Importance of Managing People in Project Management - Coursework Example

THE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE MANAGEMENT IN PLANNING A PROJECT Name Institution Course Date Introduction For the last two centuries, we have witnessed the human race using its incredible abilities to bring about innovations, adaptations, improvements as well as revolution in the world we are living today. These changes are the ones we are now referring to as projects, which are described by restrains of time, cost, and resources and so on. As a result, these characteristics have an effect on the way we distinguish and describe the roles that people play, such as project managers, project team, sponsors and stakeholders in carrying out these changes. It has also influenced the way we approach these changes through the process we now call project management. In the 20th century, the aspect of managing people in project management was relatively not a familiar thing. However, the recent advancement of communications and IT has also advanced the project management practice, which has turned our attention to how people perform in projects. This has also driven organizations to look for ways in which they can manage programs and projects so as improve the performance of individuals and teams. Thus, the study of importance of managing people in project management has become an area of major interest and development for the profession, as it has been seen in areas like publication of articles, training and professional journals. Projects are the means through which changes are effected in organizations. Projects bring about the necessary changes, both at individual level and organizational level that result in value addition to the organization. A project can only be said to have fully met its business objectives if the project deliverables and outputs are approved and utilized by stakeholders to create value. Project managers are very instrumental in facilitating the approval of project deliverables and outputs as well as preparing the organization for change. This is possible when the project managers are able to fully integrate and capitalize on the critical governance, human as well as organizational change management elements that are related to programs and projects. Phrases like, “It is all about people” are more often used by organizations and project managers of recent since they have now accepted the fact that nothing happens on a project unless it is made to happen by individuals who are directly or indirectly involved in the project. Thus, what people do in a project and how they do it has become the main concern of project managers and the organizations. A well-lead and energized team can bring about amazing changes in an organization. But if a team is not well organized and managed, all projects they conduct in an organization are destined to fail. Hence the need for studying the importance of managing people in project management. Definitions Definition of project A project can be defined as a unique undertaking with an aim of achieving a distinct objective that comprises several activities and tasks which consume resources. It is unique because each project is characterized by constrains of time, resources, scope and budget. A project’s objectives must be specific, identifiable and attainable. Projects start by assembling key personnel in order to attain unique business goals with identifiable customers in mind. The project team is dissolved immediately after the goals of the project are accomplished. A project is dynamic since it is controlled by the specific needs of that business (Kerzner, 1989). Definition of project management Project management can be defined as the process of attaining project objectives by using a group of activities that have both starting and ending points in time and generate qualifiable and quantifiable deliverables. Project management makes use of the existing resources and organizational structures to bring about change in the organization without unfavorably upsetting the regular functions of the company (Kerzner, 1989). The main purpose of project management is describing the requirements of job, instituting the scope of work, distributing the resources needed, planning the carrying out of the work, keeping an eye on the progress of the work and regulating divergences from the plan. Projects-Related Management Challenges In the process of delivering change in an organization, it is much more challenging to manage people in projects than it is in managing people in functional or any other steady state contexts. Most managers in organizations have to deal with soaring levels of transformations that are driven by various aspects such as; the call for continuous perfection and upgrading, rising scrutiny of performance as well as reduction of product and service lifecycles among others. Each project is unique from the other due to the rate of change and the intricacy of dealings involved in delivery. Some of these complexities that project managers have to deal with involve; the organizational context (they are required to be aware of many organizational models as well as the cultures that underlie them), stakeholders/ sponsors (managers face challenges of understanding what drives the decisions/opinions of stakeholders and their levels of authority and influence, as well as the struggle to gain support), and project team (managers are required to mobilize project teams in a way that they will be supportive and energized. He needs to lead and harmonize the team in order to attain success in the desired change). Impact of People in Project Management As we saw earlier, there is no project that can succeed without the effort of the people involved. Both the stakeholders and team members play a great role in ensuring the success of a project. It is therefore important for the project manager to know how to deal with each and every person that is directly or indirectly involved in the project. Lack of support from either side would be detrimental to the success of the projects. Thus, project managers have to focus more on people rather than the technical aspects of the project. A team that has all the techniques and resources but lack motivation cannot achieve much Kerzner, 2006. The role of leadership is important in enhancing different aspects of project success that contribute to project performance. The leadership responsibilities and roles of project manager towards the stakeholders and the project team have an impact on the project outcomes and performance, Turner and Muller, 2005. Most aspects that contribute to the performance of a project are derived from the human side. Among these aspects, managing conflict and solving problems in projects is a key determining factor of project success. People skills have center of attention on promoting an environment of active involvement and negligible dysfunctional disagreement, shows trust, reliable processes that don’t have ambiguity, communicating expectations as well as clarity in communications, Maylor 