Key concepts related to Human Resource Management for those who have already passed the PMP exam

1. BEYOND PMP:!
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
ABHINAY VERMA
@itsabhinay

2. Purpose of this document
Learning about project management doesn’t end when you pass the PMP exam. PMP teaches a
methodology that every practitioner must follow.
However, the PMP content is quite detailed and is geared for large projects and many small
projects, typically in IT industry, do not follow all processes described in the PMBOK.
As a result, many PMP certified project managers either forget what their learnt or start thinking
that most of what they studied is not relevant for their roles.
This slide deck is intended for all of us who wish to retain the most important and practice advice
that PMP taught us irrespective of how big or small our projects are.

3. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

4. Set Clear Responsibilities
A successful project requires every team member to do his/her job.Therefore, Project Manager must define roles in
the Human Resource Plan and assign clear responsibilities.
There are various tools to do so such as Organization Chart, Responsibility Matrix, RACI matrix etc.
One of the most popular methods is a RACI Matrix.
R = Responsible (Who will actually do the task)
A = Accountable (Who is accountable for getting the task done)
C = Consulted (Stakeholders; who can provided information to do the task)
I = Informed (Who needs to be updated about progress)

5. Stages of Team Development
• Team comes
together
Forming
• Disagreements and
Arguments
Storming • Good working
relationships
Norming
• Team becomes a
cohesive unit as
people work
effectively together
Performing • Team is disbanded.
Au revoir!
Adjourning
Team building activities will help in transition to a Performing Team.Team Parties, Celebrations, Off-sites,WBS creation,
taking everybody’s input in creating project plan are some of the activities that can help.

6. Rewards & Recognition
Rewards and Recognition play a significant part in motivating the team.A Project Manager must plan on how will he
recognize and reward the performance of his team members.
ü Rewards may not only be monetary.
ü Team members can be rewarded by giving them a role of their choice, training opportunities.
ü In many cases, R&R will be governed by the organization or HR policies and there will be a set schedule to
take nominations and award high performers. But even though this does not give much freedom to the PM to
change formal rewards, there are multiple ways of recognizing people.

7. Management Styles
The PMP exam may expose you to a very high number of management styles. But you do not need to remember all
of them. Just remember these.And remember, an effective PM will use different styles at different times depending
on circumstances.
AUTOCRATIC
The manager decides on his
own. Everybody follows.
CONSENSUS
Decisions are taken based on
group agreement.
DELEGATING
Establish goals and metrics.
Gives team freedom to act.
SUPPORTING
Manager provides assistance
to the team as and when
required.
FACILITATING
Manager coordinates inputs of
others.
DEMOCRATIC
Team participates in decision
making.

8. Conflict Management
Do not fear Conflict.
Conflict need not be bad and can actually be beneficial.
A project often has conflicting requirements with multiple
stakeholders whose priorities are never all aligned with each
other.
It also has different personalities within the team with different
approaches to problem solving, different risk tolerance and
comfort levels.
PERSONALITY is NOT one of the Top 5 reasons of conflict.
Top 7 Sources
of Conflict
Schedules
Project Priorities
Resources
Technical Opinions
Administrative Procedures
Cost
Personality
Source: PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy

9. Conflict Resolution Techniques
Confronting
Forcing Collaborating
Compromising
WithdrawalAccommodating
Taking the problem head-on to
get to a solution.This is the
best approach.Win-Win!
A lose-lose situation where
none of the parties get
everything.
Incorporating multiple
views to build a consensus.
Enforcing one viewpoint over
the other, at the expense of
other.
Choosing to ignore the problem or
delay a decision on the problem.The
worst approach.
This involves focusing on points
on agreement rather than
differences of opinion.
Source: PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy

10. Other Points to Remember
Ø It is the Project Manager’s job to motivate the team.
Ø Plan for onboarding and release of your team members.
Ø Modern Project Managers must know how to effectively manage teams that are spread across multiple location.
Ø Do not see co-location as a necessary requirement for success.
Ø Virtual teams are those that are not based out of a single location or office and do not meet face to face.
Though video conferencing has solved this aspect of virtual teams to some extent.
Ø Just because some team member is very good on one parameter doesn’t mean she will be god on all other
parameters.A brilliant architect may be a mediocre people manager. Beware of the Halo Effect.