Unit II Article Critique: Personnel Planning in Project Management

Article Summary

The Unit II article, “The Necessity of Personnel Planning in the Project Management in Industrial Industries”, outlines several of the key strategic roles that human resources management contributes to the planning, budgeting, staffing, training, and successful implementation and completion of critical enterprise projects. The article specifically emphasizes the importance of planning and anticipating not only the personnel needs of specific individual projects, but also the personnel needs of the organization as a whole, and how the present and projected human resources market impacts the personnel decision-making process (Koltnerova, 2011).

The article states that, to successfully manage projects, a clearly defined project goal/outcome must first be determined, and that a series of benchmarks should be put in to place in order to track progress and take corrective action when the project is not running efficiently (Koltnerova, 2011). Upon setting goals and benchmarks, the next step in the process is to determine the size of the workforce needed for any given project, as well as the knowledge, skill-sets, and experiences that the project team members would ideally possess (Koltnerova, 2011). While some projects do call for specialization and/or subject matter expertise (i.e. some projects may require team members to have a strong accounting or analytical background whereas others may call for team members to possess an I.T. background), the article indicates that a flexible workforce with a diverse set of skills and backgrounds is advantageous to creating cohesive and versatile project teams which are not only adept at solving problems and efficiently managing specific projects, but also are able to provide value in a variety of roles and other projects within the organization due to their diverse skill-sets (Koltnerova, 2011).

The final critical component mentioned in the article, which is essentially the driver of most, if not all of the decisions human resources managers make regarding the personnel planning of any given project, is the budget that can be assigned to said project. All projects will have an ideal workforce value, both in terms of the number and skill level of team members associated with it. However, what is ideal and what is actually plausible is largely driven by and restricted by the project personnel budget. Not all projects necessarily have tangible and measurable production and/or profit-based outputs. Some projects are specifically undertaken to develop efficiencies in systems, processes, and labor practices. As such, it is important for human resources management to utilize project management concepts such as continuous improvement philosophies (C.I.P.) and Six Sigma to assign accurate values to projects regardless of their nature (Neuendorf, 2004).

Article Critique/Opinion

The article provided interesting statistical data which supports an upward trend in successful project completion in both The Czech and Slovak Republics, paying particular attention to long-term projects lasting more than six months, as well as those focused on product development and implementation, I.T. enhancements, and cost reduction (Koltnerova, 2011). It was interesting to note that both of the nations that were sampled reflected nearly identical drivers when it came to projects that failed. Projects that changed goals midstream or had outcomes that were never clearly defined to begin with were particularly at risk for failure, thus reiterating the importance of setting specific goals during the project planning phase, and utilizing benchmarks to track and maintain those goals after implementation. Furthermore, projects that were ultimately doomed to failure also seemed to be affected by external factors (i.e., micro and macroeconomic factors, workforce market factors, competition, etc.) (Koltnerova, 2011). This indicates a strong need for S.W.O.T. analysis during the project planning phase as S.W.OT. analysis measures the internal and external strengths of both the organization and the larger market in which it competes for all forms of resources.

Another interesting component the article focused on was the motivation and retention of project team members. It stated that it is not enough for a human resources manager to plan only for the success of the project, but also for the success of the project team members within the organization as a whole (Koltnerova, 2011). It is one thing to recruit team members who possess the ideal flexible, diverse, and specialized skill-sets and experiences outlined previously, but it is also important to ensure that the team members feel properly motivated and focused on success. The article generally stated that this can be achieved by incentivizing the workforce both monetarily, and by giving the workforce an opportunity to improve the organization as a whole by utilizing their unique skill-sets to make positive contributions. A motivated and engaged workforce is one that also typically sees higher retention figures.

Opportunities to Expand the Conversation

While the article did an excellent job of providing useful data regarding the primary drivers of success and failure in project management personnel planning, there was an opportunity to expand more on the specific details of how to derive budgets and projected project outputs. Specifically, projects not necessarily focused on production, cost reduction, or I.T. enhancements, but rather, for those designed to make less tangible enhancements such as those relating to process refinement, employee engagement/labor practices, organizational culture, marketing strategies, etc. This classification of projects does not always present easily measurable outputs; therefore, it would have been interesting to see how human resources managers successfully plan budgets and project the ultimate value of said projects.

References

Koltnerova, K., & Samakova, J. (2011). The Necessity of personnel planning in the project management in industrial enterprises. Annals of DAAAM for 2011 & Proceedings of the 22nd International DAAAM Symposium, 22(1).

Neuendorf, S. (2004). Six sigma for project managers. Vienna, VA: Management Concepts.