2010. Thus, “the major factor for the successful implementation of project management is that the project manager and the team become the focal point of integrative responsibility” Kerzner, 1989. The importance of managing people in project management As we have seen, the success of any project relies mainly on the team involved. Thus there is need for organizations to manage their people through rapid organizational changes that emanate from strategic initiatives. The main role of project manager is to manage projects and people. A project manager whose main concern is dealing with the technical issues and forgetting about the people cannot achieve anything. This is because project management involves a series of activities or deliverables that needs to be carried out by people. If the team is then not working in cohesion, these activities cannot be carried out well. The successful completion of a project demands the contribution of different groups such the client, the project team, the parent organization, the producer and the end user, Maylor 2010. Each and every group plays a significant role in defining and determining the success of a project. They all have distinct responsibilities and tasks that they ought to accomplish for success to be achieved. The project manager needs to manage each group well so that it can bring a positive effect in the project. By briefly looking at the importance of a project manager’s leadership and management roles, we will understand the importance of people management in project management. Projects are normally inimitable and are habitually coupled with indefinites, intricacy as well as ambiguity. This poses a greater challenge to the project manager than any other functional manager. Apart from working across functional and organizational environments – conventionally intended to support functional managers – the project manager faces additional difficulties like offering undocumented leadership and strict authority in addition to working in prevailing conditions of an association where unity of control is a problem. Thus, the main role of project manager appears to be leading a varied set of people with little direct control over the team members, Cleland and Ireland, 2002. Furthermore, the environment within which projects are managed is complex because of two reasons. The first reason is that each project is unique from other projects since no two different projects can have the same constrain of time, scope, resources and budget. The second reason is that the conditions with which the team is selected and motivated are time and again far from perfect since a typical organization structure has major issues when it comes to selecting team and in most cases organizations do not give the project manager the discretion to appoint the project team Smith, 2001. The situation may be even more complicated if some of the project team members are involved in more than one project. According to Kerzner (2006) and Maylor (2010), most projects do not succeed in meeting deadlines and proposed budgets due to lack of motivation, poor morale, poor productivity, poor human relationships, as well as lack of commitment from the team and employees. From this observation, it is evident that people-related issues contribute significantly to the performance of a project, and hence the need to manage people properly in project management. It is therefore the role of project manager as the leader to motivate and guide people to realize their potential and accomplish difficult and challenging organizational objectives. There are two major aspects related to the projects that show the significance of managing and leading people in project performance. The first aspect is that project managers have to manage teams that are comprised of different disciplines. The second aspect is that projects are distinguished by intricacy, unknowns, risks as well as uncertainties. Managing people is of paramount significance due to the challenges involved in projects and team composition. Since project management is by definition concerned with the implementation of change programs in an organization, therefore management and leadership of people is considered a determining factor to the success of projects as it provides vision as well as capability to cope with change, Maylor, 2010. From the definition of the term project, we have seen that all projects have common processes and features. Therefore, people-related management, leadership tasks as well as project manager’s responsibilities are to a greater extent common to projects. Among all the aspects that determine the success of projects, people management and a clear definition of project’s mission are identified as the major enabling factors. People management involves handling top management with care so that you can gain their full support and also uniting and motivating your team so that they can work harmoniously and in an energized manner. The success of projects also requires consultation with customers and stakeholders to agree on expectations, monitoring and feedback, sufficient communication with stakeholders and the project team, as well as the capability to deal with the unanticipated problems. Research has shown that apart from gaining top management support and having a clearly defined project mission, working with a cohesive project team is a major predictor of project success, Larsen and Gobeli, 1989. The support of top management and hence the organization at large in project management is very important due to inherent characteristics of projects like involvement of multiple functions and acquirement of resources as well as support from different functional divisions. This means that the project manager ought to aim at garnering full support from top management as well as all the key stakeholders. For this to happen, the project manager must have efficient and effective people management qualities. People are at the heart of the organizations’ functions and it is through people that organizations are able to successfully implement lasting changes. It is the role of project managers and organizations to ensure that staff members are committed to bring about positive change in the organizations and they are motivated by a working environment that is positively shaped. For this reason, managing people is the most significant leadership role of project managers so as to promote teamwork and collaborative effort. A global level research of organizational project management practices comprising of more than 550 organizations done by Mullaly, 2004 revealed various fundamental attributes and drivers of project management success and failure. The drivers and attributes of success are creating an atmosphere of trust, establishing clearness of decision making, forming dependable processes, making sure expectations are understood, and delivering results. The attributes and drivers of project management failure comprise of failure to define processes and roles, not developing and using a project selection process, failure