Assignment - PM0013 - Managing Human Resources in Projects - Set 2

Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - PM0013 - Managing Human Resources in Projects

Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 2

Question 1: Write short notes on the following major Human resource concepts: a) Collocation b) Recognition & rewards c) Resource Histogram d) Responsibility Assignment Matrix

Answer:

a) Collocation:

Collocation involves placing all or almost all of the most active project team members in the same physical location to enhance their ability to perform as team. Collocation is widely used on larger projects and can also be effective for smaller projects Studies have shown that top two things people in their work want are, being recognized as a contributing member of a worthy enterprise, and recognition and reward for their accomplishments. A contributing member of a worthy enterprise, want to identify with the enterprise. They want to know that what they do has value in the marketplace, and has value to the success of their organization.. The organization has to communicate that every position adds value - some may be more obvious than others, but the "we are all in this together" approach and philosophy of work leads to high performance.

Recognition and rewards can come in many forms. Accomplishment on team projects needs to be publicized, and individual accomplishment within teams should lead to actions that make it clear that team participation and success lead to opportunities. One other thing about rewards and recognition – they can be lost in the helter-skelter of getting everything done. Schedule regular review times – at least monthly, to determine who should be recognized and rewarded, and make it a very public ceremony. If you find you cannot name – quickly – people to reward, you really need to look at how the team is performing. Review the essentials and compare them to your own organization, then change what you need to change to improve success – or to implement teams in your company. Doing so will ensure that you are accessing the collective genius of your organization – and that's like money in the bank – for everyone!

b) Recognition & rewards:

Reward and recognition systems are formal management actions which promote or reinforce desired behaviour. To be effective, such systems must make the link between performance and reward clear, explicit, and achievable. For example, a project manager who is to be rewarded for meeting the project’s cost objective should have an appropriate level of control over staffing and procurement decisions.

Projects must often have their own reward and recognition systems since the systems of the performing organization may not be appropriate. For example, the willingness to work overtime in order to meet an aggressive schedule objective should be rewarded or recognized; needing to work overtime as the result of poor planning should not be. Reward and recognition systems must also consider cultural differences. For example, developing an appropriate team reward mechanism in a culture that prizes individualism may be very difficult.

Clear criteria for rewards & a planned system for their use helps promote & reinforce desired behaviours. To be effective, recognition & rewards should be based on activities & performance under a person’s control. For example, a team member who is to be rewarded for meeting cost objectives should have an appropriate level of control over decisions that

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affect expenses. Creating a plan with established times for distribution of rewards ensures that recognition takes place & is not forgotten. Recognition & rewards are part of the Develop Project Team process.

c) Resource Histogram:

The staffing management plan describes the necessary time frames for project team members, either individually or collectively, as well as when acquisition activities such as recruiting should start. One tool for charting human resources is a resource histogram. This bar chart illustrates the number of hours a person, department or entire project team will be needed each week or month over the course of the project. The chart can include a horizontal line that represents the maximum number of hours available from a particular resource. Bars that extend beyond the maximum number of hours identify the need for a resource levelling strategy, such as adding more resources or modifying the schedule. An example of a resource histogram is illustrated below:

d) Responsibility Assignment Matrix:

A Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is a chart displaying the resources assigned to a project. It also shows the assignments that are responsible for. The RAM allows easy identification of all responsibilities for a given resource.

A specific type of RAM is the RACI matrix. This shows the resources that are responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed in project activities. Below table is shows a typical RACI matrix:




Activity PersonA B C

Design Responsible Consult AccountableBuild Accountable Responsible ConsultTest Inform Accountable Consult

The matrix is typically created with a vertical axis (left-hand column) of tasks (e.g., from a work breakdown structure or WBS) or deliverables (e.g., from a product breakdown structure or PBS), and a horizontal axis (top row) of roles (e.g., from an organizational chart) – as illustrated in the image of an example responsibility assignment (or RACI) matrix.

There is a distinction between a role and individually identified people: a role is a descriptor of an associated set of tasks; may be performed by many people; and one person can perform many roles. For example, an organization may have 10 people who can perform the role of project manager, although traditionally each project only has one project manager at any one time; and a person who is able to perform the role of project manager may also be able to perform the role of business analyst and tester. The responsibility assignment matrix is commonly known as a RACI matrix.

