E2 Project Management

Module 4

Human Resource and

Communications Management
Introduction
This module examines two of the facilitating project management
functions – human resource and communications management. Project
human resource management includes the processes required to make the
most effective use of the people involved with a project. Project
communications management includes communications planning,
information distribution, and performance reporting and administrative
closure.

Upon completion of this module you will be able to:

 plan the human resource requirement of the project.

 organise and assign responsibilities to the key personnel.
 understand and apply motivation and leadership theories to
manage project team members.
Outcomes
 compare and contrast a manager and a leader.
 develop important skills to be possessed by team leader.
 plan the communications network within and without the project
team.
 categorise information for selective and timely distribution.
 develop a reporting system to monitor project progress.
 establish communication channels for the formal acceptance and
closure of project phases and eventually the entire project.

Motivation theories: Theories on the hierarchy of factors affecting

human motivation.

Influence and power: Factors that affects a project manager’s influence

Terminology on the project team.

Organisational The management role of identifying, assigning,

planning: and documenting project roles, responsibilities and
reporting relationships

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A plan for when and how people will be added to

Staffing and taken off the project team as the project
management plan: progresses.

The amount of resources (people/equipment) an

Resource loading: existing schedule requires during specific periods.

A technique to minimise the variation in demand

Resource levelling: for resources by delaying tasks or bringing
forward tasks.

A diagram created showing the utilisation of

CPM/PERT diagram: resources, duration required and sequence of tasks.

Project An overall plan to determine the information and

communications communication needs of the stakeholders: who
planning: needs what information, when will they need it,
and how the information will be transmitted to
them, in hardcopy or softcopy, pre-determined
template.

Information Actual dissemination of information to project

distribution: stakeholders in a timely manner.

Performance Usually from bottom to top collection and

reporting: dissemination of performance information; status
reports on cost, tasks completed, milestones
achieved, risks encountered and forecasting.

Administrative Generating and disseminating information to

closure: formalise phase or project completion. Terminate
communication links with stakeholders who have
completed their tasks and no longer participate in
the project.

Project human resource management

Experienced project managers will tell you that the essence of project
management is really people management. Project human resource
management is a vital component of project management especially in
information technology projects where technically qualified people are in
high demand and often hard to keep.

Project human resource management includes the processes required to

make the most effective use of the people involved with a project. It
includes every person and stakeholder involved with the project from
senior management to support staff.

The key processes involved in project human resource management are:

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 Organisational planning – identifying, assigning, and

documenting project roles, responsibilities and reporting
relationships.
 Staff acquisition – getting the needed people assigned to and
working on the project.
 Team development – building individual and group skills to
enhance project performance.

People management skills

The key psychological and sociological issues that influence how people
work and how well they work include motivation, power and influence,
and effectiveness. We will briefly examine each of these before looking
at the three key HR processes.
Motivation theories

Those of you who have taken courses in human resource management

will have likely been exposed to the theory of the hierarchy of needs as
developed by Abraham Maslow in the 1950s. Maslow used a pyramid
structure to illustrate his theory that people’s behaviours are guided or
motivated by a sequence of needs – starting at the base with basic
physiological or biological needs and building to the apex of what he
called self-actualisation. The key things to remember about Maslow’s
theory are:
1. People will not focus or be motivated by a higher order need until
lower order needs are met.
2. Once a lower order need is met it is no longer a motivator.

To motivate project team members, the project manager needs to have an

appreciation of each person’s motivation with regard to social, esteem,
and self-actualisation needs. Self-actualised people are characterised as
being problem-focused, have an appreciation for life, are concerned about
personal growth and have the ability to have peak experiences. By
knowing something about team members’ professional and personal
lives, project managers can tailor motivational incentives to meet their
needs.

