ASSIGNMENT

SUBJECT CODE & NAME: PM0013 Managing human resources in projects.

Q1. Write short notes on:

Ans:

1. Homan resource cycle: According to Michigan school, human resource cycle has four processes i. Selection: The skills and capabilities of the persons deployed to do

the job should be matched with the requirements of job. It is important to select the right person for successful execution of the task.

ii. Appraisal: It is important to evaluate the performance of employees to check if the requirements are being met.

iii. Rewards: Employees must be recognized for their performance. The rewards motivate the employees to perform better.

iv. Development: Employees need to undergo continues development to enhance motivate the employees to perform better.

2. Roll of a project manager: The efforts and roles of project manager play a key role in the success of projects. The project manager should not be restrained to planning and execution of project. They should be accountable for all stages of the project life cycle. Therefore, a project manager is a person who needs to play multiple roles during the project life cycle. i. Facilitator: As a facilitator, the project manager focuses on ensuring

judicious use of the resources required for a project.ii. Communicator: As a communicator, the project manager conveys all

information regarding project guidelines, policies, responsibilities to the team members.

iii. Convener: AS a convener, the project manager addresses the issues of team members and endeavors to manage the conflicts among them.

3. Productivity measurement method of manpower estimation: This method calculates the productivity or work rate of different employees for estimating the future needs of the workforce for a particular task. Normally, sales rate is used as a forecaster in estimating the manpower need. A historical trend of the sales record is measured in relation to number employees involved in the business. The ratio of employees to the sales provides a labour productivity ratio that is denoted as sales per employee. The productivity ratio for the past few years are checked and on the basis of the trend, the estimation of the human resources demand is done. It reflects the effectiveness and efficiency of manpower in the production and sale of a product in a year.

4. Managing conflicts in a project:Conflicts are inevitable in a project. However, a project manager should manage these through the following measures i. Effective project planning: A project manager should develop a

project plan that clearly states the goals and scope of the project. The project manager should encourage the team members to provide their suggestions and recommendations while making the project plan.

ii. Proper allocation of tasks: A project manager should delegate the tasks to the team members on the basis of their skills and abilities. This helps in avoiding conflicts as the team members are motivated to focus to their own tasks.

iii. Effective communication: A project manager should clearly communicate the objectives and progress of the project to the team members. Regular communication between the project manger and team members helps in sorting out the issues obstructing the progress of the project.

Q2. What is the need for building a team during any project?

Ans

A. Define team building and its significance: A project requires execution of several activities to achieve the desired result. These activities cannot be performed by an individual and therefore a team of people who are skilled in performing diverse tasks related to the project are required. Building a project team is necessary as performing tasks collectively may increase the overall efficiency.

B. Discuss the various reasons for building a project team: Reasons for building a project team:

i. Reduced productivity: In case of low productivity, a team guides the operations and accomplishes the tasks collectively. For example, when more than two individuals work on a project independently. They required multiple skills, ample time, and numerous resources to accomplish a project. This sometimes results into diversity of thoughts and dissimilarity of goals. It also generates low output due to lack of coordination. On the other hand, if a team identifies similar goals and tries to achieve those goals collectively within a stipulated period of time, it leads to high productivity and good quality work.

ii. Conflicts among employees: In an organization, employees come from different backgrounds and culture. This may result in diversity of thoughts and interests that could generate conflicts among employees. Forming a team could be helpful in resolving these conflicts as people in a team learn o work collectively and achieve similar goals.

iii. Confusion about assignments and drooping relationships: When employees are assigned individual tasks, they might be unclear of their roles because of different backgrounds and education level. For example , in a team for new product development project, a team member who is MBA in marketing can easily comprehend the team ‘ marketing mix or 4 ps’ rather than a team member who is a graduate in English. This

sometimes also results into floppy relationship as employees hesitate in sharing their problems with each other. Unclear goals and poor relationship may affect the productivity and impact the project. A team helps in resolving such problem as roles are clear defined in a team. It also behind the team members as they work in coordination and have mutual trust and respect.

iv. Incorrect decisions: When two or more people work individually on a single project, the chances for inaccurate work increase. This is because they follow their own way of conducting things in order to achieve the individual goals. This creates difference in output with lots of inaccuracy. Working in a team solves this problem to a great extent as people know their roles clearly. They work on pre-defined tasks where goals are clearly set and resources are well distributed. As a result, the chances of inaccuracy decrease.

v. Lack of Commencement, creativity, and innovation: When people work individually they often do not show their creativity and innovation as they work on small level and lack motivation. However, in a team creative and new ideas are appreciated and this encourages the team members to put in their best effort to accomplish the project goals. It also helps in the personal development of team members.

