Chapter 22: Human Resource Management as part of Project Execution

Aim: To understand the following Human Resource Management related processes
• Acquire project team
• Develop project team
• Manage project team

Acquire Project Team:

No project can be completed without people. During Project Execution, the Project Manager actually acquires the project team by using the procedures defined during planning. Note, however, that the project manager might not have direct control over what resources are assigned to the project. The following aspects will be considered when the Manager is staffing for his project:

• Availability - Does the person’s schedule allow them to work in our project?
• Ability - Does the person have the proper skill set required for our project?
• Experience - Will the project require an individual with significant experience?
• Interest - Will the person want to work on the project?
• Cost - How much will the person cost? This is applicable while hiring Contractors and even when hiring internal resources.

The table shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the acquire project team process.

Acquire Project Team
Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project management plan Enterprise environmental factors Organizational process assets	Pre-assignment Negotiation Acquisition Virtual teams	Project staff assignments Resource calendars Project management plan updates

A number of tools can be used in acquiring human resources. They are:

1. Pre-Assignment - Assignments made prior to beginning of execution. They might be named in the proposal, contract, or charter; or assigned because of a specific skill.
2. Negotiation - The project manager/team negotiates with functional managers or other managers for the resources they want. Organizational politics might be a factor in obtaining the desired resources.
3. Acquisition - Outside resources, such as consultants or contractors, are brought in through the acquisition process.
4. Virtual Teams - A team that is not located in the same place and relies on electronic tools (email, conference calls, and so forth) for communication. With decreasing communications costs and improved reliability, virtual teams have become more prevalent. This can also include off-shoring, where some of the project work is done in a separate country.

Exam Watch:

The use of virtual teams requires additional work during the communication planning process to ensure all the communication needs of the virtual team are met.

To know more about the Acquire Project Team process Click Here

Develop Project Team

Acquiring a team does not get the project completed. You need to develop them in order to be successful in your quest for project completion. Team development has two facets; increasing the competency of the team and improving the interaction among team members. Although team development should occur throughout the project, it is most effective when conducted early on in the project life cycle.

Exam Watch:

Teamwork is a critical factor for project success, and developing effective project teams is one of the primary responsibilities of the project manager

The table below shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the develop project team process.

Develop Project Team
Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project staff assignments Project management plan Resource calendars	Interpersonal skills Training Team-building activities Ground rules Co-location Recognition and rewards	Team performance assessments Enterprise environmental factors updates

PMI lists a number of tools for team development, including general management skills, training, teambuilding activities, ground rules, co-location, and recognition and rewards:

• Interpersonal skills - These skills are sometimes referred to as soft skills and include empathy, creativity, influence, and group facilitation skills.
• Training - This is used for increasing competency. It might be formal or informal and can include classroom training, computer-based training, and coaching/mentoring.
• Team-building activities - This is any activity used to improve team cohesiveness. Teambuilding can encompass anything from a short activity at the beginning of a meeting to an offsite event. Even team participation in a project activity such as risk identification can serve to build team cohesiveness. Most teams progress through five stages of development:

o Forming - This is the phase in which the team meets and first learns about the project and their roles. Team members are still independent and not yet team oriented.
o Storming - The team begins to consider the project work and make decisions. Collaboration is important in this phase.
o Norming - Team members begin to adjust to one another, work together more closely and build trust.
o Performing - The team is well formed and works together well.
o Adjourning - The team completes project work and migrates to post-project work.

• Ground rules - These dictate the expected behavior of the team. Having the team develop the ground rules can serve as a teambuilding activity.
• Co-location - This is the opposite of virtual teams. PMI uses the team war room to describe a room where the team activities take place. Critical projects might use co-location to improve communication among team members.
• Recognition and rewards - These are used to motivate the team and reinforce positive behavior. The approach should be developed during planning and take into account the culture of team members, the type of behavior to be rewarded, and the budget.

Power is an important concept within the team environment. Although the project manager is in charge, he might not have legitimate power over all team members. Other team members must also rely on some power in order to accomplish their tasks.

The different types of Power available for the Project Manager are:
1. Legitimate – Power based on position/title
2. Referent – Power transferred from someone with legitimate power
3. Expert – Power based on knowledge
4. Reward – Power based on the ability to give rewards
5. Coercive – Power based on force or intimidation (Punishment)

Referent power is important for project managers. Often their authority does not equal their responsibilities on the project. This is especially true in a matrix environment when they don’t have direct authority over team members. A project manager should be able to integrate and apply a specific power as situations demand.