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Frederick Herzberg distinguished between what he called ‘hygiene’

factors and motivational factors. According to Herzberg, hygiene factors
such as larger salaries, more supervision and more attractive work
environments would cause dissatisfaction if not present, but would not
motivate workers to do more if present. Rather, factors such as
achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement and growth
produce job satisfaction and are work motivators.
Influence and power

Project managers are in somewhat of a unique position when it comes to

human resource management. By definition projects are of a temporary
nature, thus project managers do not have any lasting hierarchical or
formal authority. Project team members are usually seconded or assigned
to the project but report to other managers or supervisors. Thus project
managers must use other tactics to influence team members. Hans
Thamhain and Dave Wilemon4, who have conducted extensive research
on project management, identified nine influence bases available to
project managers, which include:
1. Authority – legitimate hierarchical right to issue orders.
2. Assignment – project manager’s perceived ability to influence a
worker’s later assignments.
3. Budget – project manager’s perceived ability to authorise others’
use of discretionary funds.
4. Promotion – the ability to improve a worker’s position.
5. Money – the ability to increase a worker’s pay or benefits.
6. Penalty – the project manager’s perceived ability to dispense or
cause punishment.

4
H.J. Thamhain and D.L. Wilemon, Criteria for Controlling Projects According to Plan, Project
Management Journal, June 1986, pp. 75-81.

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7. Work challenge – the ability to assign work that capitalises on a

worker’s enjoyment of doing a particular task.
8. Expertise – the project manager’s perceived special knowledge
that others deem important.
9. Friendship – the ability to establish friendly personal
relationships between the project manager and others.

Thamhain and Wilemon found that projects were more likely to succeed
when project managers used work challenge and expertise to influence
people rather than authority, money or penalty.

Power is defined as the potential ability to influence behaviour to get

people to do things they would not otherwise do. The five main types of
power include:
1. Coercive power – using punishment, threats, or other negative
approaches to get people to do things they do not want to do. (Do
it, or you’re fired!)
2. Legitimate power – getting people to do things based on a
position of authority. (Ability to make independent decisions -
usually granted to project managers by senior management.)
3. Expert power – using one’s personal knowledge and expertise to
get people to change their behaviour. (I know what I’m doing –
I’ve done this many times before.)
4. Reward power – using incentives to do things. (E.g., everyone
gets a 5 per cent bonus if the project comes in on time and on
budget!)
5. Referent power – getting people to do things based on an
individual’s personal charisma. (E.g., JFK or Martin Luther
King)

A good reference on power and politics in organisations is Managing

with Power: Politics and Influence in Organisations by Jeffrey Pfeffer,
Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Stanford Graduate School of
Business. ISBN: 0875844405
Effectiveness

Effective – “producing or capable of producing a decided, decisive or

desired effect”.

The guru on human effectiveness was Stephen Covey. Covey’s The 7

Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
was a ground breaker when it was first published in 1990, and it
continues to be a business bestseller with more than 10 million copies
sold. Stephen Covey was an internationally respected authority on
leadership. He realised that true success encompasses a balance of
personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for
performing better in both arenas. The seven habits and how they can be
applied to project management are as follows:

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1. Be proactive – anticipate and plan for problems and inevitable

changes on projects.
2. Begin with the end in mind – focus on values and what you
really want to accomplish.
3. Put first things first – Covey suggests placing more emphasis
on things that are important but not urgent. For project managers
this could include developing the project plan, building
relationships with stakeholders and mentoring project team
members
4. Think win/win – parties in potential conflict work together to
develop new solutions that make them all winners. Project
managers may sometimes use win/lose in competitive situations.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood – the practice
of empathetic listening, or listening with the intent to understand
is critical for project managers in understanding stakeholder
needs and expectations.
6. Synergise – synergy is the concept that the whole is equal to
more than the sum of its parts. Covey emphasises the importance
of valuing differences in others to achieve synergy. Project team
synergy should result in a product greater than the sum of
individual tasks.
7. Sharpen the saw – take time to renew yourself physically,
spiritually, mentally and socially. Project managers must exercise
caution in pushing team members too hard and not allowing time
to retrain, re-energise and relax.

