Chapter 4

The Human Side of Project Management

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.4-1

PMBOK® Area – Project Human Resources Management

Develop Human Resource Plan Creating a staff management plan that identifies and

documents the reporting relationships as well as each team member’s role, responsibility, and required skills

Acquire Project Team Confirms that specific human resources will be available

to work on the project

Develop Project Team The processes to improve the competencies of the

project team, their interactions, and the overall team environment

Manage the Project Team The tracking of the project team’s performance, providing

feedback, resolving interpersonal issues, and managing organizational change

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Planning Process Group:Developing the Human Resource Plan

Used to determine the roles that will perform schedule activities and to develop the staff management plan to fill the roles with team members

Contents include: project organizational charts staffing management plan responsibility assignment matrixes resource histograms

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The Project Team

The Roles of the Project Manager Managerial role Leadership role

Attributes of a successful project manager ability to communicate with people ability to deal with people ability to create and sustain relationships ability to organize

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Team Leader (Project Manager)

Acts To:

Creates the Project Environment

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Team Selection and Acquisition

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The Wisdom of Teams - Jon R. KatzenbachDouglas K. Smith

Work GroupsPseudo TeamsPotential TeamsReal TeamsHigh Performance Teams

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Work Groups

Members interact to share information, best practices, or ideas

No shared performance goals (individual performance)

No joint work-products

No mutual accountability

Viable in many situations E.g., study group

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Teams

Bring complementary skills & experience

Jointly defined clear goals & approaches improve communication

Improve decision-making

Have more fun

Real Teams

1. Small number of people2. Complementary skills3. Committed to a common purpose4. Common goals5. Common approach6. Hold themselves accountable

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Vital Signs for Evaluation

6 Project Team BasicsThemes & IdentityEnthusiasm & Energy LevelEvent-Driven HistoriesPersonal CommitmentEarned Membership

4-11Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Responsibility Assignment Matrices

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Sample RACI Chart

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Staffing Management Plans and Resource Histograms

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An Agile Project Management Approach

A Learning Cycle Approach to Project Management

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Traditional Teams

Accept background information at “face-value”

Approach projects in logical, linear fashion

Provide run-of-the-mill solutions

Solutions remain within the original “frame” or how the problem was originally presented to them

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Radical Teams

Understand and frame: Do not accept issues & tasks at their “face value”

The way the problem is defined may very well be the problem

Unquestioned assumptions are surfaced & challenged

Only by digging below the surface can we get to the “root” so that a meaningful solution can emerge

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A Learning Cycle

Figure 4.6

What we know(Facts)

What we think we know

(Assumptions)

What we don’t know(Questions to be

Answered)

Company has too much inventory on hand

It may be an efficiency problem

Why are inventory levels so high?

Cost of maintaining current inventory is becoming prohibitive

Management believes an new information system will improve efficiency and therefore lower inventory levels

What are the current levels of inventory?

Inventory turnover needs to be increased

What is the desired level of inventory?

Figure 4.7

Example of a Team Learning Record

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Who? Does What? By When?

Shedelle and Steve Interview sales team to understand past, current, and future trends for the company’s product.

Tuesday

Myra Provide a detailed count of the current physical inventory on hand.

Thursday

Corean Research potential inventory management system commercial packages

Thursday

Steve Research average inventory levels for the industry

Wednesday

Figure 4.8

An Example of an Action Plan for Team Learning

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Team Learning Cycles over the Project Life Cycle

Figure 4.9

Each cycle providesthe opportunity to challenge framing assumptions,create new understanding &find radical solutions

Assessing Team Learning

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Speed

Depth Breadth(Impact)