Software Project Management SPM

1
Software Project Management (SPM)

• Lecture 10
• HR Resource Allocation
• Dr. Daniel Keret

2
Reading Assignment

• Software Project Management, Bob Hughes and Mike
  Cotterell, McGraw-Hill, 3rd Edition.
• Chapter 8,11
• A Guide to the Project Management Body of
  Knowledge, PMI Publications, 3rd Edition, 2004
• Chapter 9

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HR Management Human Resource Allocation

• Resource Allocation
• Planning
• Acquire the Project Team
• Manage the Project Team
• Managing People Team Building
• Develop the Project Team
• Performance Reports
• Conflict Management

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Human Resource Allocation

• Match Activity Plan to Available Resources
• Change project plan due to availability and
  alternative cost consideration (E.G cost of
  recruiting VS cost of schedule delay)
• Resource Schedule Dates on which each resource
  will be required (start training or knowledge
  transfer activity) and the level of that
  requirement (versus activity schedule)
• Cost Items associated with HR Labor, Office
  Space, Equipment, Services ( telecommunication ),
  Money (consultants, 3rd party)
• Time may offset costs
• The experience level of the employees can
  increase/decrease the risk level

5
HR Planning - Inputs

• Enterprise environmental Factors How the
  corporate manage HR
• Organizations /Departments that will be involved
  in the project, The formal and informal
  communication
• Technical level of employees, Relevant knowledge
  to the Project
• Logistic Are The project members are located in
  the same place? Can we reallocate them?
• Informal/formal agendas of individuals and
  organizations involved in the project
• Corporate Structure, Work Agreement (Union),
  Economic Condition ( hire freeze, reduced
  training funds etc.)
• Corporate HR Process Assets
• Templates
• Checklists
• Activity Resource Requirements

6
HR Planning Tools Techniques

• Organization Charts and Position Description
• Each task has a clear owner and all the team
  members has clear understanding of their Roles
  Responsibilities (RR)
• Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS)
  Existing Departments, Units, Team. The Project HR
  is part of the OBS
• Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) Breakdown the
  project by resource types
• Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)
  Activities Person Matrix Allow each employee to
  see the activities he is involved in, and the
  staff assigned to each activity. The persons
  participation level (Responsible, Accountable,
  Consultant or Informed) is included
• Different Sections of the Project Management
  Plan QA staff, Risk management employees, etc.
• Networking Formal Informal communications for
  allocating potential resources

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Initial HR Planning Workflow

• First Step Strait Forward Path
• Complete any missing information in the resource
  requirements for each activity
• Add resources needs for the project
  infrastructure, support and other resources that
  are not activity specific
• Schedule Resources according to the CPM graph
• Generate weekly bar chart of the activities
  including holidays and weekends
• Generate histogram of the needed resources per
  week
• Second Step Adjustment due to resources
  availability and demand peaks valleys
• Available resources can be a corporate decision,
  knowledge availability, etc
• Straitening peaks valleys will optimize the
  utilization of the employees ( minimize idle time
  )

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Initial HR Planning Workflow (Cont.)

• Third Step Adjustments (Trail and Error)
• Produce updated CPM, Count the total project cost
• Identify changes in Activity Schedules and
  Project Objectives
• Locate Critical Paths and Activities with small
  float time
• Change Resources Priorities to address those
  issues reduce risk by assigning more experienced
  resources, increase the number of resources, etc
• Forth Step Being Specific
• Allocate specific employees to tasks according to
  
• Availability
• Criticality
• Risk
• Training
• Publish the Resource Schedule

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HR Planning Outputs

• RR
• Role The portion of the project the person is
  responsible for
• Authority The right to apply resources, make
  decision, sign approvals, etc.
• Responsibility The work the employee is
  responsible for in order to complete the activity
• Competency Skills Capacity required
• Project Organization Chart
• Detailed project graphic display of the project
  members and their reporting relationships.
• Staffing Management Plan
• Staff Acquisition Internal, 3rd party,
  Recruiting
• Cost associated with each option
• Corporate HR assistance to the project (Usually
  Recruiting and Internal Resources allocation to
  projects)
• Staff Release Criteria
• Training Needs

10
Acquire the Project Team

• Obtain the human resources needed to complete the
  project according to its plan
• The Project Management Team may have only a
  Partial Control over team member selected
• HR sources
• Pre Assignment Promises to Employees, Specific
  Knowledge Needs, Etc
• Negotiation Within the Corporate When there is a
  shortage in employees, Ensure that resources will
  be available through the completion of their
  assignments in the project
• Hire New Employees
• Acquire from outside sources Consultants,
  Subcontractors
• Ad Hoc Special expertise team ( can be located
  remotely)
• Virtual Resource Employees working from home,
  Distant offices, Etc ( needs special
  communications setups )

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Hire New Employees

• Recruiting
• Fit to Job Description Obtain Job Applications,
  Examine CVs, References. Choose the Best Fitted
  for the final phase. Do not overlook potential
  skilled candidate with lack of specific
  knowledge.
• Skill Tests, Interviews. Choose the best
  Skilled Person
• Skilled employee is MORE important then good
  management
• Programmers Performance Differences can reach
  120
• Training Plan for new hires should be part of the
  recruiting process
• Formal Training (Classes)
• Personal Coaching ( On the job training)
• Reading Materials, Etc
• Training should include Product, Tools,
  Methodology, Market/Customers

