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Week 10Project Human Resource

Management

Learning Objectives

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Explain the importance of good human resource management on projects, especially on information technology projects

Define project human resource management and understand its processes

Summarize key concepts for managing people by understanding the theories of Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, David McClelland, and Douglas McGregor on motivation, H. J. Thamhain and D. L. Wilemon on influencing workers, and Stephen Covey on how people and teams can become more effective

Learning Objectives

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Discuss organizational planning and be able to create a project organizational chart, responsibility assignment matrix, and resource histogram

Understand important issues involved in project staff acquisition and explain the concepts of resource assignments, resource loading, and resource leveling

Assist in team development with training, team-building activities, and reward systems

Describe how project management software can assist in project human resource management

The Importance of Human Resource Management

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People determine the success and failure of organizations and projects

Recent statistics about IT workforce:The total number of U.S. IT workers was more

than 10.1 million in December 2002, up from 9.9 million in January 2002

IT managers predict they will need to hire an additional 1.2 million workers in the near future

Hiring by non-IT companies outpaces hiring by IT companies by a ratio of 12:1

IS370 – Project Management - Dr Pat Halloran5Share of ICT specialist occupations in the total economy, narrow definition, 19951 and 20072

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Share of ICT employment in business sector employment, 1995 and 2006, percentages

Digital Planet Reports

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The global high-tech industry generated more than $2.1 trillion in 1999, $2.3 trillion in 2000, and $2.4 trillion in 2001

The Internet and e-commerce were notable bright spots in the global economy

Global e-commerce went up 79 percent from 2000 to 2001

China, Poland, and other developing countries are playing an increasing role in the global IT market

Long Hours and Stereotypes of IT Workers Hurt Recruiting

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Many people are struggling with how to increase and diversify the IT labor pool. Noted problems include:The fact that many IT professionals work long

hours and must constantly stay abreast of changes in the field

Undesirable stereotypes that keep certain people away from the career field, like women

The need to improve benefits, redefine work hours and incentives, and provide better human resource management

What is Project Human Resource Management?

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Project human resource management includes the processes required to make the most effective use of the people involved with a project. Processes includeOrganizational planningStaff acquisitionTeam development

Keys to Managing People

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Psychologists and management theorists have devoted much research and thought to the field of managing people at work

Important areas related to project management includemotivation (intrinsic and extrinsic)influence and powereffectiveness

Motivation

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Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs to illustrate his theory that people’s behaviors are guided by a sequence of needs

Maslow argued that humans possess unique qualities that enable them to make independent choices, thus giving them control of their destiny

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

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Herzberg’s Motivational and Hygiene Factors

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Frederick Herzberg wrote several famous books and articles about worker motivation. He distinguished betweenmotivational factors: achievement, recognition,

the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth, which produce job satisfaction

hygiene factors: 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

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Specific needs are acquired or learned over time and shaped by life experiences, including:Achievement (nAch): Achievers like challenging

projects with achievable goals and lots of feedbackAffiliation (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 Theory Y

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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

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1. Authority: the legitimate hierarchical right to issue orders2. Assignment: the project manager's perceived ability to

influence a worker's later work assignments3. Budget: the project manager's perceived ability to

authorize others' use of discretionary funds4. Promotion: the ability to improve a worker's position5. Money: the ability to increase a worker's pay and benefits6. Penalty: the project manager's ability to cause

punishment7. Work challenge: the ability to assign work that capitalizes

on a worker's enjoyment of doing a particular task8. Expertise: the project manager's perceived special

knowledge that others deem important9. Friendship: the ability to establish friendly personal

relationships between the project manager and others

Ways to Influence that Help and Hurt Projects

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Projects are more likely to succeed when project managers influence withexpertisework challenge

Projects are more likely to fail when project managers rely too heavily onauthoritymoneypenalty

Power

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Power is the potential ability to influence behavior to get people to do things they would not otherwise do

Types of power includeCoerciveLegitimateExpertRewardReferent

Improving Effectiveness - Covey’s 7 Habits

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Project managers can apply Covey’s 7 habits to improve effectiveness on projectsBe proactiveBegin with the end in mindPut first things firstThink win/winSeek first to understand, then to be

understoodSynergizeSharpen the saw

Empathic Listening and Rapport

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Good project managers are empathic listeners; they listen with the intent to understand

Before you can communicate with others, you have to have rapport

Mirroring is a technique to help establish rapport

IT professionals often need to develop empathic listening and other people skills to improve relationships with users and other stakeholders

Improving Relationships Between Users and Developers

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Some organizations require business people, not IT people, to take the lead in determining and justifying investments in new computer systems

CIOs push their staff to recognize that the needs of the business must drive all technology decisions

Some companies reshape their IT units to look and perform like consulting firms

Organizational Planning

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Organizational planning involves identifying, documenting, and assigning project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships

Outputs and processes includeproject organizational chartswork definition and assignment processresponsibility assignment matrixesresource histograms

Sample Organizational Chart for a Large IT Project

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Work Definition and Assignment Process

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Sample Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)

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RAM Showing Stakeholder Roles

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Sample Resource Histogram

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Staff Acquisition

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Staffing plans and good hiring procedures are important in staff acquisition, 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

Research shows that people leave their jobs because they don’t make a difference, don’t get proper recognition, aren’t learning anything new, don’t like their coworkers, and want to earn more money

Resource Loading and Leveling

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Resource loading refers to the amount of individual resources an existing project schedule requires during specific time periods

Resource histograms show resource loading

Overallocation means more resources than are available are assigned to perform work at a given time

Sample Histogram Showing

an Over-allocated Individual

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Resource Leveling

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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

Resource Leveling Example

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Team Development

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It takes teamwork to successfully complete most projects

Training can help people understand themselves, each other, and how to work better in teams

Team building activities includephysical challengespsychological preference indicator tools

Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

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MBTI is a popular tool for determining personality preferences and helping teammates understand each other

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

IT people vary most from the general population in not being extroverted or sensing

Social Styles Profile

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People are perceived as behaving primarily in one of four zones, based on their assertiveness and responsiveness:DriversExpressivesAnalyticalsAmiables

People on opposite corners (drivers and amiables, analyticals and expressives) may have difficulties getting along

Social Styles

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Reward and Recognition Systems

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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

General Advice on Teams

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Focus on meeting project objectives and producing positive results

Fix the problem instead of blaming peopleEstablish regular, effective meetingsNurture team members and encourage them

to help each otherAcknowledge individual and group

accomplishments

Using Software to Assist in Human Resource Management

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Software can help in producing RAMs and resource histograms

Project management software includes several features related to human resource management such as viewing resource usage informationidentifying under and overallocated resourcesleveling resources

Resource Usage View from Microsoft Project

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Resource Usage Report from Microsoft Project

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Project Resource Management Involves Much More Than Using Software

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Project managers must Treat people with consideration and

respectUnderstand what motivates themCommunicate carefully with them

Focus on your goal of enabling project team members to deliver their best work