INFS 724 Project and Change Management

Amit Deokar, Ph.D.

Chapter 9

Human Resource Management

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Outline

What is human resource management? Why? Motivation Human resource management processes

Human resource planning Acquiring the project team Developing the project team Managing the project team

Using software for human resource management

What is human resource management? Why?

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The Importance of Human Resource Management People determine the success and failure of

organizations and projects Peopleware issues have more impact on software

productivity and software quality than any other factor For example, productivity of individual programmers

with similar levels of experience vary by a factor of at least 10 to 1

For entire teams, variations can be up to 5 to 1 NASA’s SEL concluded that technology is not the

answer, The most effective practices are those that leverage the human potential of their developers

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What is Project Human Resource Management? Project human resource management includes the

processes required to make the most effective use of the people involved with a project. Processes include Human resource planning: Identifying and documenting

project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships. Acquiring the project team: Getting the needed

personnel assigned to and working on the project Developing the project team: Building individual and

group skills to enhance project performance. Managing the project team: Tracking team member

performance, motivating team members, providing timely feedback, resolving issues and conflicts, and coordinating changes to help enhance project performance

Motivation

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Implication: PM should know something about team members’ professional and personal lives

Relevance for people working in

IT

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Maslow’s Hierarchy – Implication for management (Sommerville, 2001) Examples of satisfying social:

allowing people to meet their co-workers and providing places for them to meet

Examples of esteem social: Show people that they are valued, e.g., through public

recognition and that they are being paid at a level that respect their skills

Examples of self-actualization social: Assign demanding (but not impossible) tasks Provide training programs for people to develop

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Comparison of motivators for programmer analyst vs. managers and general population (McConnell, S., 1996)

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Top five motivation factors - Achievement Ownership “buy-in”: Let developers create

their own schedules Goal setting: explicitly setting ambitious, yet

realistic goals

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Top five motivation factors – Possibility for growth “The principle of career progression indicates that it is

in an organization’s best interest to help determine how its employees wish to grow professionally, and to provide them with career development opportunities in those directions” Barry Boehm (1981)

Examples of support: Provide tuition reimbursement Give time off to attend classes Assign developers to projects that will expand

their skill sets Assign a mentor to each new developer

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Top five motivation factors – Work itself Dimensions of work that motivates:

Skill variety Task identity Task significance Autonomy Job feedback (from carrying out the job itself)

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Top five motivation factors – Personal life An organization can:

Schedule projects realistically Respect vacations and holidays Be sensitive to occasional requests for time off

during work-days

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Top five motivation factors – Technical supervision An opportunity to supervise technical work

implies that the developer has achieved a level of technical expertise sufficient to direct others.

Examples: Assign each person on the project to be the

technical lead for a particular area Assign all, but the junior developers to be

mentors

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Other motivators

Rewards and incentives Pilot projects Performance reviews

Source:McConnell, 1996

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Herzberg’s Motivational and Hygiene Factors (Morale killers) Frederick Herzberg wrote several famous

books and articles about worker motivation. He distinguished between motivational factors: achievement, recognition,

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

hygiene factors (moral killers): 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

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Examples of Hygiene Factors (Morale killers) for developers Working environment

Privacy Outside awareness (natural light with a view) Personalization Appropriate lighting, heating, and air conditioning Adequate desk and shelf space

Access to office equipment Readily available office supplies Freedom to set work hours Up-to-date computing equipment Applicable reference manual and trade publications

Human resource planning

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Human resource planning

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

Outputs and processes include project organizational charts work definition and assignment process responsibility assignment matrices (RAM) resource histograms

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Sample Organizational Chart for a Large IT Project

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Work Definition and Assignment Process

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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.

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Sample Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)

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RAM Showing Stakeholder Roles

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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.

Often part of the project management plan (refer Chapter 4)

A resource histogram is a column chart that shows the number of resources assigned to a project over time. (part of the staffing management plan)

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Sample Resource Histogram

Acquiring the project team

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Acquiring the project team

Staffing plans and good hiring procedures are important in staff acquisition, as are incentives for recruiting and retention

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

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Five principles of software staffing (Boehm, 1981) Top talent

Use fewer and better people Job matching

Fit the tasks to the skills and motivation of the people Career progression

Help people self-actualize Team balance

Select people to complement each other Misfit elimination

Replace problem team members as quickly as possible

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Resource Loading

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

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Sample Histogram Showing an Over-allocated Individual

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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 over-allocation.

Benefits include: When resources are used on a more constant basis,

they require less management. It results in fewer problems for project personnel and

the accounting department. It often improves morale.

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Resource Leveling Example

Developing the project team

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Team Development

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 include physical challenges psychological preference indicator tools

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

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

In total, you have 16 personality types

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Extrovert (E): Draws energy from other people

Introvert (I): Draws energy from inside

Sensation (S): Take in fact, detail, and reality

Intuition (N): Imaginative, ingenious, and attentive to intuition

Thinking (T): Objective and logical

Feeling (F): Subjective and personal

Judgment (J): Structured

Perception (P): Less structured

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MBTI for IS professionals

NTs are classified as rational.

They tend to be attracted to technology fields

No more than 7% of the population are rational

Implication are clear: To appeal to IT people,

use logical arguments By knowing your team

members’ MBTI profile, you can adjust your management style for each individual

ISGeneral population

E/I 75% are I 25% are I

S/N 55% are N 25% are N

T/F 80% are T 50% are T

J/PSlightly > 50% are J

Slightly > 50% are J

Managing the project team

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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.

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Tools and Techniques for Managing Project Teams Observation and conversation Project performance appraisals Conflict management Issue logs

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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

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General Advice on Teams

Focus on meeting project objectives and producing positive results

Fix the problem instead of blaming people Establish regular, effective meetings Nurture team members and encourage them

to help each other Acknowledge individual and group

accomplishments

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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 viewing resource usage information identifying under and overallocated resources leveling resources

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Resource Usage View from Microsoft Project

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Resource Usage Report from Microsoft Project