Q3.Write short notes on:

Ans:

1. Qualities of a project leader: An efficient project leader leads the team members and project personal in right direction for successful completion of the project. A project leader should not only have the required skills to manage the project but should also possess the certain qualities that help in effective and efficient management and completion of the project.i. Vision : A project leader should have a clear vision of the organization

objectives and should be able to relate it to the project objective. Vision sets a clear destination for leaders

ii. Passion : A project leader should have the desire and interest that has towards to perform the assigned role and fulfill the responsibilities and meet the project objectives.

iii. Value : A project leader should respect, support and take good care of his team members during the project. Leaders, who value their manpower, get positive outcome in the long run.

iv. Courage and creativity : A leader should be brave enough to take up challenges and perform under any situation. Positive attitude, confidence and strong personality can drive a project leader to perform with courage. In addition, a leader should be innovative to plan and execute new ideas and work styles for better outcome.

v. Sense of responsibility: A project leader should be accountable for all actions on the project and should execute the responsibility associated with the role.

2. Dealing with poor performers in a team: In a project where multiple people work o different tasks, it may not possible for everyone to meet or exceed the desired performance standard. Sometimes, there may be employees whose performance level is below, average or poor. They may not fulfill the set performance standards, and this may affect the project and overall performance of an organization in the long run.

Reasons of poor performance: a. Pressure of meeting deadlines: Due to tight working schedules,

employees often get exhausted and feel overburdened.b. Unfavorable work environment: Such an environment leads to a

negative impression on the performers and hinders them from contributing the best.

c. Lack of competency: Competency indicates the required skills and knowledge that a team member is expected to possess for working on the project.

d. Personal issues : IT is one of the key reasons of poor performances and may include family problems, lack of

coordination among colleagues, stress, misconduct, negligence, financial crisis etc.

e. Safety and health issues : Personnel who work in manufacturing industries or in factories often suffer from health and safety issues.

f. Lack of training: All the team members on a project should undergo training on tactics, tools and methods to be used in the project.

3. Minority groups: Minority groups are basically subordinate or secondary group, whose members have considerably fewer control or power than members of prevailing or majority groups. Few examples of minority groups are, women, blacks in south Africa, Muslims in India and Hindus in Arabian countries. These are the groups that gain fewer opportunities in terms of education, wealth, and occupation and therefore, do not necessarily correlate to the mainstream population. They hold limited positions of social power.According to Joe R . Feagin, a U.S. Sociologist and author of racial and ethnic relations ( 1984) , ‘” A minority group has five characteristics: (1) suffering discrimination and subordination, (2) Physical and /or cultural traits that set them apart and which are disapproved by the dominant group, (3) a shared sense of collective identity and common burdens, ( 4) socially shared rules about belongs and who does not determine minority status and (5) tendency to marry within the group.

4. Health issues of project team: The health of project members is of paramount importance in a project. Even after strict adherence to safety policies, health issues in project happen inevitably and lead to dire consequences. Some of the major health issues are:i. Exposure to harmful pollutants and chemicals: Then project

members who work at construction sites or manufacturing set-ups are exposed to harmful chemicals and pollutants.

ii. Stress and Depression: The project members associated with industries such as, BPO, insurance, IT often suffers from high stress.

iii. Contaminated food and water: In small organizations, where the pressure of reducing cost is high, raw-materials of sub-standard are used for preparing meals.

iv. Low quality raw-materials: The purchase department of the organization often saves cost by purchasing the low- quality raw-materials which may have different health issues associated with it.

Q5. Explain various types of collective bargaining:

Ans:

Collective bargaining develops employee’s responsibility towards the society and limits exploitation of labor during project operations. It can be of four types:

1. Distributive bargaining: It is a type of bargaining where both the parties stress on supporting their own benefits. Distributive bargaining involves less flexibility and understanding between the parties because it prioritizes the interest of one party over other and leaves no scope for win-win situation. For example the employee union of an organization wants the organization to raise their salary. On the other hand, the organization wants to cut its total expenditure budget: therefore, it resists the demand of salary raise. Now in such case, if both parties stress on their own benefits and priorities their interest over the other, it would be considered as distributive bargaining.

2. Supportive bargaining: It is a type of bargaining, where the parties focus on supporting the benefits of both. Supportive bargaining provides sufficient scope for flexibility, understanding and cooperation between the parties. It considers the interests of both parties and finds a mid-way to control the loss of both the parties. Take the example of distributive bargaining where both the parties (the organization and the employees union) have different interest. Now if the parties instead of stressing on their own benefits focus on supporting the benefits of each other, ( i.e. the management listens to the demands by understanding the financial condition of the organisation0 then such bargaining is known as supporting bargaining.

3. Productive bargaining: It is a type of bargaining which focuses on increasing productivity so that, both employers and employees are benefited from the outcome of negotiation. For example, if the union and the management both consider that increased productivity is beneficial for both the parties, and then they assimilate their goals towards a single direction that aims at increasing the productivity.

4. Composite bargaining: It is a type of bargaining where employees/unions bargain to get equity in matters, such as work norms and policies, salary level, growth opportunities, working conditions, and health and safety issues. For example, when the union, apart from considering ways to increase productivity, negotiates on working standards to ensure that the work load of the employees do not exceed, it is termed as composite bargaining.