7 - Human Resource Management & Human Performance

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from Lecture #7 on Human Resource Management processes, staffing management planning, team acquisition and development, as well as human performance and error concepts.

Human Resource Management

Processes that organize, manage, and lead the project team.

Plan Human Resource Management

Process of identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, required skills, reporting relationships, and creating the staffing management plan.

Acquire Project Team

Process of confirming human resource availability and obtaining the team needed to complete project activities.

Develop Project Team

Process of improving competencies, team interaction, and the overall team environment to enhance project performance.

Manage Project Team

Process of tracking performance, giving feedback, resolving issues, and managing changes to optimize project results.

Staffing Management Plan

Subset of the HR plan describing when and how human resource requirements will be met—covers acquisition timetable, training, recognition, compliance, and safety.

Staffing Acquisition

Section of the staffing plan detailing whether resources are internal or external, work locations, cost by expertise level, and HR department support.

Timetable (Resource Calendars)

Schedule in the staffing plan specifying when team members are needed and when acquisition activities should begin, including resource-leveling strategies.

Staff Release Plan

Strategy for method and timing of releasing team members to cut costs and support smooth transitions to new projects.

Training Needs (HR Planning)

Identification of skill gaps and development of training or certification plans to ensure required competencies.

Recognition and Rewards

Planned system with clear criteria and distribution schedule to reinforce desired behaviors and performance.

Compliance (HR Planning)

Strategies within the staffing plan for meeting government regulations, union contracts, and HR policies.

Safety (HR Planning)

Policies and procedures in the staffing plan designed to protect team members from hazards.

Availability (Acquisition Factor)

Consideration of who is free and when during team acquisition.

Ability (Acquisition Factor)

Competencies possessed by potential team members.

Experience (Acquisition Factor)

Extent to which individuals have completed similar or related work successfully.

Interests (Acquisition Factor)

Degree to which potential team members want to work on the project.

Cost (Acquisition Factor)

Financial amount each team member will be paid, especially when externally contracted.

Preassignment

Situation where specific individuals are designated to the project in advance—often promised in proposals, required for expertise, or listed in the charter.

Negotiation (Team Acquisition)

Discussions with functional managers, other PMs, or external organizations to secure competent staff within the required timeframe.

Acquisition (External Resources)

Procuring consultants, vendors, or subcontractors when the organization lacks in-house staff.

Virtual Teams

Groups working toward a shared goal with little or no face-to-face interaction, enabled by e-mail and video conferencing.

Virtual Team Challenges

Need for revised communication planning, clear expectations, conflict protocols, inclusive decision-making, and shared credit for successes.

Human Performance Improvement Approach

Framework noting that 80% of occurrences involve human error, most stemming from latent organizational weaknesses rather than individual failures.

Latent Organizational Weaknesses

Hidden flaws in processes or culture that contribute to 70% of human-error occurrences.

Principles of Human Performance

Five tenets: humans are fallible; error-likely situations are predictable; behavior is influenced by organization; performance is shaped by reinforcement; learning from mistakes prevents events.

Human Error

Mistakes by people that contribute to events; costly, adverse to safety, and often rooted in organizational weakness.

Hazardous Attitudes

Risk-raising mindsets such as pride, heroic, invulnerable, fatalistic, complacent “bald tire,” summit fever, and pollyanna optimism.

Old View of Human Error

Perspective that human error is the direct cause of accidents; explaining failure means finding where people went wrong.

New View of Human Error

Perspective that human error is a symptom of deeper system issues; explains failure by understanding why actions made sense at the time.

Error Precursors

Existing conditions that increase human error rates, including four things:

1. task demands,

2. individual capabilities,

3. work environment,

4. human nature factors.

Task Demands (Error Precursors)

Factors such as time pressure, unfamiliar tasks, high workload, simultaneous tasks, or unclear goals that elevate error likelihood.

Individual Capabilities (Error Precursors)

Personal factors like lack of knowledge, inexperience, illness, or fatigue that impact performance.

Work Environment (Error Precursors)

External conditions—distractions, stress, confusing controls, unexpected equipment states—that increase error potential.

Human Nature (Error Precursors)

Cognitive tendencies such as assumptions, complacency, mindset, inaccurate risk perception, mental shortcuts, and personality conflicts.