MANAGING PROJECTS IN HUMAN RESOURCES, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PHẦN 2 ppt

PEOPLE IN PROJECTS

Although this model of three dimensions helps us to keep an overview of

projects, another crucial dimension to keep in mind is the involvement of

people in projects. People are central to every aspect of a project. People

commission and sponsor projects, agree to provide resources, support or

challenge projects, and contribute their energy and intelligence to carry out

projects. People take roles in delivering projects as leaders, managers and

team members, and others influence projects as sponsors, stakeholders, men￾tors, coaches and expert advisors. With so many people involved, projects

are strongly influenced by how these people feel and talk about the project

and how people behave in relation to the project.

Example 1.4

A project sensitive to people

A consultancy service was commissioned by a large organization to

provide a development programme for senior managers. Many staff

thought that participation would influence promotion decisions, so

the project was very sensitive in terms of how people would be se￾lected to be participants in the programme. Other roles also needed

to be considered, including who would present elements of the pro￾gramme and who would support participants as line managers or

mentors. As the ultimate purpose of the project was to improve the

organization’s products and services, some involvement from cus￾tomers was important. There was also interest from the press and

from several professional bodies and trade unions.

In this project the extensive range of interests was managed by de￾signing each aspect of the project with involvement of people with

particular interests and concerns. A competence framework for senior

managers aspiring to directorships was developed through consulta￾tion with all the organization’s directors. Senior managers and pro￾fessionals were also interviewed to develop a competence framework

that would enable development of ‘middle’ level staff into more senior

positions. Senior staff and directors were trained to make selection

decisions using these frameworks. The involvement of staff at several

levels in developing criteria and in the selection processes ensured

that the development programme was widely understood and its

methods accepted within the organization.

14 Managing projects in human resources

When a project is particularly sensitive to ‘people’ issues it may be possible

to consider the implications of different ways of balancing the key dimen￾sions of time, budget and quality. It may be possible to deliver the intended

outcomes in different ways, perhaps by using more or less involvement of

people and their time.

PROJECTS IN HR, TRAINING AND

DEVELOPMENT

Inevitably, any project that takes place in a setting concerned with training

and developing people or managing the performance and welfare of people

at work will reflect the particular concerns and values of the human resources

(HR) perspective. This is not, of course, a single viewpoint. HR departments

are strongly aligned with the missions, values and cultures of their workplace

and therefore vary as much as organizations vary. Many organizations, par￾ticularly those without large numbers of staff, do not have an HR department

but manage their staff within their general management structures. Again,

the approaches to training, development and management of people will

vary.

There is some common ground in the management of people in work￾places. There is legislation governing basic rights of employees, although the

details of such legislation varies from country to country and may change

frequently. Common ground also exists in the recognition that it is people

who carry out the work of the organization, however mechanized it may be,

and that people need to be rewarded for their work and to be motivated to

want to work. There is also similarity in the expectations that employers have

of employees, particularly the expectation that employees will produce the

outcomes that the employer is paying them to achieve – although in some

sectors and organizations, these expectations seem to change frequently.

Project management is a relatively recent approach to management. It is a

particularly effective approach to gaining management control, and enables

a focus on use of resources to gain specific objectives. It does, however,

require different organizational structures:

The rapid rate of change in both technology and the marketplace has

created enormous strains on existing organizational forms. The tradi￾tional structure is highly bureaucratic, and experience has shown that

it cannot respond rapidly enough to a changing environment. Thus the

traditional structure must be replaced by project management, or other

What is a project? 15