This Guide helps you to use the tools & templates of the HR Project Management Toolkit. It 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.

1. PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
HOW-TO-GUIDE
How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
<How to manage HR Projects efficiently and
effectively in your organization>
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2. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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.
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3. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
ROADMAP OVERVIEW
STEPS FOR MANAGING YOUR HR PROJECTS
A. Prepare a high level
Business Case and get
approval from your
Sponsor and the
commitment of the
Steering Committee
B. Work out the detailed
Business Case & Project
Organization & Planning
I. Building your Business
Case
A. Conduct a Project
Kick-off Workshop to
align the Project Team
Members with the
identified Goals &
Approach
B. Work out an Action
Plan for each Project
Stage
II. Initiating & Planning
your HR Project
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A. Follow-up on the
Action Plan and update
the Project Milestones
Plan and Project Charter
whenever appropriate
A. Conduct a Lessons
Learned Workshop with
your Project Team
B. Conduct Regular
Project Status Meetings
with the Steering
Committee
B. Conduct a Project
Closure Meeting with the
Project Steering
Committee
III. Monitoring &
Controlling
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IV. Reviewing & Closing
the Project

4. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
USING THIS
GUIDE
• Our How-to-Guides, such as the one you are currently
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limitations under the License.
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5. STEP I – BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS CASE
A. Prepare a high level Business
Case and get approval from
your Sponsor and the
commitment of the Steering
Committee
B. Work out the detailed
Business Case and the Project
Organization & Planning
How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Critical HR Competencies to have:
–
–
–
–
Business Understanding
Communication
Analytical Thinking
Facilitating & Consulting
I. Build your Business Case
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6. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
•
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.
•
A. PREPARE A
HIGH LEVEL
BUSINESS CASE 1
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.
Tool Reference:
• Project Charter Template
• Project Approval Meeting
Template
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7. How-to-Guide CHANGE MANAGEMENT
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8. STEP II – INITIATING YOUR HR PROJECT &
FINE-TUNING YOUR ACTION PLANS
A. Conduct a Project Kick-off
Workshop to align the Project
Team Members with the
identified Goals & Approach
How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Critical HR Competencies to have:
– Planning & Organizing
– Facilitating & Consulting
B. Work out an Action Plan for
each Project Stage
II. Initiate your HR Project and
Fine-tune your Action Plans
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9. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
A. CONDUCT A
PROJECT KICKOFF WORKSHOP
Tool Reference:
• Project Kick-Off Workshop
Template
• 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.
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10. How-to-Guide CHANGE MANAGEMENT
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11. STEP III – MONITORING & CONTROLLING YOUR
HR PROJECT
A. Keep track of the Project
Status and update the Project
Planning where necessary
How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Critical HR Competencies to have:
– Planning & Organizing
– Facilitating & Consulting
– Communication
B. Conduct Regular Project
Status Meetings with the
Steering Committee
III. Monitor & Control your HR
Project
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12. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
A. KEEP TRACK OF
THE PROJECT
STATUS & UPDATE
THE PROJECT
PLANNING WHERE
NECESSARY - 1
Tool Reference:
• Status Update Report
Template
• 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.
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13. How-to-Guide CHANGE MANAGEMENT
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14. STEP IV – REVIEWING AND CLOSING THE
PROJECT
How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
A. Conduct a Lessons
Learned Workshop with
your Project Team
• Critical HR Competencies to have:
B. Conduct a Project
Closure Meeting with the
Project Steering Committee
– Planning & Organizing
– Facilitating & Consulting
– Analytical Thinking
IV. Review and Close the Project
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15. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
A. CONDUCT A
LESSONS LEARNED
WORKSHOP WITH
YOUR PROJECT
TEAM - 1
• 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:
Tool Reference:
• Project Lessons Learned
Workshop Template
– 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..
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16. How-to-Guide CHANGE MANAGEMENT
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17. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
TOOLS OVERVIEW
AVAILABLE TOOLS PER STEP IN THE PROCESS*
I. Building your
Business Case
 Project Charter
Template
 Project Approval
Meeting
 Risk Analysis
Worksheet
 Stakeholder Analysis &
Communication Plan
 Project Milestones
Plan
II. Initiating your
Project & Finetuning the Action
Plans
 Project Kick-Off
III. Monitoring &
Controlling
 Status Update Report
Workshop
 Project Stage Action
Plan
IV. Reviewing &
Closing the Project
 Project Lessons
Learned Workshop
 Project Closure
Meeting
See also Change
Management Toolkit
* Each tool is also separately available and fully customizable to your needs.
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18. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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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19. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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20. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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21. How-to-Guide PROJECT MANAGEMENT
WE WELCOME YOU TO THE HRM TOOLSHOP
Together, we combine 40 years of
HR experience across industries
and geographies.
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-touse, 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
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shop if you think of something particular you can’t find anywhere!
Anne & Tania, Brussels, 2013
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22. WHO WE ARE
Tania acquired 20 years of
experience through managing
international HR Legal Projects and
Talent & Development Programs
across industries.
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-toearth, 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.
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Anne gained 20 years of experience
in guiding businesses through
change, leadership development and
strategic HR planning programs
internationally.