Project Human Resource Management – Steps, Processes, and Tools

Key Benefits of Project Human Resource Management

1. Efficiency

Refined roles enable HR teams to do their tasks better, so HR requires less time for repeat activities.

2. Improved Communication

Organized project human resource management ensures enhanced and concise communication between team members, as well as teams of two different departments can create a collaborative work environment.

3. Improved Resource Allocation

Project HR management tools help in the proper resource planning for project management, which makes HR utilize its human capital and finances effectively.

4. Increased Accountability

Project HR management frameworks are meant to lay it all out of the table so that every person on your team knows what is expected of them.

5. Common Objectives

Project Human Resource Management helps staff complete their activities along with the business objectives in order to achieve specific strategic goals of an organization.

6. Risk Management

With the help of a project HR Management plan, project management risks and other related issues can be identified earlier. So, the role of project manager is to design strategies that prevent risks and avoid disruption of the business operations.

7. Performance Measurement

Project HR management sets specific metrics and timelines, making performance measurement easy to assess and taking initiatives that change course as needed.

Introduction to Project HR Management Processes

Formal project HR management processes and tools help lower risk and increase the success rates of various HR tasks. Given below are the primary goals of project HR management:

• Plan Human Resource Management;
• Acquire Project Team;
• Develop Project Team; and;
• Manage Project Team.

Here is a an overview of project human resources management processes:

1. Plan Human Resource Management

The Plan Human Resource Management process in project HRM identifies and documents project roles, responsibilities, and required skills, reports the relationships, and creates a staffing management plan.

2. Acquire Project Team

The Acquire Project Team is the process of confirming human resource availability and obtaining the team necessary to complete project activities.

3. Develop Project Team

It is the process of improving competencies, team member interaction, and overall team environment to enhance project performance.

4. Manage Project Team

The last project human resource management process tracks team member performance, provides feedback, resolves issues, and manages changes to optimize project performance.

1st Process: Plan Human Resource Management

The first process in project HR Management is related to the individual members of a project’s team, and the key role of the project manager in this process is to:

• Identify team members that are needed for the project,
• Assign roles to the project members, and,
• Track professional relationships between staff members working on the project.

The project HR management also establishes the following:

• Roles and responsibilities of the project,
• Project organization charts, and,
• Staffing management plan, including the timetable for staff acquisition and release.

Inputs to Plan Human Resource Management

1. Activity Resource Requirements:
2. Enterprise Environmental Factors:
3. Organizational Process Assets:

Tools and Techniques Plan Human Resource Management

Four project HR management tools and techniques exist to develop a human resource plan in project management for a better-organized workforce. The project hr management tools in this process are:

1. Organizational Charts and Position Descriptions;
2. Networking;
3. Organizational Theory; and;
4. Meetings.

First Tool: Organization Charts and Position Descriptions

Various formats can be used to document the roles and responsibilities of team members. Most of the formats fall into one of three types:

• Organizational Chart or Hierarchical;
• Responsibility Chart or Matrix; and;
• Role Description or Text Oriented.

a. Organizational Chart of Hierarchical

Organizational charts, or hierarchy charts, are graphical representations of a project management organizational structure. Its purpose is to illustrate the reporting relationships and chains of command within the organization.

b. Responsibility Chart or Matrix

• The responsibility assignment matrix is a grid that shows that the project resourcing is aligned, and project resources are assigned to each work package.
• It illustrates the connections between work packages or activities, and project team members.
• They are used to designate roles, responsibilities, and levels of authority for specific activities.
• The matrix format shows all activities associated with one person and all people associated with one activity.
• It also ensures that only one person is accountable for any task, avoiding responsibility confusion.

c. Role Description or Text Oriented

• Detailed descriptions of team members can be specified in text-oriented formats.
• The documents provide information such as responsibilities, authority, competencies, and qualifications.
• These documents can be used as templates for future projects.

Second Tool: Networking

Networking is the formal and informal interaction with others in an organization, industry, or professional environment.

Examples of networking activities in project human resource management include:

• Proactive correspondence;
• Luncheon meetings;
• Informal conversations, including meetings and events;
• Trade conferences; and;
• Symposia.

Networking is a useful technique at the beginning of a project.

Third Tool: Organizational Theory

Organizational theory is the sociological study of how people, teams, and organizational units behave.

Fourth Tool: Meetings

• The project management team holds planning meetings when planning project human resource management.
• These meetings leverage a combination of other project hr management tools and techniques. They allow all project management team members to reach a consensus on the human resource management plan.

Outputs of Develop Human Resource Plan:

The Project HR Management Plan is part of the Project Management Plan and provides guidance on how project resourcing should be defined, staffed, managed, and eventually released.

The outputs of the Develop HR Plan process are:

• Roles and responsibilities of individuals and teams;
• Project organization charts; and;
• Staffing management plan.

Developing Advanced Project Management Skills

• A Project Management Certification, or CPM certification, equips professionals with essential knowledge and tools to manage project teams and resources.
• Pursuing an MBA in Project Management Online allows individuals to gain advanced strategic insights and develop leadership skills required to work as project manager, program manager, project portfolio manager, or even direct PMO (Project Management Office).
• For mid-level project managers, AIMS’ Project Management Diploma can enhance their ability to manage projects, programs, and project portfolios through AIMS’ online and interactive learning system.