To know more about the Develop Project Team process Click Here

Manage Project Team

Once the project team members have been assembled and developed, they are ready for action. As the team begins the actual work of the project the focus shifts to the day-to-day management of the team. PMI addresses the task of managing the project team in the manage project team process. This is where you supervise your team and help them be a cohesive unit.

The table below shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the manage project team process.

Manage Project Team
Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project staff assignments Project management plan Team performance assessments Performance reports Organizational process assets	Observation and conversation Project performance appraisals Conflict management Issue log Interpersonal skills	Enterprise environmental factors updates Organizational process assets updates Change requests Project management plan updates

As mentioned previously, recognition and rewards are used to motivate the team. Motivation also occurs in managing the project team in the areas of interpersonal skills and conflict management. Knowledge of motivation theories is often tested in the PMP exam.

There are a lot of Motivational Theories about what motivates our team and how as a manager we can utilize them to effectively manage them.

Some of the Key Theories are:

1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs - People have a hierarchy of needs, described as a pyramid. When one level is satisfied, they move onto the higher level needs. The base is physical needs (food, shelter), and then progress through safety and security, social needs (love, friendship), esteem, and finally self-actualization. On a project team, a worker would very likely be motivated by esteem, which can be self-esteem for mastery of a task or the esteem that comes from recognition by others for accomplishments.
2. Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory - There are motivators and hygiene factors. Hygiene factors (pay, adequate supplies) prevent dissatisfaction but otherwise don’t motivate. Motivation comes from factors such as learning new skills or being promoted. A project manager must ensure hygiene factors are present and create the motivators as part of the assignment.
3. Expectancy Theory - People are motivated by the expectation of being rewarded for their work. In addition, if a team is told they are high performing, they will act that way, with the corollary for low performance also being true.
4. McClelland’s Achievement Theory - The three motivators for people are power, affiliation, and achievement. A person might not have one of these factors, and therefore is not motivated in his job.
5. McGregor’s X & Y Theory - Theory X states people are lazy and need autocratic leadership. Theory Y states people are generally hard workers and do not require constant supervision.

Team Formation

The theories outlined above focus primarily on development of individuals. PMI also discusses how the team forms as a cohesive unit. A leading theory in team development was developed by Bruce Tuckman. His theory states that teams go through stages: forming, storming, norming, and performing. He later added a fifth stage, adjourning.

The 5 stages are:
1. Forming - Initial stage when team is first brought together. Team goals and individual roles are unclear. High dependence on the project manager for direction.
2. Storming - Team members attempt to establish themselves within the team. Cliques might form. Still some uncertainty in goals.
3. Norming - Roles are accepted. Consensus exists. There might be social interactions outside the project.
4. Performing - Very clear focus. Little direction is needed from the project manager.
5. Adjourning - Break up of the team after completion of the project. Feelings of insecurity might exist.

To know more about the Manage Team process Click Here

Prev: Chapter 21

Next: Chapter 23

Chapter 16: Human Resource Management

Aim: To understand the process “Develop Human Resource Plan”

The project manager must fulfill the role of manager and leader of the project team. The project manager has the following responsibilities:
• Determine the HR needs of the project
• Negotiate with line managers for internal resources
• Acquire external resources through the procurement process
• Determine training needs
• Identify/plan team-building activities
• Determine the performance review approach for a project’s human resources
• Determine the reward and recognition approach for motivational purposes
• Document the team structure and each team’s responsibilities
• Create a project organization chart
• Develop a staffing management plan

Exam Watch:
PMI puts a high value on the project manager’s responsibilities to the team. Make sure you are comfortable with applying PMBOK content to hypothetical situations.
Key Human Resource Principles

Human resource management is the set of processes used to organize and manage the project team, also referred to as the project staff. A subset of the project team is the project management team, composed of the project manager, project sponsor, and others responsible for project management activities such as planning, controlling, and closing the project.

Project human resource management is composed of human resource planning, acquiring, developing, and managing the team. HR planning has a number of key deliverables, including project organization charts, the staffing management plan, and determining the roles and responsibilities of each human resource.

The table below shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the develop human resource plan process.