Part of the project management challenge is developing rapport with a

diverse set of team members. Rapport is defined as a relation of
harmony, conformity, accord or affinity. For some team members the best
you can probably expect is begrudging acceptance of project goals
(speaking from personal experience). Mirroring – or matching another
person’s body postures, voice tone and tempo or breathing is a recognised
method for building rapport.
Organisational planning

Organisational planning is identifying, assigning, and documenting

project roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships. The key outputs
of this process are:
 A project organisational chart
 A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) that shows roles and
responsibilities
 A staffing management plan – what staff required when?

Part of organisational planning is identifying what key knowledge and

skill sets will be required to ensure project success. The project
organisational chart is usually developed in conjunction with senior
management and project team members. On large projects, a deputy
project manager is designated who can fill in for the PM in his/her

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absence and the project may be divided into subprojects with subproject
managers assigned to manage these components.

A four-step process for defining and assigning work is as follows:

1. Finalising project requirements
2. Defining how the work will be accomplished
3. Breaking the work down into manageable elements (WBS)
4. Assigning work responsibilities (OBS).

An organisational breakdown structure (OBS) shows which

organisational units are responsible for which work items.

A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is a matrix or grid that

maps the work of the project as described in the work breakdown
structure (WBS) to the people responsible for performing the work as
described in the organisational breakdown structure (OBS). A RAM can
also be used to define project roles and responsibilities. The figure below
shows a responsibility assignment matrix for the development phase of a
sample information technology project.

Sample responsibility assignment matrix

Detailed
Individual or Implementation Technical Detailed Service
Agency and Conversion Plan Plan Requests
Plan
Application
Development and A A A
Support
Corporate Systems
A A
Consultancy
User Business Analyst R R R
User Documentation R R P
Training R P R
Help centre R R R
Application processing A
Maintenance team R A
Quality Assurance
A
Analyst
Security Analyst R
Application Integration C
Project Team C C P P
Technical Project
P C C C
Leader

Diagram used with permission Enterprise Project Management Ltd.

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Responsibility Codes are as follows:

A – Approves acceptance of a deliverable and signs off if sign-off is
required.
C – Contributes to the effort required to produce a deliverable
and/or advises on some of the output.
P – Responsible for producing and managing the deliverable and
providing most of the effort required.
R – Reviews a deliverable and recommends further action or will
receive general information regarding the contents of the deliverable.

Staffing management plan

A staffing management plan is a document describes when and how
people will be added to and taken off the project team. The plan often
includes a resource histogram that shows the number of resources
assigned to a project over time.

Staff acquisition

Staff acquisition is getting the appropriate staff assigned to and working

on the project. This may involve assigning internal people to work on the
project or hiring subcontractors or new employees specifically for the
project. This usually involves working closely with the HR department of
the organisation. A project manager, who is a good negotiator, knows the
staff and has developed strong rapport with senior management can often
get the internal resources he/she needs for the project.
Resource loading and levelling

Once a project is underway, the project manager’s goal is to achieve

project success without increasing the cost or time to complete the

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project. Two techniques commonly used to apply project staff more

effectively are resource loading and resource levelling.
1. Resource loading – refers to the amount of individual resource
an existing schedule requires during specific time periods.
Resource loading histograms are often used by project managers
to identify staffing problems – particularly over-allocation. Over-
allocation means more resources are assigned to a task or group
of tasks over a given time period than are available at that time.
2. Resource levelling is a technique for resolving resource conflicts
by delaying tasks. Project managers will examine the network
diagram to identify areas of slack, float or resource conflict.
Resource levelling tries to minimise period-to-period variations
in resource loading by shifting tasks forward or backward within
their slack allowances. Levelled resources require less
management, lower costs, produce fewer personnel and
accounting problems and often improve project morale. Project
management software can be used to do automate resource
levelling but it should be manually scrutinised to ensure that the
completion date hasn’t been altered or resources have been
allocated to times that conflict with other constraints that have
not been captured by the software. Beware! With some of the
software scheduling tools once you have levelled the resources
you cannot go back. This is a problem because the software is not
“intelligent” so cannot determine if the skill set of the resource
matches the task. It will take under-allocated people and allocate
them.

Resource loading and levelling example

An example is taken from Meredith and Mantel to explain the working

principle of resource loading and levelling.

