Introduction
At the Fall meeting of the PMI Board of Directors, held in conjunction with the 1986 PMI Seminar/Symposium in Montreal, Canada, the proposed changes to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) published in the 1986 Special Summer Issue of the Project Management Journal were discussed. Particular concern was expressed over the fact that the Human Resources Management Function of the PMBOK was incomplete relative to the other functions of the PMBOK. Drs. Adams and Stuckenbruck were requested to form a committee, which would include representation from industry, to build on the work published by the previous committee and to make it consistent with the remainder of the PMBOK. This approach is consistent with the philosophy of developing the PMBOK as an evolutionary document, with each successive committee building on the work of those who went before until the body of knowledge accurately reflects the project management profession.
In approaching this task, the subject of human resources was viewed specifically from the perspective of the project manager, and not from the perspective of the human resources specialist. In our view, while the entire field of human resources management might apply to project management to one degree or another, certain aspects of human resources management are much more useful to the project manager than others. We chose to select those areas believed to be most relevant to the project manager and emphasize them throughout this function of the PMBOK. In this respect, we believe that our philosophy towards human resources management is somewhat different than that expressed by the previous committee chairman. It should be noted that the definitions provided below are intended to reflect the view of the project manager. These definitions should be compatible with, but do not necessarily duplicate, the definitions which might be found throughout the human resources management literature.
Our view of project management defines the project manager as filling a position that crosses many organizational boundaries. The project manager is responsible for developing his project team and building it into a cohesive group to complete the project. This must be done, however, within the constraints imposed by the parent organization and other organization(s) outside the project team (clients, the larger organization, government agencies, etc.). Essentially, these “external” organizations impose administrative requirements on the project team, and the team as it is developed must function within the boundaries established by these requirements. The work breakdown structure for the human resources management function recognizes this situation by identifying administrative and behavioral tasks for the project manager to deal with. A combination of administrative and behavioral knowledge and skills thus appears necessary to managing the human resources contributing to project completion. Much of the administrative activity of the project manager is directed by organizations and agencies outside of the project itself, and the constraints imposed on the project can largely be identified in this area of the work breakdown structure. The behavioral aspects of the work breakdown structure deal with the project team members, their interaction as a team, and their contacts with individuals outside the project itself. We believe this orientation best reflects the major aspects of human resources management that must be understood and employed by the project manager.
In expanding the material previously published, every effort was made to use as much of the previous work as could reasonably fit within our perspective of project management. This approach is consistent with the philosophy of building on, rather than re-inventing, the work that has previously been accomplished. To this end, (1) the basic definition of Project Human Resource Management remains the same:
“The art and science of directing and coordinating Human Resources throughout the life of a project by using administrative and behavioral knowledge to achieve predetermined project objectives of scope, cost, time, quality, and participant satisfaction.”
This definition is sufficiently broad to focus within the project, as indicated by the previous committee, and yet reflect the requirements imposed by outside organizations and agencies. (2) The Functional Impact Matrix (see Figure F.2) was revised to reflect the degree of relationship we believe exists among the various components of the PMBOK and the major components of the Human Resource Management Function. On the scale of one to three, “one” represents the most significant relationship, while “three” represents a relationship that may be weak, infrequent, or project dependent. (3) The work breakdown structure for Project Human Resource Management (see Figure 1) was revised as necessary to reflect the separation of topics under the major subheadings consistent with both our philosophy of project management and our understanding of human resource management. The process of motivating a team, for example, is different from the process of motivating an individual, so the subheadings should appropriately reflect different aspects of human resource management theory. Finally, (4) we have provided the needed glossary of terms and a project management-oriented reference list for the Human Resource Management Function.
We would like to congratulate the workshop track members from the 1985 PMI Pre-Symposium Body of Knowledge Workshop on their hard work, their concentration, and their contribution to the development of project management as a profession. We must all realize that the PMBOK is a dynamic representation of the project management field at any point in time, and that the PMBOK must continue to evolve as our understanding of project management evolves. To this end, we have built on the work of those who came before us, and we look forward to others studying, modifying, and expanding our work as the profession develops, grows, and matures.
Glossary Of Terms
Human Resources Management, as viewed by the project manager, is the art and science of directing and coordinating human resources throughout the life of a project by using administrative and behavioral knowledge to achieve predetermined project objectives of scope, cost, time, quality, and participant satisfaction.
Administrative aspects of project human resources management involves the process of providing formal guidance and control to the project team.