R: Responsible – this is the resource that owns the work. Each deliverable should have at least one person responsible for it. A: Accountable – this is the person who approves the work. There is only one accountable resource. C: Consulted – this is the person who delivers information required to complete the work. I: Informed: This is the person who is informed of the progress of the deliverable. S: Supportive: This is the person who provides work in addition to the responsible party. V: Verifies: This is the person who ensures that the work meets standards. F: Final Authority: This person gives the final stamp on the completed work.

Question 2: List and explain in brief the potential sources of conflict.

Answer:

Meaning of Conflict:

A conflict is a dispute or a struggle in which each party expresses opposition towards the other party or interferes intentionally with other party’s goals attainment. Conflict can also be a disagreement about the allocation of scarce resources or a clash of statuses, values, perceptions or personalities. Behavioural scientists agree that conflict is an abnormal phenomenon with only negative consequences.

Some of the characteristics of conflicts are:

Conflict occurs when two parties have competing goals. Conflict is unavoidable, and we can learn how to handle it effectively. Conflict is not always bad. Constructive conflict can help solve problems and leads to

new ideas.




The Collaborating strategy is the most effective way of resolving conflict – the resolution is mutually beneficial for all parties.

The other conflict resolution strategies can be appropriate for certain types of situations.

Features of organizational conflicts are as follows: i) Many of the present-day conflicts are totally devoid of cost benefit consciousness on the

part of labour. Many of them were long-drawn-out. The issue rose by the strikes and the quantitative benefits even in the cases of total success, show a lack of proportion to the disadvantage of employees. It is as though damage and loss to the employer rather than benefits for labour have been the objectives of the struggle.

ii) Another significant trend seen in those conflicts is the frequency with which management met, "employee pressure by the management pressure of lockout," It is not easy to identify a single factor as a cause of industrial conflicts as multifarious cause’s blended together result in industrial disputes. Deep seated and more basic causes of disputes can be identified through in-depth probe, though surface manifestations appear to be responsible for conflicts. The relative importance of these causes, when more than one present, is often very difficult to gauge.

According to Mukherjee, "the development of capitalistic enterprise, which means the control of the tools of production by small entrepreneur class has brought to the fore the acute problem of friction between management and labour throughout the world."

The conflict environment: In the project environment, conflicts are inevitable. However, as described, conflicts and their resolution can be planned to meet the requirements of parties having conflicts over each other. For example, conflicts can easily develop out of a situation where members of project group are misunderstanding each other’s roles and responsibilities. Through documentation, such as the linear responsibility charts, it is possible to establish fewer organizational procedures either at the project level or companywide, resolutions can be made. The most common type of conflicts involves:

Manpower resources Equipment and facilities Capital expenditures Costs’ technical opinions and trade-offs Priorities Administrative procedures Scheduling Responsibilities Personality clashes

Each of these conflicts can vary in relative intensity over the life cycle of a project. The relative intensity can vary as a function of:

Getting closer to project constraints Having only two constraints instead of three (i:e, time, performance but not cost) The project life cycle itself The person whom the conflict is with.

Causes of organizational conflicts may be grouped into four categories, viz.




Organizational factors; Management's attitude towards workers; Government policy and Other causes.

Organizational Factors: Under this category, some of the causes of a dispute may be:

1) A matter relating to employment, work, wages, hours of work, privileges, the rights and obligations of employees and employers, terms and conditions of employment including matters pertaining to:

a) Dismissal or non-employment of any person; b) Registered agreement, settlement or award; and c) Demarcation of the functions of an employee.

2) A dispute which connotes any difference which has been fairly defined as is of real substances;i.e., a matter in which both parties are directly and substantially interested; or which is a grievance on the part of a worker which the employer is in a position to redress; or which is such as the parties are capable of settling between themselves or referring it to a adjudication.

3) Disputes often arise because of:

a) The rapidly increasing population which has no opportunities for gainful employment; there is, therefore, no improvement in the standard of living of employees who put forward demand for higher wages, which, if not conceded, often lead to strained industrial relations and strikes.

b) Rising unemployment.

4) The attitude and temperament of employees or team members have changed because of their education, their adoption of urban culture and the consequent change in social values, the growth of public opinion and progressive legislation enacted for their benefit. They are, therefore, very conscious of their rights and will not put up with any injustice or wrong done to them.

Question 3: Discuss the various roles of a project manager in handling conflicts

Answer:The area for which operating rules are needed deals with how the team resolves conflicts. Conflicts arise when two or more team members have a difference of opinion, when the customer takes issue with an action to be taken by the project team, or in a variety of other situations involving two parties with different points of view. In all of these examples, the difference must be resolved. Clearly, conflict resolution is a much more sensitive situation than the decision-making rule because it is confrontational and situational, whereas the decision-making rule is procedural and structured.




Role of a Project manager in handling conflicts:

As a Discussion Leader:

As a discussion leader the conciliator reduces irrationality and antagonism between the parties. He guides them towards a problem-solving approach to their dispute; he ensures that they discuss their differences in as friendly a manner as possible; he helps them to analyze their problem, always striving to keep the analysis on rational ground; he identifies the elements of the problem, both for the parties’ benefit and for his own.

As a Safety Valve:

The project manager can place himself in the position of alternative target when he feels that the parties are in an aggressive mood. By setting a substitute target, the teams can achieve an emotional release without direct and immediate damage to the negotiations.

As a Communication Link:

The conciliator fulfils an important function as a communication link between the parties: serving as a communication link may either constitute his main conciliatory effort or be a contribution to it. He not only-works as a conduit through which messages relayed from one side to the other, are passed, but he also provides a thorough explanation and interprets the intention of the party.

As an Innovator:

The conciliator acts as an invaluable source of new information, and new thoughts, particularly in providing the parties with different views of the issues, with possible alternative solution and possibly an entirely new approach.

As a Protector:

The conciliator plays a protecting role for making the parties ready for collective bargaining positions by exploring alternative solutions during separate meetings.

As a Stimulator:

Sensing the need for positive action, the conciliator can provide necessary impulse; he makes a concise statement, supplies some date, gives a hint or suggestion. He crystallizes changes of opinion, in course of discussions, by intervening at the appropriate moment and giving such ideas a concrete form.

As an Adviser: The conciliator tries to remove misunderstandings regarding the other's position, Intentions and capabilities. He tries to see that such misinterpretations do not occur.

As a Promoter of Collective Bargaining:

While intervening in a dispute he is not only concerned with obtaining settlement, but often he assists and promotes collective bargaining and helps and guides the parties in the development of their relationship.




Question 4: Describe the elements of enterprise environmental factors-the input to creating HR plan process.

Answer:

Human Resource (HR) Plan:

Creating a Human Resource (HR) plan is the method of identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, and required skills, reporting relationships and creating a staffing management plan. Staffing management plan depicts how and when team members are added to the team, and how the team members are released from the project. Human Resource planning is utilized to decide and recognize. Human Resources with the necessary skills are essential for the success of a project.

One key result of Human Resource planning is the Effective Human Resource planning must think and plan for these factors and widen Human Resource options.

The inputs for creating a Human Resource (HR) plan are:

Enterprise environmental factors:

The enterprise environmental factors comprises of individuals of an organization interacting and relating with one another. The enterprise environmental factors that play a major role includes are existing organizational culture, knowing how different technical disciplines work, existing Human Resources and policies and procedures, interpersonal, logical and political issues with respect to Human Resources.

Organizational culture:

Organizational culture is an idea in the field of organizational studies and management which describes the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values (personal and cultural values) of an organization. It is defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that controls the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization”. List the organizations or departments that are going to be engaged in the project. Enquire whether there are any existing working arrangements between them. Know the formal and informal relationships between the departments.

Technical:

To accomplish the project successfully, list the fields of expertise needed. Interpersonal:

It lists formal and informal reporting relations existing among the team members. Know the team member’s existing job descriptions.

Logistical:Find whether people are in different locations or time zones.




Political:List the individual goals and agendas of stakeholders. Find the informal authority base and how that can impact the project. List the informal agreements that are present.

Besides these aspects, there are some restrictions. In human planning, the instances of rigidity are:

Structure of organization:

The usual constraint in an organization is a weak matrix structure.

Collective bargaining agreements:Contractual agreements with service organizations can require nuances to certain roles and reporting arrangements.

Economical conditions:Some of the restrictions on staffing options can be freezing of hiring, little or no training funds, and lack of traveling budget.

Assets of organizational process:

As project management in an organization evolves, experience acquired from past projects is available as assets of organizational processes in terms of checklist, processes, etc.

Activity resource requirements:

For the purpose of Human Resource needs of the project, Human Resource planning uses activity resource requirements. The basic information regarding the required people and capabilities for the project team members is progressively involved as part of Human Resource planning and information regarding the same is obtained from the activity resource requirement.

Accurate inputs for creating a Human Resource (HR) plan leads to good results which have a strong foundation.

Question 5: Describe in brief the challenges faced in case of Virtual Teamwork.

Answer:

Because of the complexity and scope of many modern-day tasks, there has been a heightened realization over the past decade of the value of team performance to business, industry, and the military. Furthermore, changes in business practice and advances in telecommunications have led to the increasing prevalence of distributed teams that interact over long distances. It is clear that unprecedented opportunities exist for the development of tools to support team collaboration.

Firms are increasingly adopting electronic communication tools to facilitate collaboration among individuals and groups, both within and beyond organizational boundaries. This trend is driven by the motivation of firms to take advantage of the collaborative potential of such tools




as discussion boards, instant messaging, and groupware for facilitating communication and coordination without the limitations of time and place. In a global community, competitive organizations must navigate complex, chaotic contexts. In fact, modern operational environments are most characterized by increasingly sophisticated challenges encountered when organizations attempt to capitalize on emerging domestic and global opportunities.

For example, Amazon.com, Inc.'s, recent purchase of Joyo.com, China's largest online retailer of books, music, DVDs, and videos, presents a host of challenges to coordinating across time zones. Addressing these challenges requires innovative solutions, which for many organizations increasingly takes the form of team-based systems and cutting-edge technology. The use of teams and technology can, in turn, lead to unprecedented amounts of available information and performance capability.

Challenges of Virtual Teamwork: As seen in the discussion above, which suggests that organizations are naturally evolving toward distributive structures, the trend toward virtual teamwork will accelerate as operating environments become increasingly fluid. If the spread of virtual teams and distributed performance arrangements is all but inevitable, it is important to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges confronting this ongoing movement. The team literature already provides a variety of examples of knowledge/ skills/attitudes and teamwork processes that may be adversely affected when teams use computer-mediated communication. For example, researchers have noted that distribution is detrimental to decision making, social motivation, cohesiveness, status equalization, and normative behavior. Research also suggests that team development may be more complex in virtual teams.

Individual: Social Isolation

Despite the increased availability of communication technologies to support virtual workers, distribution often results in less frequent communication and social isolation. This is consistent with research proposing that the actual distance of team member separation is of secondary concern to the impact of computer mediated communication on team processes. The isolation resulting from separation and decreased interaction is a key factor limiting the adoption of distributed work. This is because many employees derive satisfaction from their interactions with their coworkers, both in the act of socializing and through the social support they receive. Furthermore, when employees are not co-located, social and task support may break down, causing people to identify less with the organization. Proximity has been linked to informal channels of communication (e.g., the "water cooler") and is vital for disseminating information about organizational norms, socializing new employees, and encouraging collaboration and sharing of information (National Research Council, 1994). To the extent that distributed team members feel socially isolated from their coworkers, supervisors, and subordinates, the quality of both their work and family lives will suffer.