to mandate steady processes and lack of proper management of the achievement of organizational goals. Apart from the project selection that come first in projects, all the other drivers and attributes of project management success and failure are related to the project team and hence the need to manage people in project management. Projects are all about ‘people’. Unlike in the early 20th century where the success of projects was perceived to be driven by the technical issues, currently all project management practitioners and organizations have come into terms with the fact that people play the greatest role in project performance. Similar to the findings of Mullaly, 2004, Thamhain, 2004a did some study and found out that most factors that determine the performance of projects are resulting from the human side. Among these aspects, managing differences and predicaments in project is a key determining factor for projects to be successful. People skills concentrate on promoting an atmosphere of active participation and minimum dysfunctional disagreement means an atmosphere of trust, reliable processes that do not have ambiguity, and communicating expectations in addition to transparency in communication. All this is not possible without proper utilization of people management skills by the project managers. There are several criteria for effective project team/ people management, Thamhain, 1999. These criteria include comprehension of the tasks and responsibilities of the project team members; describing each team member’s individual roles, tasks and level of accountability; establishing an atmosphere of trust and support in solving issues; encouraging members of the team; enhancing open and effective communication as well as offering efficient communication tools, techniques and systems. If center of attention is precisely directed to the team leadership effectiveness in technology-enabled project environment, Thamhain (2004a) studies revealed that fulfilling individual and professional requirements of team members will have the strongest result on team performance. This is coupled with other aspects like ability resolve differences, mutual dependence and respect, as well as communications across managerial lines. Trust cannot come without managing people well in project management. It is the most difficult yet the most important aspect to develop in team members when managing a project. This shows that there is great need for the project managers to manage the key stakeholders well in order to achieve the organizational goals. Where there is proper people management in project management there is efficient communication, which is critical to the success of projects. If effective communication is lacking among the key stakeholders, there is usually poorly defined processes, mistrust and lack of coordination. Effective communication on the other hand leads to collaboration and trust. Managing people calls for the development of ‘soft skills’ by the project managers. These soft skills are ability to form teams effectively, achieve effective communication, obtaining suitable negotiation styles and developing full problem solving behavior. Managing people well helps the project managers to set direction as the project is starting. Setting direction is very important in successful project management. A project manager ought to provide team members and staff with suitable direction for the attainment of the project’s objectives in accordance with the organization’s strategies and sponsor demands. Being able to manage people well makes sure that your directions are well understood and each individual in the team understands his/her roles, priorities and assignments. Sometimes priorities change in projects and deadlines are missed or extended as some work is added to the scope of the project, which may result to conflicts and frustrations among the team members. As a project manager, you are required to refocus and redefine the manner in which the job will be accomplished. Your ability to manage people well will help you to monitor the situation, review and reset the direction, objectives, and activities as demanded. Since it requires restating new expectations and objectives as well as new priorities, new course of actions, timelines and results, the project manager needs to be able to manage the project team and top management well so as to get the support that he needs from them. Sometimes project is composed of members who are new to the field of project management. This requires the organizations and project managers to put efforts to assist their staff succeed by helping them to learn, grow, and attain goals. Knowing how to manage such a team is important for the success of the project and individual members of the team. Being able to manage people well in project management helps in creating a work atmosphere where people feel recognized and provided with learning opportunities. Furthermore it helps in reinforcing project manager’s direct reports’ capabilities. Managing people well in project management also helps in promoting staff wellness and safety. Life is inherently stressful, but projects have high risks and challenges that can significantly raise the levels of stress. Organizations and project managers ought to respond to the social and psychological needs of all staff members in an amicable manner so as to reduce risks emanating from stress. Finally, managing people well in project management helps in promoting compliance. We understand that projects bring about changes in organizations and people are reluctant to change. With proper people management, project managers and top management of organizations can practice and promote compliance by promoting high moral standards and behavior in accordance with organization’s code of conduct. Conclusion From the above discussion, it is clear that it is very important to manage people in project management. It is also important to note again that projects are all about people. Even with all the techniques and proper systems, without managing people well, projects will always fail. This is because projects are carried out through a series of activities that are conducted by people. If these people are not well managed, then it means the activities will not be done as required and hence the project will fail. Thus successful completion of project calls for proper management of people. 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Smith, G. 2001. “Making the Team,” IEE Review, 47:5 pp.33-36. Thamhain, H. J.1999. “Effective Project Leadership in Complex Self-Directed Team Environments,” Proceedings of the 33rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, IEEE Computer Society (1999). Thamhain, H.J. 2004a, “Linkages of Project Environment to Performance: Lessons for Team Leadership,” International Journal of Project Management, 22, pp. 533-564. Turner, R. J., and Müller, R. 2005 “The Project Manager’s Role as a Success Factor on projects: A Literature Review,” Project Management Journal, 36:2, pp. 49-61. Read More