| 1 | Employee Relations consists of those formal activities and procedures used by an organization to administer and develop its work force. |
| 1.a | Recruitment, Selection, and Job Placement involves attracting a pool of potential employees, determining which of those employees is best suited for work on the project, and matching that employee to the most appropriate task based on his or her skills and abilities. |
| 1.b | Personnel Training provides for the development of specific job skills and techniques required by the individual to become more productive. |
| 1.c | Labor Relations includes those formal activities developed by an organization to negotiate and bargain with its work force, whether or not that work force is unionized. |
| 1.d | Career Path Planning is the process of integrating the individual's career planning and development into the organization's personnel plans with the objective of satisfying both the organization's requirements and the individual's career goals. |
| 1.e | Manpower Planning is the process of projecting the organization's manpower needs over time, in terms of both numbers and skills, and obtaining the human resources required to match the organization's needs. |
| 1.f | Organization Development is the use of behavioral science technology, research, and theory, to change an organization's culture to meet predetermined objectives involving participation, joint decision making, and team building. |
| 1.g | Records Management involves the procedures established by the organization to manage all documentation required for the effective development and application of its work force. |
| 1.h | Compensation and Evaluation involves the measurement of an individual's performance and the financial payment provided to employees as a reward for their performance and as a motivator for future performance. |
| 2.a | Job Descriptions are written outlines of the skills, responsibilities, knowledge, authority, environment, and interrelationships involved in an individual's job. |
| 2.b | Performance Evaluation involves the formal system by which managers evaluate and rate the quality of subordinates' performance over a given period of time. |
| 2.c | Salary Administration is the formal system by which the organization manages its financial commitments to its employees. Includes manhour accounting and the development of a logical structure for compensation. |
| 2.d | Benefits Administration is the formal system by which the organization manages its non-financial commitments to its employees. Includes such benefits as vacation, leave time, and retirement. |
| 3 | Government Regulations and Requirements consists of those laws, regulations, rules, policies, and administrative requirements imposed upon organizations by government agencies. |
| 3.a | Discrimination refers to the requirements imposed on the organization and the procedures implemented by the organization to assure fairness in hiring and promotion practices. |
| 3.b | Equal Opportunity refers to the procedures implemented by the organization to assure that it meets the requirements of the Equal Employment Opportunity sections of the Civil Rights Act. Includes affirmative-action and other programs as well as the documentation procedures necessary to demonstrate compliance. |
| 3.c | Arbitration refers to the formalized system for dealing with grievances and administering corrective justice as part of collective bargaining agreements. |
Behavioral aspects of project human resources management involves the project manager's relationships with people and the management of their reactions and behavior whether or not they are members of the project team.
| 4 | Individuals Outside the Project refers to all those individuals who impact the project work but who are not considered members of the project team. |
| 4.a | Top Management, from the viewpoint of the project manager, includes the individual to whom he or she reports on project matters and other managers senior to that individual. |
| 4.b | Line/Functional Managers are those responsible for activities in one of the primary functions of the organization, such as production or marketing, with whom the project manager must relate in achieving the project's goals. |
| 4.c | Service and Support Personnel are those individuals working in functions such as personnel, accounting, maintenance, and legislative relations that are needed to keep the “primary functions” operating effectively. |
| 4.d | Staff Personnel are those individuals working in departments that are not directly involved in the organization's mainstream activity, but rather perform advising, counseling, and assisting duties for the line/functional departments. |
| 4.e.1 | The Public (External) includes all those that are not directly involved in the project but who have an interest in its outcome. This could include, for example, environmental protection groups, equal employment opportunity groups, and others with a real or imagined interest in the project or the way it is managed. |
| 4.e.2 | The Public (Internal) All personnel working directly or indirectly on the project. |
| 4.f | Customer/Client Personnel are those individuals working for the organization that will assume responsibility for the product produced by the project when the project is completed. |
| 4.g | Regulatory Personnel are those individuals working for government regulatory agencies whose task it is to assure compliance with their particular agency's requirements. |
| 4.h | Environmentally Concerned are those individuals who align themselves with the views of various groups concerned with issues of protecting the environment. |
| 4.j | Legally Concerned are those individuals who are concerned with assuring that the project complies with all aspects of the law. |
| 5. | Team Members are individuals reporting either part-time or full-time to the project manager who are responsible for some aspect of the project's activities. |
| 5.a | Communicating With Individuals involves all activities by which the project manager transfers information or ideas to individuals working on the project. |
| 5.b | Motivating is the process of inducing an individual to work toward achieving the organization's objectives while also working to achieve personal objectives. |
| 5.c | Counseling is the process of advising or assisting an individual concerning career plans, work requirements, or the quality of work performed. |
| 5.d | Negotiating is the process of bargaining with individuals concerning the transfer of resources, the generation of information, and the accomplishment of activities. |
| 5.e | Delegating is the process by which authority is distributed from the project manager to an individual working on the project. |
| 5.f | Problem Resolution involves the interaction between the project manager and an individual team member with the goal of finding a solution to a technical or personal problem that affects project accomplishment. |
| 5.g | Personal Rewards involves providing an individual with psychological or monetary benefits in return for his or her performance. |
| 5.h | Personal Recognition involves the public acknowledgement of an individual's performance on the project. |
| 6. | The Project Team is that group of people, considered as a group, that shares responsibility for the accomplishment of the project goals and who report either part-time or full-time to the project manager. |
| 6.a | Leadership is the process by which the project manager influences the project team to behave in a manner that will facilitate project goal achievement. |
| 6.b | Team Building is the process of influencing a group of diverse individuals, each with their own goals, needs, and perspectives, to work together effectively for the good of the project such that their team effort will accomplish more than the sum of their individual efforts could otherwise achieve |
| 6.c | Team Motivation is the process by which the project manager influences his project team to initiate effort on the project tasks, expend increasing amounts of effort on those tasks, and to persist in expending effort on these tasks over the period of time necessary for project goal accomplishment. |
| 6.d | Team Decision Making is the process by which the project manager and his team determine feasible alternatives in face of a technical, psychological, or political problem, and make a conscious selection of a course of action from among these available alternatives. |
| 6.e | Team Reward System is the process by which the project team receives recognition for its accomplishments. |
| 6.f | Conflict Management is the process by which the project manager uses appropriate managerial techniques to deal with the inevitable disagreements, both technical and personal in nature, that develop among those working toward project accomplishment. |
| 6.g | Organizational Politics is the informal process by which personal friendships, loyalties, and emnities are used in an attempt to gain an advantage in influencing project decisions. |
| 6.h | Communicating With Groups is the means by which the project manager conducts meetings, presentations, negotiations, and other activities necessary to convey the project's needs and concerns to the project team and other groups. |
Figure F-1 Function Chart Human Resources Management
Figure F-2 Function Impact Matrix Chart HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT