Unit 2 PM Harold Kerzner

Organizing and Staffing the Project Office and Team

Organizational Staffing Process

• Staffing the project organization is a lengthy and tedious job– Especially on large and complex engineering

projects• Remember three important points:

-What people resources are required-Where will the people come from- What type of project organizational structure will be best

Organizational Staffing Process (Cont.)

• Continuity in the Project:– Skilled Staff is available for one task, but for task 2 and

task 3 average staff is available, so for continuity of the project you may have to accept those average workers

• Relationship b/w Project and Line Managers– Mutual trust ,understanding, and cooperation is

necessary between Project and Line/Functional Manager

– Moreover there must also be mutual trust between the project managers.


Project/Functional Team consists of:

– Project Manager– Project Office– Functional members

• Functional Team members:– Have more expertise and can identify high-risk areas– Must show a positive attitude towards project success. They must

be invited in early meeting of planning.– Can be full time/part time as per requirements of the project


Project Team (Cont.)The selection of functional team members and the project office include evaluation of special requirements, and these requirements develop from:• Changes in technical specification• Special Customer request• Organizational restructuring because of deviation from

existing policies• Compatibility with the customer’s project office


Project Team (Cont.)• Project Office may include between ten and thirty members.• While total project team may be in excess of hundred people.• For large projects, it is recommended to have full time functional reps. from

major divisions or departments:– Programme Management– Project Engineering– Engineering Operations– Manufacturing Operations– Procurement– Quality Control– Cost accounting– Publications– Marketing – Sales


Project Team (Cont.)• Star Employees– Are vital for the success– Are either make or break the project– Are normally found in line organization not the

project office


Project Manager:• Most difficult decision for top mgt is to select

the project manager• Some project managers work well on long

projects where decision making can be slow• Others may thrive on short duration projects

which result in a constant –pressure environment.

• Project Manager must learn from his mistakes


Project Manager (Cont.):• Selection Process: (Consideration for selection)– What are the internal and external sources– How do we select– How do we provide career development– How do we develop project mgt skills– How do we evaluate project mgt performance– What is the priority for the project– What are the risks


Project Manager (Cont.):• Major Responsibilities:– To produce the end item with the available resources and

within the constraints of time, cost, and performance/technology

– To meet contractual profit objectives– To make all required decisions– To act as the customer (external),and functional

mgt(internal)– To negotiate with all functional disciplines– To resolve conflicts


Project Manager (Cont.):Implicit Responsibilities• Interface Mgt– Product Interfaces

• Performance of parts or subsections• Physical connection of parts or subsections

– Project Interfaces• Customer• Mgt• Change of responsibilities• Information Flow• Inventory Control


Project Manager (Cont.):• Implicit Responsibilities (Cont.):• Resource Mgt

– Time (Schedule)– Manpower– Money– Facilities– Equipment– Material– Information/Technology

• Planning and Control Mgt– Equipment Utilization– Performance efficiency– Reduced risk– Identification of alternatives to problem– Identification of alternative resolutions to conflict


Project Manager (Cont.):• Personal Characteristics:• Flexibility and adaptability• Initiative and leadership• Confidence• Verbal fluency• Ambition• Effective communicator• Broad scope of personal interest• Enthusiasm• Able to balance technical solutions• Disciplined• Generalist• Able to devote time for planning and controling• Able to identify problems• Willing to make decisions• Time mgt


Difference b/w Program and Project Manager:• Although there are similarities between project

managers and program managers, there are fundamental differences as well.

• Recognizing these differences can help organizations enhance the impact of their selection processes, training and development efforts, and performance management systems.

• Recognizing and articulating the differences in a clear and compelling way will lead to greater productivity and business results.


Difference b/w Program and Project Manager (Cont.):Project Manager Program ManagerNarrow Span of Control Wide Span of ControlDepth BreadthMicro MacroProject Management Portfolio ManagementExecution & Implementation Tools, Systems & Processes


Difference b/w Program and Project Manager (Cont.):Project Manager Program Manager

• Process Compliance Process Development

• Cross-Functional Cross-Business/Enterprise• Time Management and Orchestration (arrangement or People Coordination

control) and People Management • Project Completion on Time, Return-on-Investment and Budget, and to

Expectations value delivery• Conflicting Project Requirements Competing Business Strategies and

Objectives

a


Role of Project Manager: • Project managers are the point people responsible for coordinating activities

of project team members to achieve project objectives. Whereas project team members tend to have narrowly focused skills and expertise, and are primarily concerned with day-to-day functions,.

• Project Managers focus equal attention on near- and long-term activities. • Historically the role of Project Manager focused on the larger, more technical

projects.• However, in recent years it is being applied to a variety of smaller, less

technical projects as well. • The Project Management function has received a lot of attention over the

last 10 years and has become a highly desired competency in most organizations.


