Role

Activity

1

Project Manager

Determine Resource Needs.

Analyze the project WBS, deliverables and the project approach. Define which activities require people and determine the skills of those people.  Calculate the number of people you’ll need. Create a list of roles and their names, and then assign people (if you are already know the staff).

For example, you may estimate the number of hours to complete an activity and the number duration when the activity is to be completed. For example, if preparing a certain document takes about 140 effort hours (including meeting and consultations) and this activity must be completed in a month– you can assume that it will take one person an entire month. You will need to determine the types of people you need and how many you need, as well as when you need them. This information all becomes part of the Staffing Management Plan.

2

Project Manager, Sponsor

Acquire Resources.

It is likely that you will not have all of the team available to you as you start the project. You will need to work with your manager and the Project Sponsor to determine how best to acquire the resources you need. This could be through a combination of new hires, contractors or assigning current staff.

As you look for resources you will find that good employees are always busy since they are in demand from many projects. The best people are hard to get and once you have them they can be at risk of being moved to other projects. The staff that you acquire will not all be the best or the worst performers. The project manager challenge is to complete the work with a combination of skills and staff.

When you are looking for staff focus on their skill level but also on their soft skills. The best teams are not always the ones with the best technical skills, but those where the team works together well. For example, it can turn out that influencing and communicating skills may be better for some work than just the raw subject-matter skills.

3

Project Manager

Integrate people so that they make one team.

Organize a kick-off meeting and subsequent meetings to ensure the team knows the project objectives and their role in making the project successful. Communicate project management processes such as how work is going to be delegated, how work is going to be assessed, how scope is managed, etc.

In general people really integrate through getting to know one another. If people are new in the group, and the project is large and very important, you must devote some time to team-building. In this case, outings are the best. Going away for one day to discuss project matters and to socialize will save a lot of time later. At an integration meeting the team should discuss what they expect from the project and one another. You may ask its participants to finish the following sentences on the post-it notes:

• “What I would like to learn through the project is…”

• “What I expect from my colleagues is …”

• “What I expect from my manager is…”

Then divide expectations into three categories:

Content-related. These relate to project execution. For example, “I want to build a pipeline more quickly than any other company.”  ­

Process-related. These relate to the project organization and processes. For example, “How are we managing risks on this project?”

Psychological. These relate to concerns among people. For example, “I don’t want my manager to micromanage me. It makes me uncomfortable and lowers morale.”

You can now assign rules to the expectations. For instance, you can agree on the schedule to build the pipeline, the process for managing risks and the manner in which the project manager will monitor the assigned work. The rules will be in place as the project starts and can be renegotiated over time if they need to be changed.

4

Project Manager

Assign activities on a regular basis.

At every status meeting the schedule should be analyzed, including the period to the next meeting. Discuss work assignments with the team so they understand the nature of the work and when it is to be completed.  Pay close attention to activities on a critical path. Make people aware that critical path activities cannot be delayed.

5

Project Manager

Monitor how activities are performed.

Check if the activities are being completed as agreed. Remember, if a team member is performing an activity differently than you would do it, it does not mean he is doing it incorrectly.

Talk to people to find out what is going on. Evaluate activity completion with your team on a regular basis. If the activities have been completed correctly ­– do not refrain from praising employees. However, it there are any shortcomings, communicate clearly how employees should fix them. There are people that have their own views on how it should be done. If the way of completing the task is not so important, you could let them do it. In case when completing the activity matters as well as the manner – monitor them both.

6

Project Manager

Monitor the level of motivation and intervene when necessary.

Talk to people and listen to them. Pay attention to details such as tone of voice, nature of questions, arguments, etc.  If you notice that the level of motivation decreases – respond immediately.

Motivation is very individual and very changeable. It should be verified systematically. It may turn out that because of some reason, unimportant for you, but very important for the team, their performance goes down.

Generally, motivation is high at the beginning of the project and decreases time. There are a number of reasons – processes get old, the work gets boring, people get tired of working with each other, etc. On the other hand, motivation tends to increase toward the end of the project as people see the completion of their work and the chance to move on to something different. That is why it is so demotivating when projects are delayed or changes are made at the end that extend the project further.

7

Project Manager

Sum up team’s work at the end of the project.

Summarize work with every individual and the whole team. Check if there are any issues among people that need sorting out so that the team does not disband in conflict.

This “summing up” can be done at an End of Project Review meeting.