Organizing And Staffing Chapter 4 and 5 Organizing And Staffing The Project Office And Team

Human Resources Issues in PM Identify, document project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships Develop a “staffing management plan” How and when project team members will be acquired How to release them from projects Identification of training needs Rewards Safety issues

Project Personnel A project manager An assistant project manager A project (home) office (PMO) A project team

Human Resource tools and techniques Hierarchical-type organizational Chart Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) Helpful in tracking cost It is used to breakdown the project by type of resources Ex: welders welding equipment  for metal sheets

Matrix Based charts Responsibility Assignment Matrix

Definitions Authority is the right of an individual to make the necessary decisions required to achieve his objectives or responsibilities. Responsibility is the assignment for completion of a specific event or activity. Accountability is the acceptance of success or failure.

Responsibility Assignment Matrix Project Manager Project Office Team Member Department Manager Project Sponsor Raw Material Procurement Prepare bill of materials Contact vendors Visit vendors Prepare purchase orders Authorize expenditures Place purchase orders Inspect raw materials Quality control testing Update inventory file Prepare inventory report Withdraw Materials LEGEND General Management responsibility Specialized Responsibility Must be consulted May be consulted Must be notified Must approve

Staffing Questions Who should be a member of the project team? Internal External Contracted Who should be a member of the project office? What problems can occur during recruiting activities? What can happen downstream to cause the loss of key team members?

Project Manager Selection A project manager is given a license to cut across several organizational lines. A leader General management has selected and appointed him.

Project Manager Responsibilities To “negotiate” To resolve all conflicts, if possible To produce the end-item To make all required decisions To meet contractual profit objectives

“Accidental” Project Managers Neither well defined nor well-understood career path Responsibilities by happenstance No formal procedure for selecting and training project managers Loosely defined bosses

What Information was PM never given that could have made the job easier? Understand the context of project management Recognize project team conflict as progress Understand who the real stakeholders are Accept the political nature of organizations and use it to your advantage

Lead from the front; the view is better!

Understand what “success” means Build and maintain a cohesive team Enthusiasm and Despair are both infectious One look forward is worth two looks back Remember what you are trying to do Use time carefully or it will use you Above all, plan, plan, plan

Communications Defined Effective project communication is needed to ensure that we get the right information to the right person at the right time using the right media and the right format and in a cost-effective manner.

PM Communications Responsibility The project manager must know: What kind of message to send To whom to send the message How to translate the message into a language that all can understand

“ Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say.” Anonymous Boss

Acquiring Project Team Process of obtaining the human resources needed to complete the project Availability Ability Experience Interests Cost

Team Skills Team members committed to the program Good interpersonal relations and team spirit The necessary expertise and resources Clearly understood goals and program objectives Involved and supportive Open communication among team members and support organizations

Tools to acquire project team Pre-assignment Negotiation with Functional managers Other project teams Consultants, subcontracting (in case of lack of expertise) Virtual teams

Virtual Teams Teams of people from the same company live in widespread geographic areas Add special expertise to a project team Incorporate employees who work from home offices Teams with different shifts or work hours Reduce cost of traveling Requires technology

Tools for managing project teams Observation and conversation Progress towards project deliverable Accomplishments Interpersonal issues Project performance appraisals 360-degree feedback regarding performance From superiors, peers and subordinates Conflict management (scarce resources, scheduling priorities, work styles)

Projects progress quickly until they become 90% complete: then they remain 90% complete forever.

Documentation Individually oriented media: These include letters, memos, and reports. Legally oriented media: These include contracts, agreements, proposals, policies, directives, guidelines, and procedures. Organizationally oriented media: These include manuals, forms, and brochures.

Lessons Learned documentation Documentation of knowledge learned during the implementation of a project Procedures, documents, drawings, plans,.. Skills Mistakes Issues Task descriptions, memos, meeting minutes, etc.

Conflict Resolution Skills Understand interaction of the organizational and behavioral elements in order to build an environment conducive to their team’s motivational needs. Communicate effectively with all organizational levels regarding both project objectives and decisions.

Conflict Resolution Skills (Continued) Recognize the determinants of conflict and their timing in the project life cycle.

Meetings Meetings can be classified according to their frequency of occurrence: The daily meeting where people work together on the same project with a common objective and reach decisions informally by general agreement. The weekly or monthly project meeting where members work on different but parallel projects and where there is a certain competitive element and greater likelihood that the chairmen will make the final decision by himself/herself.

Meetings (Continued) The irregular, occasional, or “special project” meeting, composed of people whose normal work does not bring them into contact and whose work has little or no relationship to the others.

How to Train Project Managers Experiential learning (60%) Formal education and courses (20%) Professional activities, seminars (10%) Readings (10%)

Special Requirements Part-time versus full-time assignments Several projects assigned to one project manager Projects assigned to functional managers The project manager’s role retained by the general manager

Risks The greater the project manager’s technical expertise, the higher the propensity that he will overly involve himself in the technical details of the project.

Risks (Continued) The lower the project manager’s technical expertise, the more likely it is that he will overstress the non-technical project functions (administrative functions).

Special Problems Personnel connected with project forms of organization suffer more anxieties about possible loss of employment than members of functional organizations. Individuals temporarily assigned to matrix organizations are more frustrated by authority ambiguity than permanent members of functional organizations.

Special Problems (Continued) Personnel connected with project forms of organization worry more about being set back in their careers than members of functional organizations.