2nd Process: Acquire Project Team

• It is the project HRM process of confirming human resource availability and identifying the necessary team to complete project activities on time for successful project management.
• This process aims to obtain a successful team by outlining and guiding the team selection and assigning team responsibilities.

Here are the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs of the Acquire Project Team process.

Inputs to Acquire Project Team

There are three inputs to the acquire project team process. They are:

• Human Resource Management Plan,
• Enterprise Environmental Factors, and,
• Organizational Process Assets.

Tools and Techniques for Acquire Project Team:

These tools and techniques are:

• Pre-assignment;
• Negotiation;
• Acquisition; and;
• Virtual Teams.

a. Pre-Assignment

Pre-assignment is a potential technique used in the PMI process to acquire project teams. It allows for advance booking or selection of project team members before the project starts. It may be required:

• If the project requires specific people being identified as part of a competitive proposal;
• If the project is dependent upon the expertise of particular persons; or;
• If some staff assignments are defined within the project charter.

b. Negotiation

An ability of a project management team to effectively negotiate with others who have skills or can provide required human resources for the project.

It may have many forms:

• The project management team should be able to negotiate with members who have the necessary skills to perform a task. For Example, the project management team may need to negotiate with Functional managers to ensure that the project receives appropriately competent staff within the required time frame.
• Negotiate with other project management teams within the performing organization to appropriately assign specialized human resources.
• Negotiate with external organizations, vendors, suppliers, contractors, etc., for appropriate, specialized, qualified, certified, or other such specified human resources.

c. Acquisition

When the performing organization cannot provide the staff needed to complete a project, the required services may be acquired from outside sources. This can involve:

• Hiring individual consultants; or;
• Subcontracting work to another organization.

d. Virtual Teams

Virtual teams are groups of people with a shared goal who fulfill their roles with little or no time spent meeting face-to-face. The virtual team members can communicate through technology, such as:

• E-mail,
• Audio conferencing,
• Social media,
• Web-based meetings, and,
• Video conferencing.

The virtual team model can combine the following:

• Corporate employees who are located in widely separated locations;
• Incorporate employees who work from home offices;
• Form teams of people who work different shifts, hours, or days;
• Include people with mobility limitations or disabilities; and;
• Move forward with projects that would have been ignored due to travel expenses.

Outputs of Acquire Project Team

The resulting outputs of the Acquire Project Team process are as follows:

• Project Staff Assignments,
• Resource Calendars, and,
• Project Management Plan updates.

3rdProcess: Develop Project Team

The develop project team process enhances project performance by improving competencies, team member interaction, and overall team environment. Here are the key benefits of the develop project team process:

• • Improved teamwork,
• • Enhanced people skills and competencies,
• • Motivated employees,
• • Reduced staff turnover rates and,
• • Improved overall project performance.

Inputs to Develop Project Team

The inputs to this project hrm process are:

• • Human Resource Management Plan,
• • Project Staff Assignments, and,
• • Resource Calendars.

These inputs tell who is working on the project and for what time period.

Tools and Techniques for Develop Project Team

Tools and techniques for the develop project team process are:

• Interpersonal Skills;
• Training,
• Team-building Activities;
• Ground Rules;
• Colocation; and;
• Recognition and Rewards.

Outputs of Develop Project Team:

The outputs of develop project team process are:

• Team Performance Assessment, and
• Enterprise Environmental Factors Updates.

4thProcess: Manage Project Team

The fourth project HR management process covers the core aspects of hr management in project management, and it comprises:

• Tracking team member performance,
• Providing feedback,
• Resolving issues and,
• Managing team changes when there is a change request in project management.

The key benefit of this process is that it influences:

• Team behavior,
• Manages conflict,
• Resolves issues, and,
• Evaluate team member performance.

Here are the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs of Manage Project Team process.

Inputs to Develop Project Team:

Inputs to this project hr management process are as follows:

• Human Resource Management Plan,
• Project Staff Assignments,
• Team Performance Assessments,
• Issue Log,
• Work Performance Reports, and,
• Organizational Process Assets.

Tools and Techniques for Manage Project Team:

Tools and techniques for this process are:

• Observation and Conversation,
• Project Performance Appraisals,
• Conflict Management, and,
• Interpersonal Skills.

Outputs of Manage Project Team:

Outputs of the Manage Project Team are:

• Change Requests,
• Project Management Plan Updates,
• Project Documents Updates,
• Enterprise Environmental Factors Updates, and,
• Organizational Process Assets Updates.

10 Steps to Create a Project HR Management Plan

1. Clearly outline the Project Objectives.
2. Identify Roles and Responsibilities of staff for each position.
3. Evaluate Staffing Needs and skills needed.
4. Develop a recruitment strategy, including talent requirements and timelines.
5. Prepare a Training and Development Plan for team members for overall improved project performance.
6. Establish Communication Strategies, such as flow of information to team members and stakeholders.
7. Create a Performance Management Framework to evaluate performance and define ways to address the issues.
8. Estimate costs associated with the HR Resources, such as recruitment, training and benefits.
9. Compliance and Risk Management to ensure awareness of legal regulations.
10. Continuously Review the project HR management plan and make changes when needed.

Summary

• Plan Human Resource Management is the process of identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, required skills, reporting relationships, and creating a staffing management plan.
• From an HR perspective, the project managers are responsible for preparing Organization Charts and developing a Staffing Management Plan.
• The concept of Organizational Theory provides information regarding the way in which people, teams, and organizational units behave.