Project Management - How to manage HR Projects efficiently and effectively. A Manual for HR and non-HR Professionals

<How to manage HR Projects efficiently and effectively in your organization>

PROJECT MANAGEMENT HOW-TO-GUIDE

How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT

©HRM Toolshop, 2013, all rights reserved www.hrmtoolshop.com

PROJECT MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE


• This Guide is part of the PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT. This toolkit helps you to prepare and initiate your HR Projects, keep track of project progress and close and review your HR Projects in a structured and professional manner.

• Step by step, this Guide describes how to set up your HR Project Charter and conduct a project kick-off meeting, how to conduct regular project update meetings and keep your project plan up to date, how to organize a Lessons Learned Workshop and conduct a Project Closure Meeting.

• For each step in the Guide, you will be introduced to the relevant tools and templates and how to complete them: a template for your Project Charter, template slides for a Kick-Off Meeting, a Project Milestones Plan Worksheet, and so much more.



ROADMAP OVERVIEW STEPS FOR MANAGING YOUR HR PROJECTS


IV. Reviewing & Closing the Project

A. Conduct a Lessons Learned Workshop with

your Project Team

B. Conduct a Project Closure Meeting with the

Project Steering Committee

III. Monitoring & Controlling

II. Initiating & Planning your HR Project

A. Follow-up on the

Action Plan and update the Project Milestones

Plan and Project Charter whenever appropriate

B. Conduct Regular Project Status Meetings

with the Steering Committee

A. Conduct a Project Kick-off Workshop to

align the Project Team Members with the identified Goals &

Approach

I. Building your Business Case

B. Work out the detailed Business Case & Project Organization & Planning

A. Prepare a high level Business Case and get

approval from your Sponsor and the

commitment of the Steering Committee

B. Work out an Action Plan for each Project

Stage


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USING THIS GUIDE



• Critical HR Competencies to have:

– Business Understanding

– Communication

– Analytical Thinking

– Facilitating & Consulting

STEP I – BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS CASE


I. Build your Business Case

B. Work out the detailed Business Case and the Project

Organization & Planning

A. Prepare a high level Business Case and get approval from

your Sponsor and the commitment of the Steering

Committee

• Every project needs strong sponsorship from someone sufficiently senior in the company. Someone who has the authority to support the project and approve the required budget. Usually this will be a board level director or the CEO. One of the main reasons why projects fail is lack of executive sponsorship. It is therefore crucial to find a sponsor for the project you are about to initiate. Your Project Sponsor will act as your best supporter in the company’s senior management, be available for informal meetings and advice during the course of the project and take on a proactive role in helping you gain access to the resources that you need.

• The sponsor will normally be the person who instigated the business case. If this individual is not a sufficiently senior manager, you will need to get a more senior sponsor. In establishing the steering committee (see further), there will be opportunity to suggest that one of the steering committee members becomes the formal sponsor for the Project.


A. PREPARE A HIGH LEVEL BUSINESS CASE - 1

Tool Reference:

• Project Charter Template

• Project Approval Meeting Template


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How-to-Guide CHANGE MANAGEMENT


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– Planning & Organizing


STEP II – INITIATING YOUR HR PROJECT & FINE-TUNING YOUR ACTION PLANS


II. Initiate your HR Project and Fine-tune your Action Plans

B. Work out an Action Plan for each Project Stage

A. Conduct a Project Kick-off Workshop to align the Project

Team Members with the identified Goals & Approach

• The purpose of the Kick-Off Workshop is to inform the Project Team Members about the agreed planning and align them with the identified objectives and project approach.

• Prepare the Workshop by reviewing your Project Management documents (Project Charter, Project Milestones Plan Worksheet, Stakeholder Analysis & Communication Plan Template) and use the key information on the Project in your workshop slides.

• Send a clear invitation to all Project Team Members describing the objectives and expected outcomes for this workshop and why their participation is critical.

• Stimulate participation of all Project Team Members and close the workshop with a recreational element to stimulate commitment and encourage teamwork.


A. CONDUCT A PROJECT KICK-OFF WORKSHOP

Tool Reference:

• Project Kick-Off Workshop Template












– Communication

STEP III – MONITORING & CONTROLLING YOUR HR PROJECT


III. Monitor & Control your HR Project

A. Keep track of the Project Status and update the Project

Planning where necessary

B. Conduct Regular Project Status Meetings with the

Steering Committee

• During the Monitoring & Controlling Phase of the Project, you will have to:

– Track time & expenses spent and progress to plan,

– Communicate within the team,

– Report on Status & Actuals and variance from budget/plans, and

– Manage changes, issues, risks, project quality and deliverables.

• Conduct regular meetings with the Project Team (e.g. once per week or bi-weekly) and keep them informed about important changes, issues, etc. through emails or any other communication channel appropriate for the occasion.