Optimistic Most Pessimistic Immediate

Activity
time (a) likely (m) time (b) predecessors
A 10 22 22 -
B 20 20 20 -
C 4 10 16 -
D 2 14 32 A
E 8 8 20 B, C
F 8 14 20 B, C
G 4 4 4 B, C
H 2 12 16 C
I 6 16 38 G, H
J 2 8 14 D, E

Calculate the expected time, resource allocation etc.

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Calculation

We can calculate the expected time (TE) using the formula

TE = optimistic time (a) + 4X most likely time (m) + pessimistic time (b)

A PERT network diagram is drawn using the resources for each activity
indicated in square bracket. For example an activity C which is 10 days
duration consumes two types of resources say A and B. Resource A
represents labour-hour and B represents machine-hour. The activity C
consumes three units of resource A and one unit of resource B.

From the above CPM/PERT diagram, a calendarised diagram is created

using all resources. One can notice in the calendarised diagram the use of
resource A (i.e. labour-hours) and resource B (i.e. machine-hours) in
various activities A,B,C through to J. Resource A has high demand at the
initial stage of the project whereas B has high demand towards end. The
variation of resource specifically labour-hours takes a major chunk of a
project manager’s time in terms of hiring and firing the workforce just to
keep the schedule on time. This variation of resource usage is minimised
using resource levelling techniques.

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Resource levelling

Resource levelling aims to minimise the period-by-period variations in

resource loading by shifting task within their slack allowances. Two types
of techniques used: Trial and error method, Trigger level method. We are
going to use trial and error method to level the resources.

[The numbers below represent the unit of resources for different time
period.]

The aggregation of resources is indicated at the bottom row of the

‘squared network’. It explains like this: first two days 12 persons, 3rd and
4th day 14 persons, 5th day six persons, two on 6th and 7th day and after that
we need one person from 8th to 11th day. Overall requirement is 66 man
days over a period of 11 days that is at the rate of six persons for 11 days.
The calculation is done subsequently. The levelling is done by
rescheduling the activities by moving forward or backward till you get
more stable level of engagement. This may involve withdrawing
resources from activities with ‘free floats’ thereby increasing the
duration.

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The principle of least square can be used to check whether the new
schedule is optimal then the previous one. Various methods in the trial
and error method can be checked for optimality now. The last schedule
resulted in 396 labour-hours which was the minimum of the other two.

Sl no Time Total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

1. Initial 12 12 14 14 6 2 2 1 1 1 1
Schedule

Sum of Square 144 +144+ 196+196+36+4+4+1+1+1+1 = 728

2. Intermediate 7 7 9 9 6 2 2 6 6 6 6
schedule

Sum of Square 49+49+81+81+36+4+4+36+36+36+36 = 448

3. Final schedule 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

Sum of square 36+36+36+36+36+36+36+36+36+36+36 = 396

(Least
value)

Team development

Team development is about developing individual and group skills to

enhance project performance. Many private and public organisations
offer training courses to improve individual and team development. This
often includes specific team building activities including physical
challenges and personality typing techniques such as the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator (MBTI) or TRUE COLORS™. The TRUE COLORS™
model is based on the temperament theory for understanding individual
differences in yourself and in others. TRUE COLORS™ is a metaphor

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for understanding human behaviour. The focus is self-esteem. As a

programme, it provides an effective tool to help individuals build self-
esteem by understanding their behaviour, skills, needs and motivations.

TRUE COLORS™ was developed by Don Lowry and is based on Dr.

David Kiersey’s temperament theory as outlined in his book, Please
Understand Me. The model is also based on findings that have been
written using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Utilising four colour-
coded flash cards, the model allows individuals to identify their own
temperament and those of others.

The four dimensions of psychological type under the MBTI model are:
1. Extrovert/Introvert (E/I)
2. Sensation/Intuition (S/N)
3. Thinking/Feeling (T/F)
4. Judgement/Perception (J/P)

A 1985 study of MBTI types of information systems developers revealed

(to no one’s surprise) that 75 per cent of IS developers were introverts
compared to 25 per cent for the general population. Other contrasts were
80 per cent of IS developers were thinking types (T) compared to 50 per
cent for the general population and 55 per cent were intuitive (N)
compared to about 25 per cent for the general population.
Reward and recognition systems

By rewarding teamwork project managers can promote or reinforce

people to work more effectively in teams. The rewards often include
bonuses, trips, and recognition awards.
Suggestions for team development

The following are some suggestions to project managers for building

effective project teams:
 Be patient and kind and assume the best about people. (They
often live up to your expectations.)
 Conduct project kick off meetings, they are your first opportunity
in a project to build the team and set the climate for the project.
 Fix the problem instead of blaming people.
 Establish regular effective meetings.
 Limit the size or work teams (if possible three – seven members).
 Plan social activities to allow team members and other
stakeholders an opportunity to get to know each other better.
 Stress team identity and create team traditions.
 Nurture team members and encourage them to help each other.
 Acknowledge individual and group accomplishments.

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 Don’t work in isolation, involve the appropriate team members in

project planning activities – you cannot be the subject matter
expert in all things for the project.
Using MS Project for project HR management

MS Project and other scheduling tools provide a variety of human

resource management tools including assigning and tracking resources,
resource levelling, resource usage reports, over-allocated resource
reports, and to-do lists. Take some time to explore these features,
especially the resource usage view and the resource usage report.

Project communications management

Communication management – An overview

For projects to succeed, every project member needs a combination of

technical and ‘soft’ skills, and both should be continuously upgraded
through formal education and on-the-job training. A failure to
communicate is often the greatest threat to any project. The four key
processes in project communications management are as follows:
1. Communications planning – determining the information and
communication needs of the stakeholders: who needs what
information, when will they need it, and how the information will
be given to them.
2. Information distribution – making needed information
available to project stakeholders in a timely manner.
3. Performance reporting – collecting and disseminating
performance information, which includes status reports, progress
measurement and forecasting.
4. Administrative closure – generating, gathering and
disseminating information to formalise phase or project
completion.
Communications planning

Because communication is so critical to project success, every project

should have a communications plan to guide project communications.
The key components of a communications management plan are as
follows:
1. Collection and filing structure – a description of the system to
be used for gathering and storing various types of project
information. These days the filing structure for electronic
documents is almost more important than the one for hard copy.
Larger organisations usually use shared drives with a
standardised folder system for all key project documents. The
appropriate security matrix is established at project initiation to
ensure that team members have the appropriate Create, Read, Use
and Delete authority.
2. Distribution structure – a description of what information goes
to whom, when and how.

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3. A standardised format for communicating key project

information. A master list of acronyms and definitions is
invaluable – especially to new project team members. If you
don’t know what an acronym means – always ask. Document
templates are valuable for not only status reports but also key
project documents such as business requirements, project
charters, and issues logs. Larger organisations will have
standardised templates for all key project documents from
charters to post implementation reports.
4. An information production schedule – meeting schedule e.g.
team meetings, steering committee meetings, status report
schedule.
5. Information access methods – who can attend what meetings,
what documents will be online, what level of access will be
assigned to each team member?
6. Method for updating and re-distribution the communications
management plan as the project unfolds.
7. Stakeholder communications analysis – what kinds of
information will be distributed to which stakeholders and when?
Who is the contact person? When is the information due? What
is the preferred format? Stakeholders should review for accuracy
before implementation. What involvement do you require from
the stakeholders, when? Where? What is the stakeholder interest,
influence and importance relating to the project?
Information distribution

Information distribution – making needed information available to

project stakeholders in a timely manner.

The stakeholder analysis provides a good starting point for information

distribution – making sure information gets to the right people at the right
time and using the appropriate method or mechanism.
Use of technology for distribution

There are a number of ways technology can be used to assist in

information distribution:
 Organising project documents and making them available in an
electronic format on a local or wide-area network (LAN or
WAN)
 Sharing information through an intranet, extranet or on the
Internet
 Making templates and sample documents available electronically
 Using project management software and the Internet to keep team
members informed of project status and performance.

