Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Chapter 9: Project Human Resource Management - Coggle Diagram
Chapter 9: Project Human Resource Management
The Importance of Human Resource Management
Many corporate executives have said, “People are our most important asset”
People determine the success and failure of organizations and projects
Implications for the Future of IT Human Resource Management
Proactive organizations are addressing workforce needs by
improving benefits
redefining work hours and incentives
finding future workers
Project Human Resource Management
Making the most effective use of the people involved with a project
Process
Planning human resource management
Acquiring the project team
Developing the project team
Managing the project team
Keys to Managing People
Psychologists and management theorists have devoted much research and thought to the field of managing people at work
Important areas related to project management include
motivation theories
influence and power
effectiveness
Intrinsic motivation
causes people to participate in an activity for their own enjoyment
Extrinsic motivation
causes people to do something for a reward or to avoid a penalty
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs which states that people’s behaviors are guided or motivated by a sequence of needs
Hierarchy (Low to High)
Physiological
Safety
Social
Esteem
Self-Actualization
Herzberg’s Motivational and Hygiene Factors
He distinguished between
Motivational
achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth, which produce job satisfaction
Hygiene
cause dissatisfaction if not present, but do not motivate workers to do more. Examples include larger salaries, more supervision, and a more attractive work environment
McClelland’s Acquired-Needs Theory
Specific needs are acquired or learned over time and shaped by life experiences
Includes
Achievement (nAch):
Achievers like challenging projects with achievable goals and lots of feedback
Affiliation (nAff):
People with high nAff desire harmonious relationships and need to feel accepted by others, so managers should try to create a cooperative work environment for them
Power: (nPow):
People with a need for power desire either personal power (not good) or institutional power (good for the organization). Provide institutional power seekers with management opportunities
McGregor’s Theory X and Y
Douglas McGregor popularized the human relations approach to management in the 1960s
Theory X: assumes workers dislike and avoid work, so managers must use coercion, threats and various control schemes to get workers to meet objectives
Theory Y: assumes individuals consider work as natural as play or rest and enjoy the satisfaction of esteem and self-actualization needs
Theory Z: introduced in 1981 by William Ouchi and is based on the Japanese approach to motivating workers, emphasizing trust, quality, collective decision making, and cultural values
Thamhain and Wilemon’s Ways to Have Influence on Projects
Authority: the legitimate hierarchical right to issue orders
Assignment: the project manager's perceived ability to influence a worker's later work assignments
Budget: the project manager's perceived ability to authorize others' use of discretionary funds
Promotion: the ability to improve a worker's position
Money: the ability to increase a worker's pay and benefits
Penalty: the project manager's ability to cause punishment
Work challenge: the ability to assign work that capitalizes on a worker's enjoyment of doing a particular task
Expertise: the project manager's perceived special knowledge that others deem important
Friendship: the ability to establish friendly personal relationships between the project manager and others
Ways to Influence that Help and Hurt Projects
Projects are more likely to
succeed
when project managers influence with
expertise
work challenge
Projects are more likely to
fail
when project managers rely too heavily on
authority
money
penalty
Power
The potential ability to influence behavior to get people to do things they would not otherwise do
Types of power include
Coercive
Legitimate
Expert
Reward
Referent
Covey and Improving Effectiveness
Covey’s 7 habits to improve effectiveness on projects
Be proactive
Begin with the end in mind
Put first things first
Think win/win
Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Synergize
Sharpen the saw
Empathic Listening and Rapport
Good project managers are
empathic listeners
- they listen with the intent to understand
Before you can communicate with others, you have to have
rapport
– a relation of harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity
Mirroring
is the matching of certain behaviors of the other person, a technique to help establish rapport
IT professionals need to develop empathic listening and other people skills to improve relationships with users and other stakeholders
Developing the Human Resource Plan
Involves identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships
Contents include
project organizational charts
staffing management plan
responsibility assignment matrixes
resource histograms
Responsibility Assignment Matrices
A
responsibility assignment matrix (RAM)
is a matrix that maps the work of the project as described in the WBS to the people responsible for performing the work as described in the OBS
Can be created in different ways to meet unique project needs
Staffing Management Plans and Resource Histograms
A
staffing management plan
describes when and how people will be added to and taken off the project team
A
resource histogram
is a column chart that shows the number of resources assigned to a project over time
Acquiring the Project Team
Acquiring qualified people for teams is crucial
The project manager who is the smartest person on the team has done a poor job of recruiting!