Develop Human Resource Plan
Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Activity resource requirements Enterprise environmental factors Organizational process assets	Organization charts and position descriptions Networking Organizational theory	Human resource plan

It is important to understand the various methods organizations use to depict and describe human resources and their attributes. They are:
1. Organizational breakdown structure (OBS) – The OBS Graphically displays work packages according to departments. It can be used to identify the work assigned to each department
2. Resource breakdown structure – The RBS Graphically displays resources by type. It is very effective in tracking costs. Also, it groups resources even if they are working on different deliverables
3. Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) – The RAM is a chart displaying resources and for which assignments they are responsible. It allows easy identification of all responsibilities for a given resource
4. RACI matrix – The RACI Matrix is a specific type of RAM that shows the resources that are responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed in project activities. It provides more detail than RAM
5. Position description – It is a text-based description of responsibilities. Provides a high level of detail for a given position

Note
An organizational breakdown structure (OBS) is a graphical representation of the project team arranged according to an organization’s existing structure. A resource breakdown structure is also a graphical representation but is organized according to resource type. A resource breakdown structure can contain resources other than human resources, such as equipment, and can be used to track costs as well.

In addition to graphical representations, resources might be documented in matrix-based documents such as a responsibility assignment (RACI) matrix.
These documents are effective communication tools to ensure team members understand for which assignments they are responsible.

Note: RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consult, inform.

The Staffing Management Plan

The staffing management plan is used to document the type of resources needed and the timing for those resources. The plan includes how the resources will be acquired, start and end dates, training requirements, policies and procedures for the team, and the team recognition approach and budget.

Exam Watch:
Resource leveling is a schedule network analysis that results in schedule changes, start and finish dates, based on resource constraints. That is, resource leveling might cause start and finish dates to change if multiple activities rely on over-committed resources.

You can learn more about the “Develop Human Resource Plan” process by Clicking Here

Prev: Chapter 15

Next: Chapter 17

Points to Remember: Human Resource Management

In the Develop Human Resource Plan process, you plan out exactly which resources you’ll need, what their roles and responsibilities are, and how you’ll train your team and make sure they stay motivated.

Everything you do with your team—acquiring them, developing them, and managing them—depends on a good Staffing Management Plan.

You develop your project team by keeping them motivated, and you do this all the way through your entire project.

McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

A Theory X manager will micromanage the team, looking over everyone’s shoulder all the time and making them feel like they aren’t trusted.

It’s much better—and easier—to be a Theory Y manager. If you trust the team to do their jobs, they won’t let you down!

Project managers use their general management skills (“soft skills”) to motivate and lead the team.

In a matrixed organization, the project manager doesn’t have legitimate power, because the team doesn’t directly report to the project manager.

The most effective forms of power are reward power, where the project manager sets up rewards and recognition for the team, and expert power, which means the team respects the project manager’s technical expertise.

Referent power is power that’s based on identifying with or admiring the power-holder.

Punishment power is the least effective form of power. The project manager should never punish a team member in front of peers or managers!

Project managers should be familiar with modern theories of motivation and management.

McGregor’s Theories X and Y state that there are poor Theory X managers who don’t trust their teams, and good Theory Y managers who do.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is the theory that says that people can’t achieve “self-actualization” (full potential) or esteem (feeling good and important) until lower needs like safety and security are met.

Herzberg’s Theory says that it’s difficult to motivate people unless hygiene factors like a paycheck and job security are already in place.

Expectancy Theory holds that people only respond to rewards that are tied to goals they feel they have a realistic chance of achieving.

Bruce Tuckman’s five stages of team development are forming (the team still finding their roles), storming (the team forming opinions), norming (adjusting work habits to help the team), performing (working like a well-oiled machine), and adjourning (closing down the project).

Over half of all conflicts in projects are caused by resources, priorities, and schedules. Personality conflicts are actually the least likely cause.

The best way to resolve a conflict is to confront the problem: do your research, figure out what’s behind it, and fix the root cause. When you confront the source of the conflict head-on and work with everyone to find a solution that actually fixes the reason that conflicts happen, then the problem is most likely to go away and never come back!

Never ignore a conflict. That is the worst way of handling a conflict. The equally worse way is Forcing wherein you decide the resolution to a conflict by virtue of your authority as the PM. This may solve the conflict but may cause motivation issues on your team.

The best way to solve a problem is to confront it, which means doing your research, figuring out what’s causing the problem, and fixing it.

Withdrawal happens when someone gives up and walks away from the problem, usually because they’re frustrated or disgusted. If you see a team member doing this, it’s a warning sign that something’s wrong.

Don’t be fooled by questions that make it sound like “confronting” is a bad thing. Confronting is just another word for problem-solving.

Smoothing is minimizing the problem, and it can help cool people off while you figure out how to solve it.

You should only compromise if you can’t confront the problem.

Forcing means making a decision by simply picking one side. It’s a really ineffective way to solve problems.