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Formal and informal distribution methods

Technically oriented people tend to rely on formal and technical means of

communication and information distribution. Non-technical professionals
(especially senior managers) often prefer informal communications and
conversations to hear about project information. Thus it is important for
good project managers to develop relationships and informal reporting
structures to match team and stakeholders communication preferences.
Less than 10 per cent of communication consists of the actual content or
words communicated. Tone of voice and body language speak volumes.
Short frequent meetings are often a good way to keep key team members
current with project activities. Holding face to face meetings where
possible is an extremely effective technique.
Determining communications complexity

As the number of people involved in a project increases, the

communications complexity also increases (as does the opportunity for
miscommunication). The following formula can be used for determining
the number of communication channels as the number of team members
increases:

Number of communication channels = n(n-1)/2

where n = the number of team members

Rarely does a receiver interpret a message exactly as the sender intended.

As the message is relayed to others it tends to get more distorted. You’ve
probably seen or participated in a demonstration of this where you start
with one person whispering a short message into the ear of a neighbour
who in turn whispers to his/her neighbour. After several such relays a
comparison is made of the original message to the message the last
person received. The end message is usually something quite different
from the original and the degree of distortion is directly related to the
number of times it was relayed.

Information sent electronically usually does not impart the tone or body
language and thus misses 90 per cent of in-person communication. The
emotional and mental state of the receiver has a lot to do with how such
messages are interpreted. Good project managers will use a variety of
communication techniques and surround themselves with people who
complement their skills.
Performance reporting

Performance reporting – collecting and disseminating performance

information, which includes status reports, progress measurement and
forecasting.

Performance reports are designed to keep stakeholders informed as to

how resources are being used to achieve project objectives.

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 Status reports – reports that describe where the project stands at a

particular time (scope, time and cost). Earned value analysis is one
technique used for reporting project performance.
 Progress reports – reports that describe what the project team has
accomplished during a certain period. (Often combined with status
reports.)
 Project forecasting – predicts future project status based on past
information and trends. Earned value analysis can also be used to
estimate date and budget at completion.

What are loosely called status reports in many organisations often contain
elements of all three (status, progress and forecasting) – what we
accomplished since the last report, where we are now, and what we hope
to accomplished before the next reporting period.

Status review meetings are often used for performance reporting to

report important project information and to motivate people to make
progress.
Administrative closure

Administrative closure – generating, gathering and disseminating

information to formalise phase or project completion.

It consists of verifying and documenting project results. Administrative

closure allows time to collect project records, ensure records reflect final
specifications, analyse project effectiveness, and archive information for
future use. The three main outputs of administrative closure are:
 Project archives – a complete set of organised project records that
provide an accurate history of the project.
 Formal acceptance – documentation signed by the project sponsor
or customer to show that they have accepted the products of the
project.
 Lessons learned – reflective statements written by project managers
and their team members.

Good project documentation provides a formal audit trail and can become
a valuable resource for future projects. Formal acceptance signifies the
official end of the project. (How do we know when we’re done?) Lessons
learned can help future projects in planning and estimating.
Suggestions for improving project communications

There are five areas for improving project communications – conflict

resolution, developing better communication skills, running effective
meetings, using templates, and developing a communications
infrastructure.

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Conflict resolution skills

Conflict refers to any situation in which people have differing interests,

goals, principles, or feelings. This is, of course, a broad definition and
encompasses many different situations. A conflict could arise, for
instance, over a long-standing set of issues, a difference of opinion about
strategy or tactics in the accomplishment of some business goal,
incompatible beliefs, competition for resources, and so on. Conflicts can
also result when one person acts in a way that another individual sees as
insensitive, thoughtless, or rude. A conflict, in short, can result from
anything that places individuals in opposition to one another.

Some degree of conflict is inevitable over the life of any project.

