Information System Project Management

Chapter Three:
Project Organization
 Outline
• Introduction
• Project Roles and Team Organization
• Staffing the Project
• Training
• Project Communication
Introduction
• Project Human Resource Management includes the
processes that organize, manage, and lead the project team.
• The project team is comprised of the people with assigned
roles and responsibilities for completing the project.
– Members may have varied skill sets,
– May be assigned full or part-time, and
– May be added or removed from the team as the project
progresses.
• Members may also be referred to as the project’s staff.
– Participation/involvement of team members during planning adds
their expertise to the process and strengthens their commitment
to the project.
Project Roles and Team Organization

• Various formats exist to document team

member roles and responsibilities.
• Most of the formats fall into one of three types:
hierarchical, matrix, and text-oriented.
• Regardless of the method utilized,
– the objective is to ensure that each work package
has an unambiguous owner and
– that all team members have a clear understanding
of their roles and responsibilities.
Project Roles and Team Organization
Project Roles and Team Organization
• Hierarchical-type charts can be used to show positions
and relationships in a graphical, top-down format.
– Work breakdown structures (WBS) designed to show how
project deliverables are broken down into work packages
provide a way of showing high-level areas of responsibility.
– The organizational breakdown structure (OBS) is arranged
according to an organization’s existing departments, units,
or teams with the project activities or work packages listed
under each department.
– The resource breakdown structure (RBS) is a hierarchical
list of resources related by category and resource type that
is used to facilitate planning and controlling of project work.
Project Roles and Team Organization
• Matrix-based charts:
– A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) is a grid that shows the
project resources assigned to each work package.
– It is used to illustrate the connections between work packages or
activities and project team members.
– The matrix format shows all activities associated with one person and all
people associated with one activity and avoid confusion of responsibility.
– One example of a RAM is a RACI (responsible, accountable, consult, and
inform) chart.
• The sample chart shows the work to be done in the left column as activities.
• The assigned resources can be shown as individuals or groups.
• The project manager can select other options such as “lead” and “resource”
designations or others, as appropriate for the project.
• A RACI chart is a useful tool to use when the team consists of internal and
external resources in order to ensure clear divisions of roles and expectations.
Project Roles and Team Organization

