Methodologies and processes don’t deliver projects; people do. Everything implemented in projects is done by people, so every technical aspect of project management has a human dimension. Successful project managers recognise the need of assembling a team of capable people and to lead them effectively, which requires the mastery of complex interpersonal relationships.

Projects can be seen and felt in many things we do, be it in our work and social environments. However, traditionally, most managers were not directly involved in the management of projects. Bureaucracies were viewed as providing an efficient, stable and certain environment in which to conduct business. Change was viewed negatively. Managing change was limited to specialist functions and its introduction was carefully controlled. Nowadays, change is prevalent and a must, brought on by an explosion in the development of technology and communications. Rather than being the preferred style of management, bureaucracies are viewed as restricting an organisation’s ability to respond to change and maintain a competitive edge.

The last 50 years have characterized this changing scenario. The 1960s was a decade of mass production, with companies striving to increase output at the expense of quality. During the 1970s, companies strove for quality by imposing uniformity and restricting their product range. In the 1980s, the emphasis shifted to variety. Companies introduced flexible manufacturing systems to provide variety, while maintaining quality and high production rates. Then came the age of novelty − the 1990s − where customers didn’t want to buy last year’s model. Product development times and market windows shrank, requiring new products to be introduced quickly and effectively. At the start of the new century we saw another shift − that flexible structures were not enough. Organisations nowadays need to be almost in a constant state of flux to improve their ways of working and their business processes. Clients expect an individual bespoke design and service, making every new product become a mini project in its own right.

This has obviously impacted on the way we manage our people and their relationships with the firm they are employed with. The project-based organisation is becoming ever more common and project based management is shifting and becoming the new general management. Project management is something managers require in their portfolio of skills.

Locally, project management is synonymous with the IT and construction industries, but in reality, it can and should be applied with success to any sector. In fact, projects come in many guises. There is the more traditional type of projects coming from the industries of heavy engineering. On the other hand, most of us are involved with smaller projects such as engineering or construction projects, maintenance of existing facilities, implementation of new technologies or computer systems; research, development and product launches; training programmes; tapping and managing EU-funded projects.

But what is a project? If we look at the textbook definition of project management, we find that a project is: “A unique endeavour, undertaken by people working together in novel ways, over a limited time period.” The project team work under a sense of urgency and uncertainty, and must integrate their working patterns. In order to coordinate their efforts they must have a plan which is robust but flexible, and that means it should be goal oriented and staged.

This gives us a clearer picture of what we are talking about; but how does this really affect our people and our teams? What are the implications of recruitment and career-management practices? How can one plan incrementally and manage the transition from a functional organisation to a flexible project-oriented one?

There is no magic formula but there are ways on how this is achieved. After all, there are many successful cases as well as not so successful ones to learn from. Surprisingly for some, project management is about managing people to deliver results, not managing work. We’ve all seen various teams working together, and we can all agree that some teams achieve amazing results, while others seem to struggle when carry out even the simplest of tasks.

Unfortunately, most of the literature available on project management deals with techniques, tools, methods and processes with little attention given to the human dimension. However, a study carried out in Germany a few years ago showed that “people factors” accounted for 47 per cent of the variance in project success, whereas processes and activities accounted for only 12 per cent.

Project HRM includes the processes that organise, manage, and lead the project team. The project team is comprised of people with assigned roles and responsibilities for completing the project.

The type and number of project team members can change frequently as the project progresses. While the specific roles and responsibilities for the project team are assigned, the involvement of all the team members in project planning and decision-making can be beneficial. The early involvement and participation of team members who add their expertise during the planning process strengthens their commitment to the project.

For a successful project HRM, project managers follow a number of processes and structures. The following is process I found helpful for project HRM:

Develop a Human Resource Plan – This is the stage of identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities, identifying the required skills, reporting lines and resource levels.

Acquire Project Team – This is the process of confirming human resource availability, recruiting and obtaining the team necessary to complete project assignments.

Develop Project Team – This phase focuses on improving team competencies, team interaction, team building and developing the team environment to enhance project performance.

Manage Project Team – The process of tracking team member performance, providing feedback and managing changes to optimise project performance.

The management of people in novel relationships to deliver novel results is different from the management of people in routine ways to deliver routine results. The project management team is a subset of the project team and is responsible for the project management and leadership activities. This team is also extremely important for the success of the project and the relationship with the rest of the team needs to be very strong. We need to nurture the relationships with the direct and indirect stakeholders working in our project environment, or in close proximity, which could affect the direction or success of our project. We need to understand who the people are that impact our team, which way they impact them and to what extent?

We must always remember that it is people, not techniques that deliver projects and that human factors are decisive in achieving project success.

HRM in project-oriented organisations is one of the workshops offered at the 2012 National Annual HR Conference that is being held on 5 October at the San Gorg Corinthia Hotel in St Julian’s. For more information kindly contact James Gatt on 2137 0685 or [email protected]