People issues in project management

1. PEOPLE ISSUES IN
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

2. Importance of handling people
issues in project management
 When projects fail in an organization, it can be for
lack of project management expertise.
 But more usually projects fail because an
organization did not focus sufficiently on the
people aspects of the project – that is, the affect
on people the project brings
 When the people risks of a project are given little
or no prominence, it creates resistance, apathy
and a lack of commitment, which have a
significant impact on the events and timelines of
the project plan

3. Project human resource
management
 Project human resource management is
multifaceted. It is the ability to lead, direct, and
orchestrate the project team, the customers,
project partners, contributors, and any other
stakeholders to achieve the desired results for
the project’s purpose.
 Throughout the project, the project manager
will have to address project team retention,
labor relations, performance appraisals, and,
depending on the nature of the project work,
health and safety issues

4. Project human resource
management
 As the project progresses, the number of
stakeholders in the project may change. The
project manager and the project team will
need to be aware of the coming flux of
stakeholders and how this change may affect
the dynamics of the project team and the
project work.
 An approach to project human resources may
work well in one phase of the project but not in
another due to the stakeholders that have
become involved.

5. Project human resource
management
 Because people drive processes, it makes
sense to build competence in people
management skills as well as in quantitative
and analytical process management.
 Project managers may even have to pull
together teams of people who do not all work
for their company.
 Contractors view themselves as colleagues or
peers and must be managed differently from
your own employees.

6. People Issues in project
management
 Today, companies cannot offer lifetime employment,
nor can they guarantee raises, benefits, job definition,
or management stability. They cannot repay loyalty
with loyalty, or hard work with compensation. Thus,
the challenge of motivating employees goes far
beyond that of the olden days.
 The workforce is increasingly diverse, not only
culturally and ethnically, but in other ways as well. It
includes, women, older workers, handicapped workers
and any other group protected by law from
discrimination in hiring.
 Also, with the demands for skilled, high-tech workers
at all levels, employee searches span the globe and
cross cultural barriers.

7. People Issues in project
management
 A stressful work environment leads to stressed
employees, who in turn contribute to a more
stressful environment
 Stressed people are more likely to make
mistakes and generally perform at less than
their optimal level. The more mistakes an
individual makes, the worse he feels about his
job and himself, and the more likely he is to
experience burnout. A high burnout rate means
a high turnover rate, and more time for you
spent on re-hiring and retraining

8. People Issues in project
management
 Staying within time and cost limits goes a long
way toward stress-free project management
within the process and people issues that
come with the job.
 Many problems can occur to throw project
processes off schedule, but managing people
issues well can do a great deal towards
keeping things running smoothly.

9. People Issues in project
management
 In projects with multiple teams, each might
have a different orientation and goals.
 The teams might be physically isolated and
maintain separate offices, creating and
reinforcing separating boundaries that lead to
“us versus them” attitudes. These make for a
portentous project environment and bode ill for
project success.

10. People Issues in project
management
 Failures in projects often can be traced to the
inability of a team to make the right decisions
or perform the right tasks.
 These failures often stem from the maladies
that teams suffer: internal conflict; time wasted
on irrelevant issues; and decisions made
haphazardly.
 Team members often are more concerned with
getting the task done than with doing it right.
Many teams never know what their purpose is,
so they never know when, or if, they have
achieved it.

11. People Issues in project
management
 Conflict arises between customers and
contractors, project staff and functional groups,
and different contractors and departments. It
occurs between people on the same team,
different teams in the same organization, and
teams in different organizations
 The primary sources of conflict in projects are
schedules, costs, priorities, manpower levels,
technical opinions, administrative issues, and
interpersonal conflicts, which vary in relative
importance depending on the stages of the project
life cycle.

12. Major sources of conflict during the
project life cycle.

13. People Issues in project
management
 People are ordinarily reluctant to accept
change, yet in projects change is the norm.
Administrative procedures, group interfaces,
project scope, and resource allocations are
constantly changing.
 Expansions and contractions in the labor force
make it difficult to establish obligations and
reporting relationships that will last.