Points to Remember - Other Topics:

Introduction to Projects & Project Management
Relationship Between Knowledge Areas & Process Groups
Project Integration Management
Project Scope Management
Project Time Management
Project Cost Management
Project Quality Management
Project Communication Management
Project Risk Management
Project Procurement Management
Ethics & Professional Responsibility

Points to Remember: Relation Between Knowledge Areas & Process Groups

Knowledge Area	Initiating Process Group	Planning Process Group	Executing Process Group	Monitoring and Controlling Process Group	Closing Process Group
Project Management Integration	Develop Project Charter	Develop Project Management Plan	Direct and Manage Project Execution	Monitor and Control Project Work Perform Integrated Change Control	Close Project or Phase
Project Scope Management	-	Collect Requirements Define Scope Create WBS	-	Verify Scope Control Scope	-
Project Time Management	-	Define Activities Sequence Activities Estimate Activity Resources Estimate Activity Durations Develop Schedule	-	Control Schedule	-
Project Cost Management	-	Estimate Costs Determine Budgeting	-	Control Costs	-
Project Quality	-	Plan Quality Management	Perform Quality Assurance	Perform Quality Control	-
Project Human Resources Management	-	Develop Human Resource Plan	Acquire Project Team Develop Project Team Manage Project Team	-	-
Project Communications Management	Identify Stakeholders	Plan Communications	Distribute Information Manage Stakeholder Expectations	Report Performance	-
Project Risk Management	-	Plan Risk Management Identify Risks Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis Plan Risk Responses	-	Monitor and Control Risks	-
Project Procurement Management	-	Plan Procurements	Conduct Procurements	Administer Procurements	Close Procurements

Points to Remember - Other Topics:

Introduction to Projects & Project Management
Project Integration Management
Project Scope Management
Project Time Management
Project Cost Management
Project Quality Management
Human Resource Management
Project Communication Management
Project Risk Management
Project Procurement Management
Ethics & Professional Responsibility

Points to Remember: Introduction to Projects & Project Management

Introduction to Projects & Project Management

1. Knowledge, performance, and personal skills are the three areas that project managers focus on to get better at their jobs.
2. When you’re talking about things like the people in your organization, the market you compete in, your company’s risk tolerance, and standards that your company needs to meet (like government-imposed standards for any contractor bidding on a government project), you’re talking about Enterprise Environmental Factors.
3. A program is a collection of projects that should be managed together in order to achieve a specific goal or benefit to the company.
4. A portfolio is a collection of projects or programs.
5. A project gathers a team together to do work that’s temporary, creates a unique result, and is progressively elaborated.
6. An operation (or process) is work that’s done in a way that’s repeatable and ongoing, but is not a project.

Organizational Structure

1. Functional managers have all the power in a functional organization. Project managers have the power in a projectized organization.
2. If a question on the exam doesn’t state an organization type, assume it’s referring to a matrix organization. That means the PM is responsible for making budgets, assigning tasks to resources, and resolving conflicts.
3. Project coordinators and expediters don’t exist in a projectized organization.
4. A project expediter keeps track of project status only.
5. A project coordinator has some authority, and usually reports to someone higher up in the company. Neither role has as much power or authority as a real project manager, even though an expediter or coordinator may have “Project Manager” written on their business cards.

Project Management Knowledge Areas

There are a total of 9 Knowledge Areas as per the PMBOK Guide. They are:

Integration Management: Coordinating all of the work so that it happens correctly. Making sure changes are approved before they happen.
Scope Management: Figuring out what work needs to be done for your project. Making sure your end product has everything you said it would.
Time Management: Figuring out the time it will take to do your work and the order you need to do it in. Tracking your schedule and making sure everything gets done on time.
Quality Management: Making sure you work as efficiently as you can and don’t add defects into the product.
Cost Management: Knowing how much you’re able to invest in the project and making sure you spend it right.
Human Resource Management: Getting the people to work on the team and helping them stay motivated. Rewarding them for a job well done and resolving conflicts that come up
Communications Management: Making sure that everybody knows what they need to know to do their job right. Tracking how people talk to each other and dealing with misunderstandings or miscommunications if they happen.
Procurement Management: Finding contractors to help you do the work. Setting the ground rules for their relationships with your company.
Risk Management: Figuring out how to protect your project from anything that could happen to it. Dealing with the unexpected when it does happen.

Points to Remember - Other Topics:

Relationship Between Knowledge Areas & Process Groups
Project Integration Management
Project Scope Management
Project Time Management
Project Cost Management
Project Quality Management
Human Resource Management
Project Communication Management
Project Risk Management
Project Procurement Management
Ethics & Professional Responsibility

Chapter 63: Big Picture of Human Resource Management

As mentioned in the previous chapter, managing the resources in our project team is an art and not all project managers are efficient in doing that.