• Matrix-based charts: RACI chart example

Project Roles and Team Organization
• Text-oriented formats:
– Team member responsibilities that require detailed
descriptions can be specified in text-oriented formats.
– Usually in outline form, the documents provide information
such as responsibilities, authority, competencies, and
qualifications.
– The documents are known by various names including
position descriptions and role-responsibility-authority forms.
– These documents can be used as templates for future
projects, especially when the information is updated
throughout the current project by applying lessons learned.
Project Roles and Team Organization
• The Project Human Resource Plan – part of the
project management plan, provides guidance on
how project human resources should be defined,
staffed, managed, and eventually released.
• The project Human Resource management Plan
includes but not limited to:
– Roles and Responsibilities
– Project Organization Charts
– Staffing Management Plan
Project Roles and Team Organization
• Roles and Responsibilities
– Role: the function assumed by or assigned to a person in the project.
– Authority: the right to apply project resources, make decisions, sign
approvals, accept deliverables, and influence others to carry out the
work of the project.
– Responsibility: the assigned duties and work that a project team
member is expected to perform in order to complete the project’s
activities.
– Competency: the skill and capacity required to complete assigned
activities within the project constraints.
• If project team members do not possess required competencies,
performance can be jeopardized.
• When such mismatches are identified, proactive responses such as training,
hiring, schedule changes, or scope changes are initiated.
Project Roles and Team Organization
• Project Organization Charts
– a graphic display of project team members and their reporting
relationships.
– It can be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed,
based on the needs of the project.
• Staffing Management Plan
– Describes when and how project team members will be acquired
and how long they will be needed.
– It describes how human resource requirements will be met.
– It can be formal or informal, highly detailed, or broadly framed,
depending upon the needs of the project.
– The plan is updated continually during the project to direct ongoing
team member acquisition and development actions.
Project Roles and Team Organization
• Staffing Management Plan
– Information in the staffing management plan varies by
application area and project size, but items to consider
include:
• Staff acquisition
• Resource calendars – working days and shifts on which each
specific resource is available.
• Staff release plan
• Training needs
• Recognition and rewards
• Compliance
• Safety – policies and procedures that protect team members from
safety hazards.
Staffing The Project
• Staffing is the process of confirming human
resource availability and obtaining the team
necessary to complete project activities.
• The key benefit of this process consists of
outlining and guiding the team selection and
responsibility assignment to obtain a successful
team.
Staffing The Project
• The following tools and techniques are used
during staffing:
– Pre–assignment
– Negotiation
– Acquisition
– Virtual Teams
– Multi–Criteria Decision Analysis
Staffing The Project
• Pre–assignment
– When project team members are selected in advance, they are considered pre-
assigned.
– This situation can occur
• if the project is the result of specific people being identified as part of a competitive proposal,
• if the project is dependent upon the expertise of particular persons, or
• if some staff assignments are defined within the project charter.
• Negotiation
– The project management team’s ability to influence others plays an important role
in negotiating staff assignments.
• Acquisition
– When the performing organization is unable to provide the staff needed to
complete a project, the required services may be acquired from outside sources.
– This can involve hiring individual consultants or subcontracting work to another
organization.
Staffing The Project
• Virtual Teams
– groups of people with a shared goal who fulfill their
roles with little or no time spent meeting face to
face.
– Requires availability of communication technology.
• Multi–Criteria Decision Analysis
– Selection criteria are developed and used to rate or
score potential team members.
– The criteria are weighted according to the relative
importance of the needs within the team.
Staffing The Project
• Multi–Criteria Decision Analysis
– Examples of selection criteria that can be used to score
team members are:
• Availability
• Cost
• Experience
• Ability
• Knowledge
• Skills
• Attitude
• International factors – location, time zone and
communication capabilities.
Training – Developing the Project Team

• Training is the process of improving competencies,

team member interaction, and overall team
environment to enhance project performance.
• The key benefit of this process is that it results in
– improved teamwork,
– enhanced people skills and competencies,
– motivated employees,
– reduced staff turnover rates, and
– improved overall project performance.
Training – Developing the Project Team

• The following are considered to develop the

project team:
– Interpersonal Skills
– Trainings
– Team–Building Activities
– Ground Rules
– Colocation
– Recognition and Rewards
– Personnel Assessment Tools
Training – Developing the Project Team
• Interpersonal Skills
– Also known as “soft skills,” are behavioral competencies that include proficiencies
such as:
• communication skills,
• emotional intelligence,
• conflict resolution,
• negotiation,
• influence,
• team building, and
• group facilitation.
– These soft skills are valuable assets when developing the project team.
• Trainings
– Includes all activities designed to enhance the competencies of the project team
members, which can be formal or informal.
– Examples of training methods include
• classroom, online, computer-based, on-the-job training from another project team member,
mentoring, and coaching.
Training – Developing the Project Team
• Team–Building Activities
– is to help individual team members work together effectively.
• Ground Rules
– establish clear expectations regarding acceptable behavior by project team members.
• Colocation
– also referred to as “tight matrix,” involves placing many or all of the most active project
team members in the same physical location to enhance their ability to perform as a
team.
• Recognition and Rewards
– People are motivated if they feel they are valued in the organization and this value is
demonstrated by the rewards given to them.
• Personnel Assessment Tools
– can provide improved understanding, trust, commitment, and communications among
team members and facilitate more productive teams throughout the project.
– Attitudinal surveys, specific assessments, structured interviews, ability tests, and focus
groups can be used as assessment tools.
Project Communication
Importance of Good Communication
– The greatest threat to many projects is a failure to
communicate.
– Our culture does not portray IT professionals as being
good communicators.
– Research shows that IT professionals must be able to
communicate effectively to succeed in their positions.
– Strong verbal and non-technical skills are a key factor
in career advancement for IT professionals.
Project Communication
Keys to Good Communication
• Project managers say they spend as much as 90
percent of their time communicating.
• Need to focus on group and individual communication
needs.
• Use formal and informal methods for communicating.
• Distribute important information in an effective and
timely manner.
• Set the stage for communicating bad news.
• Determine the number of communication channels.
Project Communication
Other Common Considerations
• Rarely does the receiver interpret a message
exactly as the sender intended.
• Geographic location and cultural background affect
the complexity of project communications.
– Different working hours