Personalities are usually the primary source of conflict, but other issues
such as project priorities, staffing, cost and administrative procedures can
also lead to conflict. The following five basic modes for resolving
conflicts come from research by Blake and Mouton (1964)5.
1. Confrontation – directly facing a conflict using a problem-
solving approach that allows affected parties to work through
their disagreements. (Analogous to Covey’s win/win approach)
2. Compromise – using a give-and-take approach to resolving
conflicts. It consists of bargaining and searching for solutions
that bring some satisfaction to all the parties in a dispute.
3. Smoothing – an approach that de-emphasises or avoids areas of
differences and emphasises areas of agreement.
4. Forcing – involves using a zero-sum or win/lose approach to
conflict resolution to get one’s way.
5. Withdrawal – is simply retreating or withdrawing from an actual
or potential disagreement.

Research indicates that project manager’s favour using confrontation over

the other four modes. The Project Management Institute (PMI)™ highly
supports the use of confrontation as a conflict management tool since it
supports the concept of a win-win situation for the parties involved.

Developing better communications skills

Communications skills are a vital component of project success. The

good news is that these skills can be learned through training and
practice. Improving communication can be achieved with proper
planning, support and leadership from senior management, and from an
understanding of your own personal communications style.

5
Blake, Robert R., Shepard, Herbert, & Mouton, Jane Srygley (1964).Managing Intergroup Conflict
in Industry. Houston: Gulf Publishing Company.

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Running effective meetings

Well-run meetings can foster team building and reinforce expectations,

roles, relationships and commitment to the project. Many projects begin
with a kick-off meeting – a meeting where all major project stakeholders
discuss project objectives, plans, roles, etc. The following are some
suggestions for running more effective meetings:
 Define the purpose and the intended outcome of the meeting.
 Determine who should attend (based on purpose and intended
outcome).
 Provide an agenda to participants prior to the meeting.
 Prepare hand-outs, visual aids, and make logistical arrangements
ahead of time. (If you’re using presentation equipment, a) arrive
early and make sure the equipment works and b) have a back-up
plan in case of equipment failure)
 Run the meeting professionally:
o introduce people
o restate the purpose of the meeting
o establish ground rules
o facilitate the meeting to ensure all items are covered
o stay conscious of time
o encourage participation (prevent dominance)
o summarise key issues
o clarify decisions and action items
o take minutes and circulate them shortly after the meeting.
 Build relationships (make it enjoyable).

Using templates for project communications

Providing templates for common project communication items such as

project charters, status reports etc., makes the job easier and ensures some
level of consistency throughout the life of the project and across projects.
(People learn where to look for specific pieces of information in a report,
etc.) Most large organisations will have templates for all major project
documentation deliverables.

Developing a communications infrastructure

A communications infrastructure is a set of tools, techniques and

principles that provide a foundation for the effective transfer of
information among people. Microsoft’s Bill Gates calls it a “digital
nervous system”.
 Tools – e-mail, phones, faxes, groupware, intranets,
teleconferencing, document management systems, etc.

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 Techniques – reporting guidelines, template, meeting ground

rules, etc.
 Principles – “open-door” policy, work ethic, etc.

Many organisations have formed specialised project management offices

whose primary purpose is to provide the communications infrastructure
for effective project management.
Using software to assist in project communications

Microsoft Project has several project communications features. Project

information can be converted to HTML format for posting on the World
Wide Web or be inserted as hyperlinks in related project files. Project
managers can insert a hyperlink to the most recent version of their MS
Project file as part of their regular status reports. Workgroup features
should also be explored as an easy means of disseminating information to
project teams via e-mail.

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Module summary
This module focuses on the project human resource management and
communication management processes. Project human resource
management deals with planning, acquiring human resources and
managing them effectively in project environment. In terms of planning,
the processes involve identifying, assigning, and documenting project
Summary
roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships. Staff acquisition is done
by getting the needed people assigned to and working on the project
while team development is significant for building individual and group
skills to enhance project performance. In addition, project manager apply
theories in motivation and leadership to influence personnel in
committing themselves in the project. A project manager, who sometimes
plays the role of a leader, needs to possess skills in communication,
problem solving and time management in order to manage project
effectively. To be able to influence and instruct project team members,
project manager must be able to communicate well.

