
the corporate enterprise risk management policy.

The same will apply to the corporate human resources and ethical policies.

985
Implementation of a comprehensive Project Governance Framework is recommended
along the following strategy in developing its framework:

 Conduct a formal organizational project management maturity assessment using

OPM3 to determine the areas of improvement needed to achieve project
governance framework.
 Develop and implement standard operating procedures (SOP) that will ensure that
roles, responsibilities and performance criteria is clearly defined as well as a
mechanism of separation between project stakeholder management and project
decision making
 Implement an enterprise wide professional development and training program that
will ensure competence, authority and resources for delegated members
 Implement an enterprise project management information system (EPMIS) that wil
promote the alignment between the overall business strategy and projects delivered
and encourage a culture of improvement, transparency and internal sharing of
project information
 Create a Project Management Office (PMO) that will ensure the separation of
project governance from organizational governance structures to minimize the
project decision layers.

986
Program Management and effective governance

Programs are management frameworks for the delivery of benefits from cross-functional
and temporary teams. These teams have resources invested in them in the expectation of
greater returns.

Note that the returns need not be purely financial and so governance is the way in which
management exercises control over the effectiveness of these resources and the associated
risks.

The fact that program teams are normally temporary indicates that controls, system and
governance processes may be new to the elected team and, in some cases, new to the whole
organization.

By their nature, programs are often less governed than normal ‘Business As Usual’.

This emphasis on both control and accountability is also very important. The creation of
program teams, especially where a substantial investment is involved, implies a great deal
of delegated authority to the program manager or director. Running multi-project teams to
either deliver technology for change or to transform the capability of the organization often
means that day to day control is taken from the line managers who nominally “own” the
resources.

In fact, where this does not happen the imbalance which results between authority and
accountability can lead to significant organizational stresses, with subsequent impacts upon
morale and staff turnover.

The challenge for senior managers, therefore, is to delegate enough control to empower the
teams (and to encourage further devolution of responsibility) while holding people
accountable for the effectiveness of the effort expended.

More than this, the real issue is to be seen as empowering the program teams, by providing
guidance, seeing opportunities and resolving conflicts between functional interests through
stakeholder representation.

This leads us to two important conclusions: first that program and project governance is
inextricably linked with corporate governance, in that the policy on risks, direction and
accountability must be set by the Board.

Second that the balance of investment in the short, medium and long term aims of
the organization are ultimately the responsibility of the Board and should be overseen
through program governance.

987
The design of program governance is highly specific and is both organization and situation
dependant. Best practices can help us to consider the factors to be taken into account when
putting in place or reviewing governance, but what it cannot do is to tell us the right
answer for all cases.

Program governance does, however, need to be fit for purpose and some of the
considerations are as follows:

 Are projects of sufficient scale and risk to warrant their own Change Control
Boards or Project Boards? If so, what should their terms of reference be? In effect,
where organizations operate programs of change the Project Board may have
delegated authority from,,,

 Program Boards or Steering Committees. These too, must have clear terms of
reference, delegated authority from the Board and cross-functional membership to
reflect the stakeholders in the program.

 Does the program involve complex technology or highly specialist knowledge? If

so, a Technical or Design Authority may be needed to agree scope changes, which
affect the technical characteristics of the product or capability produced or
configuration management changes which impact the target benefits.

 Lastly, and most contentiously, the Program Team is another form of governance
depending on the skills of the program manager and the degree of delegated
authority from the Program Sponsor and Program Board to the Program Manager.

In fact, it is very important that the Program Manager feels empowered and accountable
for the management of risks and issues through his or her team. In a large program of, say,
30+ projects, dozens of decisions are being made each week and it is simply impossible for
senior management to be involved in them all.

A further consideration, but beyond the scope of this paper, is the role of the Enterprise
Program Management Office (EPMO). This can be a very effective way to exercise
governance across the portfolio of programs by having a dedicated team with functional
responsibility for the investment and reporting.

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This works well because it allows a senior management focus on program effectiveness
without the obligation to manage a functional organization at the same time.

