 Project human resources management

Implications for the Future of IT Human Resource

Management
It is crucial for organizations to practice what they
preach about human resources. If people truly are their
greatest asset, organizations must work to fulfill their
human resource needs and the needs of individual
people in their organizations, regardless of the job
market.
If organizations want to be successful at implementing
information technology projects, they need to
understand the importance of project human resource
management and take actions to make effective use
of people.

WHAT IS PROJECT HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT?

Project human resource management includes the processes

required to make the most effective use of the people involved
with a project. Human resource management includes all project
stakeholders: sponsors, customers, project team members,
support staff,
suppliers supporting the project, and so on. Human resource
management includes the following four processes:
1. Developing the human resource plan involves identifying and
documenting project roles, responsibilities, and reporting
relationships. The main output of this process is a human
resource plan.
2. Acquiring the project team involves getting the needed
personnel assigned to and working on the project. Key outputs of
this process are project staff assignments, resource calendars,
and project management plan updates.
3. Developing the project team involves building individual and
group skills to enhance project performance. Team-building skills
are often a challenge for
many project managers. The main outputs of this process are
team performance assessments and enterprise environmental
factors updates.
4. Managing the project team involves tracking team member
performance, motivating team members, providing timely
feedback, resolving issues and conflicts, and coordinating
changes to help enhance project performance. Outputs of this
process include enterprise environmental factors updates,
organizational process assets updates, change requests, and
project management plan updates.

DEVELOPING THE HUMAN RESOURC

E PLAN
In order to develop a human resource plan for a project, you must
identify and document project roles, responsibilities, skills, and
reporting relationships. The human resource plan often includes
an organizational chart for the project, detailed information on
roles and responsibilities, and a staffing management plan.
Before creating an organizational chart or any part of the human
resource plan for a project, top management and the project
manager must identify what types of people the project really
needs to ensure project success. If the key to success lies in
having the best Java programmers you can find, planning should
reflect that need. If the real key to success is having a top-notch
project manager and team leaders whom people respect in the
company, that need should drive human resource planning.

Project Organizational Charts

Recall from Chapter 2 that the nature of information technology
projects often means that project team members come from
different backgrounds and possess a wide variety of skill sets. It
can be very difficult to manage such a diverse group of people, so
it is important to provide a clear organizational structure for a
project. After identifying important skills and the types of people
needed to staff a project, the project manager should work with
top management and project team members to create an
organizational chart for the project. Figure 9-3 provides a sample
organizational chart for a large information technology project.
Note that the project personnel include a deputy project manager,
subproject managers, and teams. Deputy project managers fill in
for project managers in their absence and assist them as needed,
which is similar to the role of a vice president. Subproject
managers are responsible for managing the subprojects into

Chapter 9

which a large project might be divided. There are often subproject

managers that focus on managing various software (S/W) and
hardware ( H/W) components of large projects. This structure
is typical for large projects. With many people working on a
project, clearly defining and allocating project work is essential.
( Visit the companion Web site for this text to see the project
organization chart that Northwest Airlines used for their large
ResNet project.) Smaller information technology projects usually
do not have deputy project managers or subproject managers. On
smaller projects, the project managers might have just team
leaders reporting directly to them.
DEVELOPING THE PROJECT TEAM
Even if a project manager has successfully recruited enough
skilled people to work on a project, he or she must ensure that
people can work together as a team to achieve project goals.
Many information technology projects have had very talented
individuals working on them. However, it takes teamwork to
complete most projects successfully. The main goal

Chapter 9

of team development is to help people work together more

effectively to improve project performance.
Dr. Bruce Tuckman published his four-stage model of team
development in 1965 and modified it to include an additional
stage in the 1970s. The Tuckman model describes five stages of
team development:
1. Forming involves the introduction of team members, either
at the initiation of the team, or as new members are introduced.
This stage is necessary, but little work is actually achieved.
2. Storming occurs as team members have different opinions
as to how the team
should operate. People test each other, and there is often conflict
within the team.

3. Norming is achieved when team members have developed a

common working method, and cooperation and collaboration
replace the conflict and mistrust of the previous phase.
4. Performing occurs when the emphasis is on reaching the
team goals, rather than working on team process. Relationships
are settled, and team members are likely to build loyalty towards
each other. At this stage, the team is able to manage tasks that
are more complex and cope with greater change.
5. Adjourning involves the break-up of the team after they
successfully reach their goals and complete the work.23
There is an extensive body of literature on team development.
This section will high- light a few important tools and techniques
for team development, including training, team-building activities,
and reward and recognition systems.