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Manpower resources and requirements: calculation, specification and optimization of human resource requirements; job descriptions Objectives: After the completion of this lesson you should: · Understand how manpower resource requirement is calculated · Understand the specification and optimization of human resource requirements · Understand what is a job description. Requirement Calculations You must very well understand that the greatest asset of any organization are its people. Every project needs people to complete the work. Staffing requirements are the identified roles needed on a project to complete the assigned work.
For example, a project to install a new telephone system throughout a campus would require a menagerie of workers with varying skill sets: hardware and software gurus, telephony experts, electricians, installers, and others. The identified staff would be pulled from the resource pool. Any skills gaps would need to be addressed through staff acquisition, additional training, or procurement. Staff acquisition is the process of getting the needed resources on the project team to complete the project work. Staff acquisition focuses on working within the policies and procedures of the performing organization to obtain the needed esources to complete the project work. Negotiation, communication, and political savvy are key to getting the desired resources on the project team. The project manager will rely on the staffing management plan as an input to acquiring project team members. The staffing management plan details how project team members will be brought onto the project and excused from the project as conditions within the project demand. The staffing management plan is a subsidiary plan that documents the staffing requirements of the project. In some organizations the project manager has little or no say on the project team assignments. In other organizations, roject managers have the ability to recruit, or at least influence, the project team assignments. The project manager should ask questions about: · Experience:What is the experience of the project team member? Have they done similar work in the past – and have they done it well? · Interest Level:Are the project team members interested in working on this project? · Characteristics:How will this individual team member work with other project team members? · Availability:Will the project team members desired for the project be available? Project managers should confer with functional managers on the availability of the potential team member. Knowledge:What is the competency and proficiency of the available project team member. A project needs a good, qualified, competent project team. Their competency, experience, and availability will directly influence the success of the project. Armed with this notion, the project manager may rely on a few different tools and techniques to obtain the needed project team resources. Negotiating for Resources Most projects require the project manager. to negotiate for resources. The project manager will likely have to negotiate with functional managers to obtain the needed resources to complete the project work.
The functional managers and the project manager may struggle over an employee’s due to demands in the ongoing operations, other projects, and effective utilization of resources. In other instance, functional managers may want to assign under-utilized resources on projects to account for the employee’s time. Project managers may also have to negotiate with other project managers to share needed resources among projects. Scheduling the needed resources between the project teams will need to be coordinated so both projects may complete successfully. Working with Preassigned Staff
Project team members are often preassigned to a project for a number of reasons: · Availability of the individual · Promised as part of a competitive · Required as part of the project charter of an internal project · Opportunity for the staff member to complete on-the-job training. Whatever the reasoning behind the assignment of the project, the project manager should evaluate the project team for skill gaps, availability to complete the project work, and expectations of the project team members. The project manager must address any discrepancies between the requirements of the roject work and the project team’s ability to complete the work. Procuring Staff In some instances, the project manager may have no alternative but to procure the project team or individuals to complete the project work. In regard to project team procurement, reasons why the project manager can use this alternative include, but are not limited to, the following: · The performing organization lacks the internal resources with the needed skills to complete the project work. · The work is more cost effective to procure LESSON 18: MANPOWER RESOURCES 48 7. 372 © Copy Right: Rai University
PROJECT MANAGEMENT · The project team members are present within the organization, but they are not available to the current project. · The project team members are present within the organization, but they cannot complete the needed work due to other project assignments. Specifications and Optimization of Human Resource Requirements Constraints limit. When it comes to human resource constraints, the project manager is dealing with any factors that limit options for project completion. This is where creativity comes into play: the project manager must find a way to reativity acquire, schedule, or train the needed resources to complete the project. Common constraints include: · Organizational Structure:Recall the organizational structures: functional, matrix, and project? The project manager’s authority in the organization is relevant to the organizational structure he is forced to work within. High Project Manager Power Low Project Manager Power Project Matrix Functional · Collective bargaining agreements:The contractual agreements between employee groups, unions, or other labor organizations may serve as a constraint on the project.
In these instances, there may be additional reporting relationships on the project status, work, and performance on project team members. · Project Management Preferences:If a project manager has had success with the organization and management of a project team in the past, the project manager will most likely want to re-create the success by following the same model. Current projects should emulate successful historical projects. · Staffing:Based on the competencies and talent of the project team, the assignments to activities are created. Project organization, scheduling and workflow are often dependent n the abilities of the project team. · Procurement:When a particular qualification, skill, or specific person is requested as part of the project requirement, this requirement becomes a constraint on the project. Keeping these constraints in mind the human resource requirements are optimized. Job Descriptions Job description is nothing but deciding what education, skills and experience are required in a person to perform a job satisfactorily. Developing job description is an issue that arises in all organizations serious about project management. In most projects the roject manager has to wonder at some point of time what qualifications and experience are required to fill a particular position. Yet, there are few if any generally accepted standard and each organization has its own way of deciding the qualifications and experience required for each job. This variation is quite obvious as projects differ in terms of there types, size, nature, importance, and complexity Every position in the project is there to accomplish something useful. Hence each holder of the position requires certain knowhow or skills, which might be managerial, technical or nter-personal In practice every job description should express: · Why it exists? (Authority) · What must be done? (Responsibility) · How it must be done? (Accountability) These things are described in a factual, concise and unambiguous term so that every reader should be able to extract the same understanding from the content. The description should also be brief. For example the Job description of a project Leader is given below: Job Description of a Project Leader Overall Purpose of The Position: Responsible for managing a smaller project within the onstraints of scope, quality, time and cost to deliver specified requirements and meet customer satisfaction. Scope of Position: Numbers supervised: Responsible for leading a small team. Expenditure authority: Within the limits of project budget Accountability: 1. Liaise with project sponsors and customers. 2. Ensure all project requirements and/or objectives are well documented. 3. Establish or confirm guidelines applicable to the project 4. Coordinate assigned team members, ensure timely activity, integration and efficient use of time and resources. . Facilitate communication as applicable to all. 6. Establish appropriate key success indicators and recommend trade-offs between scope, quality, time and cost. 7. Track and report targets and forecast final targets. 8. Document, obtain approval and track all changes in project parameters. 9. Document all obstacles and delays and try to find out “turnarounds”. 10. Complete all wrap-up activities on project completion. Education Requirements: Relevant entry-level training in project management and the technology of the project