IS 411 FINAL

Human Resource Planning

Involves identifying and documentation project roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships

• Outputs include

  • Project Org Charts

  • Staffing Management Plan

  • Responsibility assignment matrixes

  • Resource histogras

Acquiring the Project Team

Getting the needed personnel assigned to and working on the project

Developing the Project Team

building individual and group skills to enhance project performance

Managing the Project Team

Tracking team member performance, motivating team members, providing timely feedback, resolving issues and conflicts, and coordinating changes to help enhance project performance

Intrinsic motivation

Causes people to participate in an activity for their own enjoyment

Extrinsic Motivation

Causes people to do something for a reward or to avoid a penalty

Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

States that peoples behaviors are guided or motivated by a sequence of needs

Herzberg’s Motivational and Hygiene Factors

Cause job satisfaction = motivational factors

Cause job satisfaction = hygiene factors

Motivational Factors

achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth, which produce job satisfaction

Hygiene Factors

Causes dissatisfaction if not present, but don’t motivate workers to do more

McClelland’s Acquired-Needs Theory

Specific needs are acquired or learned over time and shaped by life experiences

Normally one or two more dominant in individuals

• Achievement

  • Achievers like challenging projects with achieveable goals and lots of feedback

• Affiliation

  • desire harmonious relationships and need to feel accepted by others, so managers should try to create a cooperative work environment for them

• Power

  • People with a need for power desire either

    • personal power (not good) or

    • institutional power (good for the organization); provide institutional power seekers with management opportunities

McGregors Theory X and Y

Theory X:

• Assumes workers dislike and avoid work, avoid responsibility, little ambition,want to be directed so managers must use coercion, threats, and various control schemes to get workers to meet objectives

Theory Y:

• Assumes individuals don’t inherently dislike work, they consider work as natural as play or rest and enjoy the satisfaction of esteem and self actualization needs

Theory Z:

• Emphasizing trust, quality, collective decision making, and cultural values

Thamhain and Wilemon’s Ways to Have Influence on Projects

1. Authority

   1. The legit hierarchical right to issue orders

2. Assignment

   1. The PM’s perceived ability to influence a workers later work assignments

3. Budget

   1. The PM’s perceived ability to authorize others use of discretionary funds

4. Promotion

   1. The ability to improve a workers position

5. Money

   1. The ability to increase a workers pay and benefits

6. Penalty

   1. The PM ability to cause punishment

7. Work Challenge

   1. The ability to assign work that capitalizes on a workers enjoyment of doing a particular task

8. Expertise

   1. The PM’s perceived special knowledge that others deem important

9. Friendship

   1. The ability to establish friendly personal relationships between the PM and others

Resource Loading

Refers to the amount of individual resources an existing schedule require during specific time periods

• Helps PM’s better understand the demands a project will make on the orgs resources and individual peoples schedules

Resource Leveling

A technique for resolving resource conflicts by delaying tasks

• Main purpose is to create a smoother distribution of resource usage and reduce overallocation

Tuckman Model of Team Development

Forming

• Members join and begin the process of defining the groups purpose, structure, and leadership

Storming

• Intragroup conflict occurs as individuals resist control by the group and disagree over leadership

Norming

• Close relationships develop as the group becomes cohesive and establishes its norms for acceptable behavior

Performing

• A fully functional group structure allows the group to focus on performing the task at hand

Adjourning

• The group prepares to disband and is no longer concerned with high elvels of performance

Conflict Handling Modes

1. Confrontation: Directly face a conflict using problem solving approach

2. Compromise: Use a give-and-take approach

3. Smoothing: De-emphasize areas of difference and emphasize areas of agreement

4. Forcing: the win lose approach

5. Withdrawal: Retreat or withdraw from an actual or potential disagreement

6. Collaborating: decision makers incorporate different viewpoints and insights to develop consensus and commitment

Planning Communications Management

Determining the info and communications needs of the stakeholders

• Every project should include some type of communications management plan, a document that guides project comms

• The communications management plan varies with the needs of the project, but some type of written plan should always be prepared

Communications Management Plan`

1. Stakeholder communications requirements

2. Information to be communicated, including format, content, and level of detail

3. Who will receive the info and who will produce it

4. Suggested methods of technologies for conveying info

5. Frequency of communications

6. Escalation procedures for resolving issues

7. Revision procedures for updating the communications management plan

8. A glossary of common terms

Managing Stakeholders

the process of identifying and meeting the unique information and communication needs of every person or group involved in the project.