Selecting Wrong Project Manager:Having clearly defined job description, and characteristics, mgt may select wrong project manager, because:• Maturity– Don’t consider gray hair– Consider exposure of different projects

• Hard-Nosed Tactics– Give freedom to the employees– Without providing continuous supervision


Selecting Wrong Project Manager (Cont.):• Availability

– Don’t assign projects due to availability• Technical Expertise

– The project manager who is technically sound Will overly involve himself in technical details of the project

• Customer Orientation– Executives place individuals as PM simply to satisfy a

customer request– Being able to communicate with the customer does not

guarantee project success


Selecting Wrong Project Manager (Cont.):• New Exposure

– Some time executives place individuals from line organisations in projects only for new exposure of project mgt, which may cause:• Technically obsolete • Line manager will not want to return to the line organisation

• Company Exposure– working in different divisions does not guarantee that he will also be a

good project manager– Individuals must not assign projects simply because they are at top of

their pay grade– PM must be promoted on base of performance not on the number of

persons supervised– It is not necessary for the PM to be the highest ranking or salaried

Code of Ethics for Project Managers

Project Management Institute (PMI)Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct• As practitioners of project management, we are committed to doing what is right and

honorable. • We make decisions and take actions based on the best interests of society, public safety, and

the environment.• We inform ourselves and uphold the policies, rules, regulations and laws that govern our

work, professional, and volunteer activities• Respect is our duty to show a high regard for ourselves, others, and the resources entrusted

to us• We inform ourselves about the norms and customs of others and avoid engaging in

behaviors they might consider disrespectful. • We negotiate in good faith• We demonstrate transparency in our decision-making process. • We do not hire or fire, reward or punish, or award or deny contracts based on personal

considerations, including but not limited to, favoritism, nepotism, or bribery. • We earnestly seek to understand the truth.


Project Managers of 21st century:• Skills required in 1980 have been changed• Historically only engineers were given the opportunity• PM need understanding rather than a command of

technology• Knowledge of the business• Integration skills• Risk management• In Fig 4.1 , we can see a clear shift in business conceptual

skills from 1985 to 2008• In future PM will become expert in damage control


Project Office:• Consists of Assistant Project Managers• Project Engineer may also be call APM• Project Office is an organization developed to support the project

managerResponsibilities of Project Office:• Acting as the focal point of info for both in house control and customer

reporting• Controlling time, cost, and performance• Ensuring that all work is documented and distributed to all key personnel• Ensuring that all work performed is both authorized and funded by

contractual documentation• Integration of work across the functional lines of the org.


Project Office (Cont.):Size of Project Office: depends on• Project size• Internal support requirements• Type of project (R&D, Production)• Level of technical competency required• Customer support requirements


Project Office (Cont.):Major activities:• Integration of activities• In house and out of house communication• Scheduling with risk and uncertainty• Effective control

Selecting the Project Management Implementation Team

• Implementation of project mgt within an organisation requires:– Strong executive support– Implementation team

• Selecting the wrong team memebrs can:– Lengthen the implementation process– Reduce employee morale

Selecting the Project Management Implementation Team (Cont.)

• Destructive Roles:Some employees may play destructive roles:– The aggressor– The dominator– The devil’s advocate– The topic jumper– The recognition seeker– The withdrawer– The Blocker


Destructive Roles (Cont.):• The Aggressor:– Criticizes everybody and everything– Deflates the status and ego of other team memebrs– Always act aggressively

• The dominator:– Always tries to take over– Professes to know everything about project mgt– Tries to manipulate the people– Will challenge those in charge of leadership role


Destructive Roles (Cont.):• The Devil’s advocate– Finds fault in all areas of project mgt– Refuses to support unless threatened– Acts more of a devil than an advocate

• The topic jumper– Must be the first one with new idea/approach– Constantly changes the topic– Can’t focus on idea for long unless it is his own idea– Keep project mgt implementation as an action item forever


Destructive Roles (Cont.):• The recognition seeker

– Always argues in favour of his/her own ideas– Status conscious– Volunteer to become PM if status is recognized– Likes to hear himself talk– Do not provide meaningful info

• The withdrawer– Afraid to be criticized– Do not openly participate unless threatened– Withhold info– Shy

• The Blocker– Likes to criticize– Rejects the views of others– Cites unrelated examples and personal experiences– Has multiple reasons why project mgt will not work


Supportive Roles:• The initiators• The information seekers• The information givers• The encouragers• The clarifiers• The harmonizers• The consensus takers• The gate keepers


Supportive Roles (Cont.):• The Initiators

– Is there a chance that this might work– Lets try this

• The information seekers– Have we tried anything like this before– Do we know other companies where this has worked– Can we get this info

• The information givers– Other companies found that…..– The literature says that….– Benchmarking studies indicate that……..