It’s important to assign the appropriate type and number of people to work on projects at the appropriate times
Resource Assignment
Enrollment in U.S. computer science and engineering programs has dropped almost in half since 2000, and one-third of U.S. workers were over the age of 50 by 2010
CIO’s researchers suggest that organizations rethink hiring practices and incentives to hire and retain IT talent
Staffing plans and good hiring procedures are important, as are incentives for recruiting and retention
Some companies give their employees one dollar for every hour a new person they helped hire works
Some organizations allow people to work from home as an incentive
Resource Loading
Resource loading
refers to the amount of individual resources an existing schedule requires during specific time periods
Helps project managers develop a general understanding of the demands a project will make on the organization’s resources and individual people’s schedules
Overallocation
means more resources than are available are assigned to perform work at a given time
Resource Leveling
Resource leveling
is a technique for resolving resource conflicts by delaying tasks
The main purpose of resource leveling is to create a smoother distribution of resource usage and reduce overallocation
Benefits
When resources are used on a more constant basis, they require less management
It may enable project managers to use a just-in-time inventory type of policy for using subcontractors or other expensive resources
It results in fewer problems for project personnel and accounting department
It often improves morale
Developing the Project Team
The main goal of team development is to help people work together more effectively to improve project performance
It takes teamwork to successfully complete most projects
Tuckman Model
Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
Adjourning
Training
Training can help people understand themselves, each other, and how to work better in teams
Team building activities include
physical challenges
psychological preference indicator tools
Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Four dimensions include:
Extrovert/Introvert (E/I)
Sensation/Intuition (S/N)
Thinking/Feeling (T/F)
Judgment/Perception (J/P)
NTs or rationals are attracted to technology fields
MBTI is a popular tool for determining personality preferences and helping teammates understand each other
IT people vary most from the general population in not being extroverted or sensing
Social Styles Profile
People on opposite corners (drivers and amiables, analyticals and expressives) may have difficulties getting along
People are perceived as behaving primarily in one of four zones, based on their assertiveness and responsiveness:
Drivers
Expressives
Analyticals
Amiables
DISC Profiles
People in opposite quadrants can have problems understanding each other
Also uses a four-dimensional model of normal behavior
Dominance
Influence
Steadiness
Compliance
Reward and Recognition Systems
Team-based reward and recognition systems can promote teamwork
Focus on rewarding teams for achieving specific goals
Allow time for team members to mentor and help each other to meet project goals and develop human resources
Managing the Project Team
Project managers must lead their teams in performing various project activities
After assessing team performance and related information, the project manager must decide
if changes should be requested to the project
if corrective or preventive actions should be recommended
if updates are needed to the project management plan or organizational process assets.
Tools and Techniques
Observation and conversation
Project performance appraisals
Interpersonal skills
Conflict management
Conflict Handling Modes
Confrontation:
Directly face a conflict using a problem-solving approach
Compromise:
Use a give-and-take approach
Smoothing:
De-emphasize areas of difference and emphasize areas of agreement
Forcing:
The win-lose approach
Withdrawal:
Retreat or withdraw from an actual or potential disagreement
Collaborating:
Decision makers incorporate different viewpoints and insights to develop consensus and commitment
Conflict Can Be Good
Conflict often produces important results, such as new ideas, better alternatives, and motivation to work harder and more collaboratively
Groupthink:
Conformance to the values or ethical standards of a group. Groupthink can develop if there are no conflicting viewpoints
Research suggests that task-related conflict often improves team performance, but emotional conflict often depresses team performance
Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Absence of trust
Fear of conflict
Lack of commitment
Avoidance of accountability
Inattention to results
General Advice on Teams
Be patient and kind with your team
Fix the problem instead of blaming people
Establish regular, effective meetings
Allow time for teams to go through the basic team-building stages
Limit the size of work teams to three to seven members
Plan some social activities to help project team members and other stakeholders get to know each other better
Stress team identity
Nurture team members and encourage them to help each other
Take additional actions to work with virtual team members
Using Software to Assist in Human Resource Management
Software can help in producing RAMS and resource histograms
Project management software includes several features related to human resource management such as
Assigning resources
Identifying potential resource shortages or underutilization
Leveling resources
Project Resource Management Involves Much More Than Using Software
Focus on your goal of enabling project team members to deliver their best work
Project managers must
Treat people with consideration and respect
Understand what motivates them
Communicate carefully with them