Trivia:
If you have at least a few years of work experience, you would have seen that the managers with whom you worked were variedly capable when it comes to managing your team. Some were very capable and motivated the team to perform at their highest level whereas some were a disaster which made the team scramble for cover the moment the manager walked into the room. So, as you can see, the abilities of the manager can make or break the team and hence we must ensure that we take care of our team in the best possible way.

Human resource management as part of project management means developing the human resource plan, acquiring the project team, developing the project team, and managing the project team. This includes:
• Acquire Project Team - This is the process of filling the roles determined during human resource planning with actual staff assignments.
• Develop Project Team - This is the process of developing an optimal team by improving the individual competencies, improving the interaction among the individual team members, and thereby improving the team environment.
• Manage Project Team - This is the process of tracking performance of and providing feedback to the individual team members, managing changes related to the team, and resolving issues.

The whole thing can be explained as a picture as below:

The project team has two dimensions: independence and interdependence. Each member has an independent assignment in the sense that the member owns that part of the work, is responsible for completing it, and must have the skills and competency to complete it. However, all these individual assignments may have dependencies among them, requiring the team members to interact with one another.

To summarize, you hire or recruit individual members for your team, but for the projects success, all of these individual recruits work as a team and work towards the common goal which is “Success of the Project”

To accomplish this, the team needs to be developed from the individuals and managed. Don't worry; we will be learning this aspect in the subsequent chapters.

Prev: Introduction to HR Management

Next: Acquiring a Project Team

Chapter 62:Introduction to Human Resource Management

We have begun the execution phase of the project. To execute a project you need resources and the success of the project heavily depends on the performance of these resources and the optimal utilization of available resources by the project manager. Therefore, coordinating and managing resources, including human resources, is an integral part of project execution. During project planning, you define roles and assign responsibilities to those roles. Individuals who play these roles perform the responsibilities of the roles to execute the project work.

The process of obtaining the individuals to fill these roles and therefore become the members of the project team is called acquiring the project team.

A team is a group of individuals who perform individual responsibilities to work inter-dependently on their independent assignments. From a scientific viewpoint, a team is a dynamic entity, and its dynamics are determined by the interaction among its members. Therefore, for the team to be successful, it has to be effective in both dimensions:

1. Its members must be competent in performing their individual assignments and
2. The interaction among them must be overall constructive.

To ensure that you need to continually develop and manage the project team.

To obtain the right individuals for the project team and to develop and manage the team is an art, whereas the effective team taking the project to success is a science that will unfold itself automatically if you do the art part right.

In the subsequent few chapters, we will learn the tips and tricks to master the art part (which is our responsibility as the project manager)

Prev: Important Terms - Managing Project Work

Next: Big Picture of HR Management

Chapter 41: Introduction to Project Resource Management

Well, as part of project planning we have completed planning for the projects schedule and project communication. The next step would be to start planning for project resources. After all, you need someone to work on the project right? This is what we are going to learn in this and the next few chapters.

So, lets get started!!!

What are Project Resources?

Project Resources are entities that you need to execute a project. You need a team to work on the project (human resources), the team needs computers and other set up (infrastructure resources), the team needs to be paid (cost resource) and so on…

So, the core question that will be answered at the end of this series of chapters is: How do you plan for the project resources? This issue breaks down into three major areas:
• Human resource planning
• Cost planning and
• Procurement planning.

Planning for Resources

As you might remember, resource requirements are estimated by using the Estimate Activity Resources process, and the schedule is developed by using the Develop Schedule process. The activity resource requirements estimated this way are used to develop the human resource plan for the project. The human resource plan and the project schedule, in turn, are used to make cost estimates for activities, which are aggregated to determine the project budget.
Look at the picture below to understand the whole idea…

The direction of the arrow heads indicates flow of information from one activity to another.

Note: Don't worry too much if you can’t understand this picture. We will be covering all the steps involved in planning for project resources in detail.

The approved budget with a timeline assigned to it is called the cost baseline, against which the project performance is measured. This baseline is also used to plan for procurements i.e., purchases and acquisitions that are needed to complete the project but cannot be produced by the project team.

While developing the project schedule, the availability of resources required to perform the schedule activities is an obvious assumption. An important category of resources is human resources—for example, a computer programmer who will write a computer program. You need to plan for these resources.

We will be covering cost planning, human resource planning and procurement planning in detail in the forthcoming chapters…

Prev: Important Terms - Project Schedule & Communication Management

Next: Developing the Human Resource Plan