Members of the EPMO also understand the special nature of program direction. As
custodians of best practice (really shorthand for a consistent methodology, role definitions
and processes) the EPMO can understand the need for effective translation of business
strategy or public sector policy initiatives into program goals and vice versa.

Perhaps the over-riding arena where directors and non-executives may be called upon to
demonstrate their application of good governance practice is in the process for selecting
and prioritizing programs.

A very large part of an organization’s investment will be made through programs of work
and it is therefore essential that the organization is able to show that a logical, rational
process for program selection and prioritization has been followed in all cases.

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The role of IT Systems in Program Management Governance
Portfolio Management

It is virtually impossible to track the resources, costs and planned returns from a portfolio
of programs without IT systems. Keeping such information updated and pro-active
scenario planning at the project and program level demands it.

The most effective way to model and track the activity of a complex series of projects is on
an end-to-end process basis in near-real time (i.e. with programmed updates).

This allows expert staff and managers to understand what effort is planned for what
duration and to what effect. Since in real life, projects are subject to constant change, it
also enables decision making based on a “whole picture” view.

Decision Support tools will make possible a process of modeling proposed programs in
terms of the required investment, resource requirements, and planned benefits in such a
way that they may be cumulated.

Only when existing and proposed programs have been modeled collectively can the most
beneficial group of programs that lie within the organization’s ability to deliver change be
selected and prioritized.

Important considerations in the choice of an IT system for this purpose are to be able to:

 Define the organization’s strategy in balanced score card terms so as to see the
dimensions which are targeted for change and how they will be measured;
 Define contender program business cases in terms of investment, financial and non-
financial return and to review ongoing investments against target;
 Select the optimal mixture of programs in terms of a number of criteria such as
return on investment, short versus long term and sell-side versus buy-side;
 Monitor actual performance against baselines and understand the risk to the target
cost-benefit ratio; and
 Base-line those expectations and track variances, even after the program is
delivered.

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Knowledge Management

An important consideration in effective governance is the management of knowledge

alongside the management of risks and issues and the management of costs.

Knowledge Management has two main aspects, first the management of knowledge and
information inside the program team and its stakeholders and second the organizational
learning which comes from capturing experience and insights. It is vital that lessons
learned are applied to subsequent programs and project portfolios.

Modern IT systems facilitate both types of knowledge management through sophisticated

document control services, web access, authentication and access control. This enables, for
example, the program team to share and update their stakeholder contact plans without this
sensitive information being available to those outside the team and for program reporting
to be as simple as sending a URL link in an electronic mail message.

It does, however, like so many aspects of effective program management, need processes
and discipline. The Program Team needs to meet (at least the core team) at the outset of the
program to plan how they will approach the task.

At this meeting a review of lessons to be learned from previous, similar programs can
avoid repeating mistakes. Of course, knowledge should be gained from historic successes
as well as failures.

This is particularly useful in terms of the culture of the organization, where a very
important insight is how the considerable theory on the subject is best applied in this
context. Innovations in programs often happen more frequently than we imagine but are
lost to the organization unless actively captured.
Some key questions:

What worked last time?

What didn’t work so well?

What could we have been better prepared for?

What can we re-use from our old plans and templates?

Which roles do we need to strengthen?

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This is important to the team, increases the probability of success and is therefore
something that the governance bodies should check for. A similar review by the
governance bodies of what they can learn from previous programs would be not only
leading by example but good practice to boot.

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Roles and Responsibilities

All programs need a number of basic things to be in place. Like an

Architect’s drawings, a Quantity Surveyor’s Bill of Materials and the Project
Manager’s Plans are essential for a building construction, so a program needs basic
Policies, Processes, Structures and Methodology to work as a coherent whole.

In particular, roles and responsibilities are contained in the methodology used for the
program, and Program Management Group provides the framework for this purpose.

It can help organizations apply the project and program management methodology
consistently (rather than every Project Manager simplifying Primavera their own way) and
to make appropriate decisions on the level of management focus required.

The Primavera Framework is structured in layers to provide appropriate access to the

program management community dependant on need and role. It also contains Hypertext
links to documents and forms in the solution or other applications used for source
documents.