A simple way to think about it is ensuring the right information reaches the right people at the right time and in the best format to keep them informed and engaged. This involves understanding that people have different preferences—such as some preferring informal face-to-face talks while others prefer formal reports

Information Distribution

• Don’t bury crucial information

• Don’t be afraid to report bad info

• Oral communication vis meetings and informal talks helps bring important info out into the open

• Technology can facilitate the process of creating and distributing info

Media Selection

Can use a media choice table to find the best suitable choice for each scenario

It is important to select the appropriate communication method and media

Status Reports

Describe where the project stands at a specific point in time

Status Reports

Describe what the project team has accomplished during a certain period of time

Running Effective Meetings

• Determine if a meeting can be avoided

• Define the purpose and intended outcome of the meeting

• Determine who should attend the meeting

• Provide an agenda to participants before the meeting

• Prepare handouts and visual aids, and make logistical arrangements ahead of time

• Run the meeting professionally

• Build relationships

Project Procurement Management

Acquiring the goods and services for a project from outside the performing org

Project Procurement Management Processes

Planning Procurement Management

• Determining what to produce and when and how to do it

Conducting Procurements

• Obtaining seller responses, selecting sellers, and awarding contracts

Controlling Procurements

• Managing relationships with sellers, monitoring contract performance, and making changes as needed

Outsourcing

Why?

• To reduce both fixed and recurrent costs

• To allow the client org to focus on its core business

• To access skills and tech

• To provide flexibility

• To increase accountability

A shortage of qualifies personnel, not cost savings, is the top reason for IT outsourcing

Types of Contracts

Fixed Price/Lump Sum

• Involves a fixed total price for a well defined product or service

Cost Reimbursable

• Involve a payment to the seller for direct and indirect costs

Time and Material

• Hybrid of both fixed and reimbursable contracts often used by consultants

Unit Price

• Require the buyer to pay the seller a predetermined amount per unit of service

Fixed Price Contract

• Involves a fixed total price for a well defined product or service

• Buyer incurs little risk, price is predetermined LOWEST RISK

• Purchase & Install 100 laser printers

• Vendor pads estimate a little

• Vendor wants to avoid - PTA

  • The Point of Total Assumption (PTA) is the cost at which the contractor assumes total responsibility for each additional dollar of contract cost

Cost Reimbursable Contracts

• Involve a payment to the seller for direct and indirect costs

  • Direct & indirect costs traced to a project

  • Direct → salaries

  • Indirect → office space, electricity

  • Usually a % of Direct costs

• Cost plus incentive fee (CPIF):

  • The buyer pays the supplier for allowable performance costs plus a predetermined fee and an incentive bonus

  • Example: Expected cost of $100,000

    • Cost paid to supplier is $10,000, share formula 85/15

    • Final Price is $80,000, Supplier gets 15% of 20,000 savings

    • 10,000 + 80,000 + 3,000 = $93,000

• Cost plus fixed fee (CPFF):

  • The buyer pays the supplier for allowable performance costs plus a fixed fee payment usually based on a percentage of estimated costs

    • Expected cost = $100,000

    • Fixed fee = $10,000

    • Actual cost = $120,000

    • Contractor gets $120,000 + $10,000

• Cost plus award fee (CPAF)

  • Buyer pays supplier for allowable performance costs plus an award fee based on results

    • Think of a tip

• Cost plus percentage of costs (CPPC): HIGHEST RISK

  • The buyer pays the supplier for allowable performance costs plus a predetermined percentage based on total costs

    • Not a good deal for the buyer

    • No incentive to lower costs

    • Get paid more if costs are high

Unit Pricing Contract

• Require the buyer to pay the seller a predetermined amount per unit of service

Time and Material Contract

• Hybrid of both fixed and reimbursable contracts often used by consultants

  • Fee per hour + fixed price for materials

  • $80 per hour + $10,000 for other expenses

Request For Proposals (RFP)

Used to solicit proposals(a document prepared by a seller when there are different approaches for meeting buyer requirements) from prospective sellers

Statement of Work (SOW)

A description of the work required or the procurement

• a type of scope statement

• A good one gives bidders a better understanding of the buyers expectations

Request For Quote (RFQ)

Used to solicit quotes or bids (is a document prepared by sellers providing pricing for standard items that have been clearly defined by the buyer) from prospective suppliers

Lease vs. Buy
Lease = $800/day
Buy = $12,000 + $400/day

Break-even point?
Best option for 40 days?

12,000 + 400d = 800d

d = 30

Break-even = 30 days
Over 30 days → Buy
40 days → Buy

Make or Buy Analysis

determine whether an organization should make or perform a particular product or service inside the organization or buy from someone else

It is a well-established standard that project managers spend as much as __ percent of their time communicating

90

As the number of people on a project increases the number of ________ grows

communications channels

making it less likely that a message will be interpreted correctly due to increased complexity

Which influence methods are linked to project manager success and failure?

Successful project managers use:

• Expertise

• Work Challenge

Less successful project managers rely too much on:

• Authority

• Money

• Penalty

RACI Chart

R = responsibility

A = accountability, only one A per task

C = consultation

I = informed

for each task, only one person should be marked as Accountable

Responsibility Assignment Matrices

a matrix that maps the work of the project as described in the WBS to the people responsible for performing the work as described in the WBS