This document discusses the human side of project management. It begins by introducing the key ingredients of IT project management - technology, processes, and people. People determine the success of projects as they are the stakeholders. The document then discusses the formal and informal organizational structures and how they impact project teams. It also covers stakeholder analysis and how understanding stakeholders is important. The project team section talks about selecting and acquiring the right team members. It describes the roles of project managers and attributes of successful ones. The document ends by discussing knowledge management and how the learning cycle can be applied to help project teams learn and improve.

1. The Human Side of
Project Management
Management of System Development (MSD)
7th September, 2014
Presented By
Achchuthan Seetharan

2. Outline
● Introduction
● The Formal Organizational Structure
● The Informal Organizational Structure
● Stakeholder Analysis
● The Project Team
● Knowledge Management

3. Introduction
Key Ingredients to IT Project Management
● Technology
o is a tool to the project
● Processes
o provide structure & path
● People
o determine the success of the project
o known as stakeholders of the project

4. Introduction (Continued...)
Human Resource Management
● Human Resource Management is the fundamental component of
defining and developing the project infrastructure.
● It includes processes that organize, manage and lead the project
team.

5. Introduction (Continued...)
Human Resource Management (Continued…)
● Associate process of HRM
o Develop Human Resource Plan
o Acquire Project Team
o Develop Project Team
o Manage Project Team

6. The Formal Organizational Structure
● Defines,
o Official roles
o Responsibilities
o Reporting Relationships
● Determines,
o How resources are allocated
o Who has authority over those resources
o Who is really in charge of the Project Matrix

7. The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)
● Tells how individuals or groups within an organization should relate
to one another.
● Commuication flows through published channels.
● Three formal organizational structures
o Functional
o Project
o Matrix

8. The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)
Figure 1. The three formal organization structures

9. Functional Structure
● Most traditional organizational form.
● Based upon organizing resources to perform specialized tasks and
activities.
● Projects are managed within the existing functional hierarchy.
● Individuals or groups perform similar functions and have similar
areas of expertise.
The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)

10. Functional Structure (Continued…)
The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)
Figure 2. The Functional Structure

11. Functional Structure (Continued…)
● Advantages
o Increased flexibility
o Breadth and depth of knowledge and experience
o Less Duplication
● Disadvantages
o Determining authority and responsibility
o Poor response time
o Poor integration
The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)

12. Project Structure
● Each project is treated as a separate, independent unit
● The project manager and the project team are typically assigned to
a particular project on a full-time basis
● The project manager has sole authority and responsibility over the
project and its resources
● The supporting organization provides financial and administrative
controls
The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)

13. Project Structure (Continued…)
The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)
Figure 3. The Project Structure

14. Project Structure (Continued…)
● Advantages
o Clear authority and responsibility
o Improved communication
o High level of integration
● Disadvantages
o Project isolation
o Duplication of effort
o Projectitis
The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)

15. Matrix Structure
● The matrix organization is a combination of the vertical functional
structure and the horizontal project structure.
● Specialized skills can be assigned to the project either on a part-time
or on a more permanent basis.
● Ability to integrate areas and resources throughout an organization.
The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)

16. Matrix Structure (Continued…)
The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)
Figure 4. The Matrix Structure

17. Matrix Structure (Continued…)
● Advantages
o High level of integration
o Improved communication
o Increased project focus
● Disadvantages
o Higher potential for conflict
o Poorer response time
The Formal Organizational Structure
(Continued...)

18. The Informal Organizational Structure
● Tells how individuals or groups actually relate to one
another.
● Bypasses the formal lines of communication and flows in any
direction at a much faster pace - “grapevine”.
● Power is also determined by how well one is connected in the
informal network.

19. Stakeholders
● Individuals, groups, or organizations that have a stake or claim in the
project's successful or unsuccessful outcome.
Stakeholder Analysis
● A stakeholder analysis helps the project team;
o to understand the informal organization better
o to show who should be involved with the project
o understand the role that they must play
Stakeholder Analysis

20. Developing a Stakeholder Analysis
● Develop a list of stakeholders.
o Who are interested in the success or failure of a project’s outcome.
● Identify each stakeholder’s interest on the project’s outcome by;
o a “+1” if they have an positive interest
o a “−1” if they have a negative interest
o a “ 0 ” if they are neutral
o a “ ? ” if unsure about their interest
Stakeholder Analysis (Continued...)

21. Developing a Stakeholder Analysis (Continued...)
● Gauge the level of influence each stakeholder has over the project
by using a scale from 0-5.
● Assess potential conflict among the different stakeholders.
o Some stakeholders may act in their own self-interest
● Defining a role for each of the stakeholders.
o Every project should have a champion who will be a public supporter
of the project.
Stakeholder Analysis (Continued...)

