Organizing and Staffing The Project Office INTRODUCTIONThe staff of project consists of the project manager, the project office (whose members may or may not report directly to the project manager), and the functional or interface members Successful project management is only as good as the individuals and leaders who are managing the key functions. A project requires a group of individuals dedicated to the achievement of a specific goal. Project management includes: . A project manager . An assistant project manager . A project (home) office . A project team Project office personnel are assigned full-time to the project and work out of the project office, whereas the project team members work out of the functional units and may spend only a small percentage of their time on the project. Before the staffing function begins, five basic questions are usually considered: [1] What are the requirements for an individual to become a successful project manager? [1] Who should be a member of the project team? [1] Who should be a member of the project office? [1] What problems can occur during recruiting activities? [1] What can happen downstream to cause the loss of key team members?
THE STAFFING ENVIRONMENT
Before staffing the project office we must understand the characteristics of project management, including the project environment, the project management process, and the project manager. Two major kinds of problems are related to the project environment: personnel performance problems and personnel policy problems. Performance is difficult for many individuals in the project environment because it represents a change in the way of doing business. Individuals, regardless of how competent they are, find it difficult to adapt continually to a changing situation in which they report to multiple managers.
On the other hand, many individuals thrive on temporary assignments because it gives them a "chance for glory." Unfortunately, some employees might consider the chance for glory more important than the project. For example, an employee may pay no attention to the instructions of the project manager and instead perform the task his own way. In this situation, the employee wants only to be recognized as an achiever and really does not care if the project is a success or failure, as long as he still has a functional home to return to where he will be identified as an achiever with good ideas The second major performance problem lies in the project–functional interface, where an individual suddenly finds himself reporting to two bosses, the functional manager and the project manager. If the functional manager and the project manager are in agreement about the work to be accomplished, then performance may not be hampered. But if conflicting directions are received, then the individual may let his performance suffer because of his compromising position. In this case, the employee will "bend" in the direction of the manager who controls his purse strings. |
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