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Manage the Project Team

• Main Goals
• Observe Team Activities and Behavior
• Track Performance
• Provide Feedbacks
• Resolve Issues
• Coordinate changes to increase performance
• Inputs Organizational Process Assets, Staff
  Assignment, RR, Organization Charts, Staffing
  Plan, Team Performance Assessment, Performance
  Reports Information
• Tools Techniques Observations, Conversations,
  Project Performance Appraisals, Conflict
  Management, Issue Log
• Output Requested Changes, Recommended Corrective
  Actions, Recommended Preventive Actions, Updated
  Project Management Plan
• Continuous Improvement Charts that can be used
  as templates, Useful ground rules and conflict
  resolution techniques, Special Competencies of
  employees that was discovered, Etc.

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Managing People Team BuildingWhen people on a
team dont perform in concert the result is the
unfinished symphony

• Staff selection, motivation and development
• Effective group working and decision making
• Health Safety
• Reduce employees stress
• Organizational Behavior (OB) theories analyze the
  most effective way of doing manual tasks
• Choose the Best Person, Give him the best
  training, Give salary incentives to the good
  employees (Taylor)
• Different Personality Types needs different
  Incentive Plan (Myers-Briggs)
• Different Personality Types are motivated from
  different action types (Kahler PCM model)

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Managing People Team Building (Cont.)

• Adapt Communication Style to the Employee
  Personality. E.G
• Workaholic Clarify Issues, Give him data
• Dreamer One on One Meeting, give him time
• Safety Health
• Stress
• Monitor Handle stress events such as
• Continuous unrealistic working hours
• Conflicting first priority tasks ( Sick child VS
  Critical sales meeting)
• Stress symptoms
• Managers Styles
• Leader Set Directions, Do the Right Things
• Manager Follow Process, Do Things Right

15
Develop the Project Team

• Motivation
• Maslows Hierarchy of Needs When a need is
  satisfied a new one will emerge
• Law Level Needs Salary, Working Environment,
  Safety, Pension Program, Health Care
• High Level Needs Autonomy in Work, Respect,
  Responsibility, Personality Differences, growth
  in capacity
• Motivation Drivers
• Working Harder will Led to better Performance
  (The Effort is Productive)
• Better Performance will be Rewarded ( Not fixing
  your own bugs!)
• The Reward is significant comparing the extra
  effort invested.
• Avoid Destructive Team Dynamics Symptoms
• Defensive Management, Bureaucracy, Physical
  Separation, Fragmentation of Time, Quality
  Reduction, Unrealistic Deadlines

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Team Building

• Team Life Cycle
• Forming Knowing each other. Outdoor activities,
  Setting Ground rule for behavior
• Storming Conflict phase. Team Members tries to
  position themselves in the team, Method of
  operation is established, Conflict should be
  handled.
• Norming Group Identity is established. The Team
  starts to perform
• Performing The team focus on its tasks
• Adjourning The team disband. Learning
  organizations keeps good teams together.
• Tasks assigned to Teams
• Additive Tasks Task that can not performed by
  one employee (design review)
• Compensatory Tasks The team compensate a chance
  for an individual error ( e.g. brainstorming,
  time estimate)
• Disjunctive Tasks There is only one right
  answer. The team recognize and confirm the
  accuracy of the solution.
• Conjunctive Tasks Cooperation is needed in order
  to complete a team task ( assist the slower
  programmer, etc)

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Team Building (Cont.)

• Team Decision Making
• Decision made by a group are more likely to be
  accepted
• Groups deals less effectively with purely
  structured problems
• The process should avoid Unconstructive process,
  Waste of time, Emerging conflicts, Dominant
  member that control the discussion
• Informal feedbacks as well as Recognition
  Rewards are important tools
• Team Tasks should be clear and measurable

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Performance Reports

• Employees should get regular and ordered formal
  feedbacks on their performance (Structured,
  Detailed, Managed by the Corporate, Keep History
  reports for tracking and statistics)
• Performance Reports Includes
• Re-clarification of RR
• Last Term Performance
• Next Term Plan for the employee (tasks, goals)
• Training Plan
• Clarify unresolved issues
• Employee feedback, Needs, Point of view
• 360 degree performance report
• Employee ( Manager to all his employees). Report
  Meeting
• Peer (Employee to all his peers). The employee
  will get a summary report of the findings
• Manager (All the employees to their direct
  manager). Summary report

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Conflict Management

• Conflict Management results in greater
  productivity and positive working relations
• Sources of Conflicts Lack of resources,
  Unrealistic project goals, Personal work style
• Conflict avoidance Team ground rules, Team
  norms, Clear role definition, Proactive
  management, Good communication
• Conflicts should be handles early by the team
  members, escalation to management/management
  intervention is made in private. Last stage of
  resolution can exercise punitive measures
• Conflicts and different of opinions can increase
  creativity if well managed