22. Developing a Stakeholder Analysis (Continued...)
● Identify an objective for each stakeholder.
o This may require getting their acceptance or approval concerning certain
aspects of the project.
● Identify various strategies for each stakeholder.
o These strategies may require building, maintaining, improving, or re-
establishing relationships.
Stakeholder Analysis (Continued...)

23. Stakeholder Analysis (Continued...)
Figure 5. An example of Stakeholder Analysis Chart

24. The Project Team
● People are the most valuable resource for IT projects and have
the greatest influence on the project's outcome.
● Therefore it is important that the Project Manager and the
Team Members be chosen wisely.

25. The Project Team (Continued...)
The Roles of Project Manager
● Managerial Role
o Planning, Organizing and Controlling
● Administrative Role
o Performance reviews, Project tracking & reporting
● Leadership Role
o Motivate people, Select the right path to the common goal

26. Attributes of a Successful Project Manager
● Ability to communicate with people.
o Strong communication skills & share a common vision
o Ability to connect with people
● Ability to deal with people.
o Have soft skills to deal with people, their egos and their agendas
o Be a good listener
o Have a sense of humor
o Willing to share knowledge and skills with others
The Project Team (Continued...)

27. Attributes of a Successful Project Manager (Continued...)
● Ability to create and sustain relationships
o A negotiator
o A good salesperson
● Ability to organize
o Develop the project plan
o Acquire resources
o Create an effective project environment
o Understand contingencies may impact the plan
The Project Team (Continued...)

28. Team Selection and Acquisition
Team Selection and Acquisition
● Recruiting (or acquiring) and assigning people to a project team is
a critical task for the project manager.
● Selecting the right mix of people with technical and non technical
skills is a decision that can influence the outcome of the project.
● A well-balanced Project Team Members possess;
o Technology skills
o Business/organization skills
o Interpersonal skills
The Project Team (Continued...)

29. Team Selection and Acquisition
The Real Team
● A small number of people
● Complementary skills
● Commitment to a common approach and goals
● Mutual accountability
The Project Team (Continued...)

30. Work Groups Vs Teams
Work Groups Teams
tolerate each other trust each other
engage in conflict embrace conflict
are assigned to work together are committed to working together
focus on blame focus on results
The Project Team (Continued...)

31. The Project Environment
● The Project Manager should also focus on the Project Environment
which includes;
o Adequate space to work and meet
o Technology
o Office Supplies and Stationary
o Culture
The Project Team (Continued...)

32. Knowledge Management
Learning Cycle
● Theory proposed by John Dewey to describe how people learn.
● The concept has been applied to Project Teams and Knowledge
Management.
● Learning cycles provide a way to resolve ambiguous situations
through the repeated pattern of thinking through a problem.

33. Knowledge Management(Continued...)
Figure 6. The Learning Cycle
Four Phases of Learning Cycle
● Understand and frame the problem
● Plan
● Act
● Reflect and learn

34. Knowledge Management(Continued...)
Four Phases of Learning Cycle (Continued...)
● Understand and frame the problem
o At the beginning of a project, the team members do not understand
the challenge assigned to them.
o The team just needs to work out the details of how to go about
implementing the solution.
o Team must understand that preconceived solutions are likely to
produce run-of-the-mill results.
o Teams should encourage open humility

35. Knowledge Management(Continued...)
Four Phases of Learning Cycle (Continued...)
● Plan
o Teams should create a shared understanding of the problem.
o Team can brainstorm on;
 what they know (the facts)
 what they think they know (assumptions)
 what they don't know (questions to be answered)

36. Knowledge Management(Continued...)
Four Phases of Learning Cycle (Continued...)
Figure 7. An Example of a Team Learning Record

37. Knowledge Management(Continued...)
Four Phases of Learning Cycle (Continued...)
● Act
o Carrying out the actions defined in the team's action plan.
o Team members can work on their own or together;
o The purpose of these actions should be to generate knowledge and test
assumptions.
 to test out assumptions
 try out hunches
 experiment
 gather and analyze data

38. Knowledge Management(Continued...)
Four Phases of Learning Cycle (Continued...)
● Reflect and Learn
o The team should meet to share its findings and reflect upon what
everyone has learned.
o This reflection must take place in an environment of openness,
honesty and trust.
o Once the team has a chance to meet and reflect on the information it
has acquired, the team can document what it had learned.

39. Knowledge Management (Continued...)
Assessment of Team’s Learning
● Speed
o Number of learning cycles completed
● Depth
o The degree to which the team deepen its understanding on the project
● Breadth
o The impact of the team's proposed solution on the organization

40. Thank You