Supportive Roles (Cont.):• The encouragers

– Your idea has a lot of merit– The idea is workable with small changes– What you said is really helpful

• The clarifiers– Are we saying that…..– Let me in my own words which I heard from team– Lets see if we can put this into perspective

• The harmonizers– we agree– Our ideas are close together– We are saying the same thing


Supportive Roles (Cont.):• The consensus takers– Lets see if the team agree– Have voting– How the rest of the group feels

• The gate keepers– Who has not given us their opinion yet– Should we keep our options open– Are we prepared to make a decision on recommendations

or there additional info to be reviewed

Project Organizational Chart• Project organizational chart is the first requirement of the project start up

phase for the project and determine its relation to the parent organizational structure

• Fig 4.5, shows the six major program at Dalton Corporation (we will study Midas Program), Refer to book by Harold Kerzner, page 176.

• This sort of chart is for customer benefit (may be the Midas program has lowest priority but it is placed at top to give impression to the customer that it is the top priority for contractor)

• One employee can be found at two or more vertical positions( i-e project engineer on two project) or the same employee in two horizontal boxes(i-e for a small project, the same person could be the project manager and project engineer)

• The employees shown in Fig 4.5 may be part time or full time, depending upon the project’s requirement.

Project Organizational Chart (Cont.)


• Fig 4.6, (Midas Program Office) Refer to book by Harold Kerzner, page 177

• In program office structure, the chief of operations and the chief engineer report directly to the program manager and indirectly to the directors.


Problems in Organizational Staffing Process

• Organizations face different problems during organizational staffing process.

• For Example, In Fig 4-8 (Refer to Book By Harold Kerzner, Page 179):– Activities of Project X and Y are being managed by line employees, while

Project Z is leaded by Supervisor B.– The important problem facing by department manager is that of training

new employees.– Training process requires 9 to 12 months– After training they become familiar with functions of three sections and then

assigned one section.– Line managers say that they don’t have enough time to supervise training – Resultantly, deptt manager found employee C the most competent to

supervise training.– A special department training project was set up in Fig 4-8

Problems in Organizational Staffing Process (Cont.)

Conflicts in Project Environment

• Conflict is an important element of the project environment.• Project conflict arises out of mutual incompatibility in

objectives, priorities, schedules, procedures, roles, values, interests or relationships.

• It is situational and varies from project to project, person to person, time to time and place to place.

• It varies in various phases of the project life cycle.Two major issues:• Personnel Performance• Personnel Policy

Conflicts in Project Environment (Cont.)

Understanding superior, subordinate and functional conflicts:• Performance is difficult for many employees in Project

environment because of change in doing business. Regardless of how competent they are, find it difficult to adapt continually to a changing situation in which they report to multiple managers.

• Sometimes employee work in project feel it a chance for glory, but unfortunately they consider glory more important than the project.

• They don’t follow the instruction of project manager but try to do task in their own way, to get recognition.


Understanding superior, subordinate and functional conflicts (Cont.):• Another conflict lies in project-functional interface.

Employee sudddenly finds himself reporting to two bosses, the functional manager, and project manager

• If the direction of both functional and project managers are in same direction then employee perfpormance will not be hampered, but if they are in different direction then conflict will arise, and employee performance will suffer


Methods /Modes of Conflict Resolution:• Withdrawal is physical and emotional retreat from the conflict. Individuals

should withdraw when: an issue is trivial or another outcome is more important; when ‘winning the point’ is more trouble than its worth; or when someone else can better handle the issue.

• Suppression can be described as the ‘peace at any cost’ approach. It involves emphasizing the points of agreement and deemphasizing the points of difference. It is best used when co-operation is desired on an important issue or the aim is to be seen as flexible or reasonable. Suppression can be positive if it gives the parties time to think about how to respond to the matter

• Forcing is directing the resolution in one way or another. Again it should be a short term solution when time is of the essence. It is best used when the issue relates to rules and discipline. PMs should only force an issue when they know they are right and can back up their decision.


Methods/Modes of Conflict Resolution (Cont.):• Compromise can be seen as a reasonable approach when moving

forward is the most important outcome and you have tight time constraints. Compromise involves each party giving in a little and gaining some ground in the process. It may mean that neither party is really satisfied with the outcome - each feeling they’ve lost something but the team will be able to move closer achieving the project goals

• Collaboration is generally believed to be the most satisfactory long term approach to conflict resolution. Collaboration is desirable when each person’s position is too important to compromise and when each has valuable knowledge that needs to be contributed. Collaboration is important in organizations with a quality approach where people need to learn from each other. It should also be used when damaged relationships need to be repaired and total commitment is required.


Role of Project Manager in Conflict Problem Solving:• Identification of conflict• Understanding the determinants of conflicts• Take some decisions after problem identification• Examine and analyze the problem, the situation causing it, and the

alternatives available. • After this analysis, the project manager will determine the best course

of action to take and implement the decision. • Effective communication to the all organizational levels• Sixth sense• The timing of the decision is often as important as the decision itself. If

you make a good decision but implement it too late, it might turn into a bad decision.

Documents

Unit 2 PM Harold Kerzner