Research suggests that distributed team members experience lower levels of work – family conflict and commute time while concomitantly enjoying higher levels of personal control, job satisfaction, and productivity. Hence, the much coveted goal of simultaneously improving employee satisfaction and productivity seems to be offered via distributed arrangements. Unfortunately, distribution can result in social isolation. One solution already advanced in the current body of research suggests that increasing media richness, and thereby the number of cues available to team members, may be an important mechanism for reducing social isolation. Moreover, increasing media richness may help foster a social




presence. Social presence is the degree to which technology facilitates a personal connection with others. Interactions with high social presence are described as more lively, social, warm, and intimate than those with little social presence. Synchronous communications, such as face-to-face (FTF) meetings and audio- and videoconferences, result in more social presence than asynchronous communications such as electronic mail (e-mail) and voicemail. Synchronous communication facilitates social presence primarily because it enables the spontaneous, back and- forth exchanges associated with normal conversation.

Team Opacity:

Teams separated by space – time have additional demands placed on them during distributed interaction. Interaction in distributed environments often leads to artificial and ambiguous experiences, in part based on a shortage of, or change in, the cues available to team members. Fiore and colleagues (2003) coined the term team opacity to describe the debilitating effects of distribution inherent to being virtual team. Team opacity has been discussed as a special form of workload resulting from teams that are not co-located. Team opacity is defined as "the experiences whereby distribution decreases awareness of team member actions and may thus alter their interaction". Cue deprivation can increase the workload of team members because they must adjust routine strategies to seek out additional cues. The absence of cues, typically present when teams are co-located, taxes the working memory of team members and prevents much of the scaffolding often used to reduce memory load in co-located teams. Also, the lack of or change in cues affects interaction when teams are relegated to computer-mediated communication because of the loss of nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, nods, and gestures.

Information flow and information format can significantly influence team opacity. Specifically, team opacity can be curtailed in part by increasing the synchrony and richness of available information (e.g., flow, format). These additional cues influence if, how, and when distributed team members enact knowledge/skills/ attitudes, thereby reducing opacity and increasing performance effectiveness. Appropriate communication channels and information formats should be implemented to strengthen the relationship between cognition and team behavior and lessen the workload (i.e., team opacity) of team members.

Question 6: List and explain in brief the various types of communication in project management.

Answer:

Communication management in a project is defined as the process of creating, gathering, distributing, storing, retrieving, and ultimately disposing project information. The project managers systematically plan, implement and monitor the communication within the project team and with the project stakeholders. The communication management process is a set of steps considered while communicating in a project team. A project team frequently communicates within the team, with the project manager and also with the project stakeholders. A good communication management process can make these communications effective by creating a link between different stakeholders engaged in the same project.

Importance of communication management:




Effective communication management leads to a successful project. It is delivered on time, with minimal or no defects and within the budget. Such projects provide client satisfaction. In a properly structured project, project communication should be open, regular and accurate within the various levels, i.e., stakeholders, project manager and project team members. The project staff or team should know its roles and responsibilities, which has to be efficiently communicated by the project manager. At the same time, right expectations with respect to budget, time constraints and quality should be set with the client and properly communicated, so as to prevent any future uncertainties. Similarly, the project staff should frequently update the project manager regarding the progress of the project. Such updates from the project team are essential for the project manager to closely monitor the project. Information needs to be communicated to a project team based on the team member ranking within the organization. The project team releases newsletters, articles and trends followed within the project on a regular basis, so that the team members and stakeholders would get adequate project information and can scale up accordingly. Critical project and organization information can only be communicated to the board members of the organization, whereas the project functionality, deadlines and other project requirements can be communicated to the project team.

Various types of communication in project management are:

Internal and external:

Internal communication occurs within the project team, while external communication occurs with the stakeholders.

Formal and informal:

Formal communication includes reports, logs, memos, emails and project meetings. Informal communication includes discussions which can be either face-to-face or over calls.

Vertical or horizontal:

In vertical communication the team members discuss project issues with managers at various levels. In horizontal communication the team members discuss the project issues with the peer groups in the project.

Official and unofficial:

Official communication includes circulars and reports which carries official sanctity. Unofficial communication includes all off-the- record interactions in a project.

Oral and written:

Oral communication includes discussions in meetings or telephone calls (one-to- one/conference) and written communication involves all correspondence through letters and emails.


Documents

Assignment - PM0013 - Managing Human Resources in Projects - Set 2