Good resource planning key to successful project
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 01:59 PM
Find out what areas project managers should focus on, during the human resource planning phase of projects.
With any project, proper planning is the key to success. In my experiences, the area most overlooked in a typical project is the proper planning of the resources and their allocation.
Most of us are somewhat familiar with the role a project manager will play in a project, and that is to manage the project. Part of that duty is to have a strong process in place to manage those who are around you so they can successfully complete the task at hand.
In this article, I'll review the necessary areas that are covered in the Human Resource Planning phases of a project. This information will help you determine what resources are needed, when will they will be necessary and how you can get them.
Plan human resources
Using your company's EEF (Enterprise Environment Factors), OPA (Organization Process Assets), and your project management plan, you can start working on Human Resource Planning. Begin by creating you Role and Responsibilities Matrix, Staff Management Plan, and OBS (Organizational Breakdown Structure).
Early on in your project the OBS will look like an organizational chart showing the different roles that will be needed for the project with very few actual names assigned.
Acquire the project team
Since you're now aware of the types of players that you'll need and what the responsibilities are for each, you can start work on acquiring the necessary resources.
Again using the EEF and OPA as guides, work with other members of the organization to determine which individuals are available. Check to see if they meet the necessary criteria and have them assigned to your team.
If there are roles that remain unassigned following that, it may be necessary to go external to fill the vacancies. When this is done your Staffing Management Plan should reflect any of the changes that have been made, including items such as costs, and timetables release criteria.
You should include an update to your Project Staff Assignments that outlines who works on the project full time, part-time, etc.
Manage the project team
Expect that things will be constantly in motion during the life of your project. Potential team members may come and go, or the project scope may change. You need to make sure that you're able to effectively manage through these events.
Having a clearly defined monitoring process in place will allow you to keep tabs on your teams' performance and behavior while still being able to coordinate any changes or resolve issues that arise during the course of events.
Develop the project team
Now that your team is together, you can start working to make it a more cohesive unit. This allows you to focus on areas such as trust and communications, which will enable overall project performance and let you schedule any training that may be required. You should maintain performance assessments throughout the project so that both team and individual performance criteria is kept up to date.
Project teams are made up of individuals who fulfill the various roles necessary for the project's success: from the project manager who is responsible for all the planning, costing, execution, and control, to the team that executes the plan.
In between, there are the project sponsors who help define and refine the project scope and senior management who approve the project and its deliverables. Spending time to clearly define the role and responsibilities of the team members will help you ensure its success.
Bill Stronge is a PMP certified Project Manager with a Global CPG organization currently focusing on eBusiness projects. During his 14+ years he has worked on enterprise wide applications in both a developer and architect role as well as a project manager leading teams of various sizes. He can be reached for questions at wstronge@hotmail.com.
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