Communication needs to be managed effectively. First, the

communication management processes is communications planning that
determines the information and communication needs of the stakeholders:
who needs what information, when will they need it, and how the
information will be given to them. Secondly, information distribution
ensures the required information is made available to project stakeholders
in a timely manner. Thirdly, performance reporting is collecting and
disseminating performance information, which includes status reports,
progress measurement and forecasting. Finally, administrative closure is
generating, gathering and disseminating information to formalise phase-
level or project completion.

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Assignment
1. Explain the following techniques used in the allocation of resources
in a project:
a. Resource loading
b. Resource levelling.
Assignment 2. When applying the technique of resource levelling in a project,
discuss the possible implications on the following:
a. Time constraint of a project
b. Cost constraint of a project.
3. Why is communication management more challenging in a project
environment when compared to a non-project environment?

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Assessment
1. How can a project manager more effectively manage his or her time?
2. Since a project is only a temporary endeavour, discuss the challenges
faced by a project manager in motivating his project team.
Assessment 3. In what ways can technology assist in distributing information?
4. One of the suggestions to improve project communications is running
meeting effectively. Identify the steps in running meeting effectively
and indicate the reasons for running meeting effectively.
5. Describe the communication infrastructure to be built by the project
manager.

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Assessment answers
1. Following are some suggestions how a project manager can
manage his or her time well in order to cope with many
concurrent activities and unforeseeable events:
 At the end of each week, identify the necessary (two to
five) goals that you want to accomplish the following
week
 At the end of each day, make a to-do list for the next day
 Read daily the to-do list first thing in the morning, and
keep it in sight all day
 Control interruptions to your planned schedule
 Learn to say no to activities that do not contribute to
accomplishment of the goals
 Make effective use of waiting time
 Try to handle most paperwork only once
 Reward yourself at the end of the week if you
accomplished all your goals.
2. While a project is a temporary endeavour, the project manager
may utilise the motivation theories by Abraham Maslow and
Frederick Herzberg to motivate his project staff. The project
manager needs to treat his staff with appropriate professionalism
in order that his staff will feel a sense of self-esteem which is the
fourth level in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Promotions and
other rewards can further the feeling of esteem among the staff.
3. There are a number of ways technology can be used to assist in
information distribution:
 Organising project documents and making them
available in an electronic format on a local or wide-area
network (LAN or WAN)
 Sharing information through an intranet, extranet or on
the Internet
 Making templates and sample documents available
electronically
 Using project management software and the Internet to
keep team members informed of project status and
performance.
 The Artemis Prestige project software tracks multiple
tasks concurrently, updates team members and can be
used interactively.
4. Well run meetings can foster team spirit and cooperation (esprit
de corps) and reinforce expectations, roles, relationships and

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commitment to the project. Many projects begin with a kick-off

meeting – a meeting where all major project stakeholders discuss
project objectives, plans, roles, etc. The following are some
suggestions for running more effective meetings:
 Define the purpose and the intended outcome of the
meeting
 Determine who should attend (based on purpose and
intended outcome)
 Provide an agenda to participants before the meeting
 Prepare hand-outs, visual aids, and make logistical
arrangements ahead of time. (If you’re using presentation
equipment, a) arrive early and make sure the equipment
works and b) have a back-up plan in case of equipment
failure.)
 Run the meeting professionally:
o introduce people
o restate the purpose of the meeting
o establish ground rules
o facilitate the meeting to ensure all items are covered
o stay conscious of time
o encourage participation (prevent dominance)
o summarise key issues
o clarify decisions and action items
o take minutes and circulate shortly after the meeting.
 Meetings are platforms for building relationships.
5. A communications infrastructure is a set of tools, techniques and
principles that provide a foundation for the effective transfer of
information among people. Microsoft’s Bill Gates calls it a
“digital nervous system”:
 Tools – e-mail, phones, faxes, groupware, intranets,
teleconferencing, document management systems, etc.
 Techniques – reporting guidelines, template, meeting
ground rules, etc.
 Principles – ‘open-door’ policy, work ethic, top-up idea
generation etc.
 Many organisations have formed specialised project
management offices whose primary purpose is to provide
the communications infrastructure for effective project
management.

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