A. KEEP TRACK OF THE PROJECT STATUS & UPDATE THE PROJECT PLANNING WHERE NECESSARY - 1

Tool Reference:

• Status Update Report Template












– Analytical Thinking

STEP IV – REVIEWING AND CLOSING THE PROJECT


IV. Review and Close the Project

A. Conduct a Lessons Learned Workshop with

your Project Team

B. Conduct a Project Closure Meeting with the

Project Steering Committee

• At the end of each project, you should take the time to identify what went well and what could have gone better. Plan a Lessons Learned Workshop with your Project Team to evaluate the Project Results and to thank your Project Team Members for their contributions.

• The goals of such Lessons Learned Workshop are to:

– Get a clear view on the processes and strategies applied during the Project that have led to success;

– Analyse the potential areas of improvement;

– Formulate improvement strategies;

– Thank project Team for their contribution and celebrate the Project Achievements.

• Prepare the workshop throroughly by reviewing the project business case and the identified project outcomes, cost, planning, resources, etc..


A. CONDUCT A LESSONS LEARNED WORKSHOP WITH YOUR PROJECT TEAM - 1

Tool Reference:

• Project Lessons Learned Workshop Template








How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS OVERVIEW AVAILABLE TOOLS PER STEP IN THE PROCESS*


IV. Reviewing & Closing the Project

III. Monitoring & Controlling

II. Initiating your Project & Fine-

tuning the Action Plans

I. Building your Business Case

Project Charter Template

Project Approval Meeting

Risk Analysis Worksheet

Stakeholder Analysis & Communication Plan

Project Milestones Plan

See also Change Management Toolkit

Project Kick-Off Workshop

Project Stage Action Plan

Status Update Report Project Lessons Learned Workshop

Project Closure Meeting

* Each tool is also separately available and fully customizable to your needs.

HRM TOOLSHOP



• The PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT is part of the ORGANIZATION & CHANGE category, where you can also find the related HR Toolkits to further develop your organization:

– Organization Design Toolkit (under construction)

– HR Change Management Toolkit

• Go to www.hrmtoolshop.com for more HR Toolkits & Guides.

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USER TERMS




It all started years ago, when we ourselves, as HR Professionals, came to realize the hard way, that it is highly time-consuming to find ready-to-use, straightforward HR information on the internet. The option to work with expensive consultancy firms being a budgetary challenge in the economic down-turn, we looked for other EFFICIENT ways for designing and customizing our HR instruments ourselves at a high standard.

That is how our idea grew to develop pragmatic and generic how-to HR guides around HOT HR processes, such as Strategic Planning, Change Management, Performance & Talent Management! We also wanted to offer great HR tools & templates that people could download quickly and then customize to their own needs.

Just like a very professional Do-It-Yourself store for all kinds of HR issues!

To ensure the widely applicable usage of our products, we started connecting with senior HR think alikes across the globe, to help create and/or validate our Toolkits. As you read this, we are producing more practical tools & templates for you with this team. Don’t hesitate to send us a query through our web shop if you think of something particular you can’t find anywhere!

Anne & Tania, Brussels, 2013

WE WELCOME YOU TO THE HRM TOOLSHOP


Together, we combine 40 years of HR experience across industries

and geographies.

WHO WE ARE How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT


My fascination for Talent Management grew as I moved up the hierarchic ladder: as an eager young search professional in the Retail Sector I came to realize the importance of efficient hiring & onboarding processes and skills. As I moved on in various leadership roles, one of them in the Federal Government, I often was challenged with matching people their competencies in critical roles effectively. Over these years, I gained a lot of experience in Talent Development and Competency Management.

At that time, Compliance became an important concern in many organizations, and I decided to obtain a Master’s Degree in Labor Law. Once graduated, I started applying these new HR Legal competencies in my assignments as HR Consultant, mainly in the Energy sector, where I mainly focused on HR Transformations and HR Policy design work. To really specialize in the HR Legal side of business, for projects around restructuring, employee relations, wellbeing, etc. ..., I joined a well-known international legal firm as a senior legal consultant for a couple of years. Today I am fully dedicated in managing my own HR consultancy firm, offering specialized services in Talent Management besides running the HRM Toolshop.

I started my career in the Oil & Gas Industry within the Learning & Development area, and then moved into a senior HR consultancy role at a BIG 5 Consultancy Firm where I became trained in Organization Design, Change Management and HR Transformation through theory and practice.

Interesting times, lots of international traveling, but I felt that I needed to get exposed to the down-to-earth, operational side of HR!

I took up several international HR Director roles in Europe and the Middle East, in various industries: working within different cultures, and how to apply HR practices across locations became my key lessons learnt those years.

Summarizing all the things I saw and experienced during my career up until now would be as follows: “Running a Successful Business is Being very Smart about how you manage your People and Starts with Genuine Respect”. Any successful HR action will derive from this principle.

Tania acquired 20 years of experience through managing international HR Legal Projects and Talent & Development Programs across industries.

Anne gained 20 years of experience in guiding businesses through change, leadership development and strategic HR planning programs internationally.

Recruiting & HR

Project Management - How to manage HR Projects efficiently and effectively. A Manual for HR and non-HR Professionals