– Language barriers
– Different cultural norms
Project Communication
•Determine
  number of communication channels
• As the number of people involved increases,
the complexity of communications increases.
– because there are more communications channels
or pathways through which people can
communicate.
• Number of communications channels =
where n is the number of people involved.
Project Communication
Determine number of communication channels
 Project Communication Management
Processes
• Planning communications management:
– Determining the information and communications needs
of the stakeholders.
• Managing communications:
– Creating, distributing, storing, retrieving, and disposing
of project communications based on the
communications management plan.
• Controlling communications:
– Monitoring and controlling project communications to
ensure that stakeholder communication needs are met.
Planning Communication Management

• Every project should include some type of

communications management plan, a document
that guides project communications.
• The plan varies with the needs of the project, but
some type of written plan should always be
prepared.
• For small projects, the communications
management plan can be part of the team contract.
• For large projects, it should be a separate
document.
Planning Communication Management

Contents of Communication Management Plan:

1. Stakeholder communications requirements.
2. Information to be communicated, including format, content,
and level of detail.
3. Who will receive the information and who will produce it.
4. Suggested methods or technologies for conveying the
information.
5. Frequency of communication.
6. Escalation procedures for resolving issues.
7. Revision procedures for updating the communications
management plan.
8. A glossary of common terminology.
Managing Communication
• Managing communications is a large part of a
project manager’s job.
• Getting project information to the right people at
the right time and in a useful format is just as
important as developing the information in the
first place.
• Important considerations include
– the use of technology,
– the appropriate methods and media to use, and
– performance reporting
Managing Communication
• Using Technology to Enhance Creation and
Distribution
– Technology can facilitate the process of creating and
distributing information, when used properly.
– It is important to select the appropriate
communication method and media.
Managing Communication
Classifications for Communication Methods

• Interactive communication:
– Two or more people interact to exchange information via meetings, phone
calls, or video conferencing.
– Most effective way to ensure common understanding.
• Push communication:
– Information is sent or pushed to recipients without their request via reports,
e-mails, faxes, voice mails, and other means.
– Ensures that the information is distributed, but does not ensure that it was
received or understood.
• Pull communication:
– Information is sent to recipients at their request via Web sites, bulletin
boards, e-learning, knowledge repositories like blogs, and other means.
Managing Communication
Reporting Performance
• Performance reporting keeps stakeholders
informed about how resources are being used
to achieve project objectives.
– Status reports describe where the project stands at
a specific point in time.
– Progress reports describe what the project team
has accomplished during a certain period of time.
– Forecasts predict future project status and progress
based on past information and trends.
Controlling Communication
• The main goal of controlling communications is to ensure the
optimal flow of information throughout the entire project life
cycle.
• The project manager and project team should use
– their various reporting systems,
– expert judgment, and
– meetings to assess how well communications are working.
• If problems exist, the project manager and team need to take
action,
– which often requires changes to the earlier processes of planning and
managing project communications.
• It is often beneficial to have a facilitator from outside the project
team assess how well communications are working.
Controlling Communication
• Suggestions for Improving Project Communications include:
– Develop better communication skills via communications training.
– Run effective meetings by
• Defining the purpose and intended outcome.
• Provide agenda, prepare handout and visual aids, and make logical
arrangements ahead of time.
• Run the meeting professionally.
• Set the ground rules for the meeting.
• Build relationships.
– Use e-mail and other technologies effectively
• Make sure that e-mail, instant messaging, texting, or collaborative tools
are an appropriate medium for what you want to communicate.
– Use templates for project communications
Controlling Communication
• It is also important to organize and prepare
project archives.
• Project archives are a complete set of
organized project records that provide an
accurate history of the project.
• These archives can provide valuable
information for future projects as well.
Controlling Communication
Final Project Documentation Items