This sets out the lifecycle of projects and programs with which roles are needed at each
stage, how work progresses between stages, is approved or not and how delivery is agreed.

The key roles in a Program Management Team should be agreed by the Senior Sponsor
and the Governance Body which he or she chairs. This needs to contain enough specialism
to provide focus and to reflect the scope of the program but not so much that it creates
management interference, or leaves the team open to accusations of being “an overhead”,
although, of course, they are in an accounting sense.

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Program Reporting and Control

All program teams rely on information as their lifeblood. Governance without accurate,
timely and relevant information (not just data) is like flying an airplane without
instruments – fine when everything is going well.

Once a program is under way it quickly starts to generate a lot of information and much of
it is only relevant to the layer of the program structure which generated it. (See diagram
above on levels of governance).

Exercising effective control is therefore about both managing by exception look only at
what is off-plan, not at what is going to plan – and by understanding the linkages between
events.

An example of symptom and linked factors is shown below and refers, for purposes of
illustration, to a typical software delivery program

Program reporting is often the responsibility of the Program Management Office or

Centre of Excellence in the Public Sector. It needs to show the information (what is
happening?), the effect on future plans (what this implies?) and what the magnitude of

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corrective action needs to be.

Only by seeing the linkages between events and risks can the governance bodies exercise
effective control and really add value by drawing out insights for all key stakeholders.

Effective control is a subtle and intricate thing.

Senior Management must be fully represented on governance bodies where they are
significant stakeholders in the outcome which is planned for the program but must resist
the urge to interfere when the pressure is on.

Concerted action is essential and managers and directors need to understand that it takes
times for interventions to take effect. Too many interventions lead to the outcome of one
decision not being clear before another decision is taken which impacts the same resources,
leading to overload.

A further risk for governance bodies is of dis-empowering the Program Manager or

Program Director by resorting to micro-management when the pressure is on. This should
be resisted as it not only is likely to demoralize the leader and his or her team but takes the
person who is closest to the tactic knowledge about the program out of the decision making
loop.

It is better to replace the Program Leader if the governance body do not have faith in
the way that the program is being run or its ability to manage risks, although
they should first look at the way they are working in facilitating change.

Program Communications

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Program communications has a major role of program governance. The governance bodies
must take responsibility for the messages received by all stakeholders and the timeliness
and relevance of what is reported.

Not only must the whole range of stakeholders be considered in program communications,

the use of media is too and it is vital that all communications to external stakeholders is
under the supervision of the appropriate governance body.

Specialist help, perhaps on an invitation basis, may be needed for announcements which
could be share price-affecting or which could affect contracts in place with either suppliers
or customers.

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Standards and Documentation Governance

It has already been stated that setting clear policies is the role of the Program
Board or Steering Committee and these policies will include standards of documentation to
be used and any standard formats or pro-forms.

Additionally, the governance body must approve the quality assurance strategy to be used
at both program and project or work-stream level.

A Quality Strategy must encompass a number of key aspects of the program:

 Level of documentation required;

 How configuration management is to be carried out;
 Management of requirements and technical standards; and
 What tests of quality will be applied to the outputs of the projects.

Hydra Framework can assist in this by setting out both documentation standards at the
outset of a project or program and by advising on the level of governance required, based
on the complexity, cost and risk profile of the program.

Specifically, it includes the following:

 How to start the new project?;

 What documentation will be required?;
 Who should approve the proposal through the governance process?;
 Who should be informed about the proposal at each stage?;
 A template and/or sample of the project initiation document itself; and
 The flow-control for the selection and gateway reviews of projects.

The architecture of Primavera Framework has the following levels: Key is the
level of strategic programme planning. Major represents a very significant
program investment, Detailed is the project plans behind the program
plan and Individual is the plans of the people concerned with the project. Finally,
Templates is a database of forms, report formats and plans used throughout
the programme and project life-cycle.

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The types of measures that will be the basis of documentation and therefore, reporting are:

 What documentation is needed for each of the stage gates?

 What are the project program financial approvals?

 What is the business case format and which benefits apply?

 What is the level at which risks and issues are to be tracked?

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