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ASSIGNMENT SPRING 2014

Program/Semester MBADS / MBAN2 / MBAHCSN3 / MBAFLEX(SEM 5)

Subject code & Name PM 0013MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES IN PROJECTS

1. Write Short notes on the following:

(a) Halo effect:

The concept of halo effect was given by a renowned psychologist Edward Thorndike. It is a

type of perceptive bias where perception of one personality trait influences the perception of

entire personality of a person. In other words, it leads someone to form pre-conception about a

person or a thing on the basis of overall impression given by the same. For example, if you

consider a person kind, you may also tend to think that he/she is intelligent, hard-working and

generous.

According to Frank W. Schneider, Jamie A. Gruman, Larry M. Coutts, authors of Applied

Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2005),"The

halo effect operates when we draw a general impression of an individual on the basis of a single

characteristic such as intelligence, sociability, or appearance."

It implies that people generally get biased with individual characteristics, which usually leads

them to form a false impression about someone. The impression might be good or bad,

however, in both cases it becomes a big reason for conflict within a team. For example, if a

team leader is biased towards particular team member; other members may find the situation

dissatisfying. Similarly, if a team leader forms a negative impression about a particular teammember, he/she may be discriminated and neglected.

In an organization, the consequences of halo effect significantly impact professional

relationships and consequently may hamper the smooth functioning of projects. This is because;

the management usually develops a halo effect for a few team members as performers. They

may be given a good raise after their performance appraisals. This may de-motivate and lead to

dissatisfaction of other performing team members and may lead to conflicts.

(b) Importance of leadership in project management

A project comprises of various tasks and activities that need to be performed by different people

using different resources at different times in the project lifecycle. For successful execution of

these tasks, it is important to have a leader who is able to strategies, plan and lead the collective

efforts of the team members for achieving the project goals. A leader is committed towards the

project, delegates the work, and provides support and motivation to the manpower to perform as

a team. A leader provides foresight, enthusiasm, imagination and initiative to group the team

members to have a uniqueness of interests, outlook and action. The significance of leadership in


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a project management can be recognized by considering the various functions performed by

leaders from project initiation to closure.

The functions of a leader that make leadership an indispensable part of project management is:

Delegate authority to subordinates

Plan and organize the tasks of projects Guide, train and inspire the subordinates Motivate the subordinates to excel in their performances Influence the subordinates through rewards and punishments Create good work environment to achieve maximum employee efficiency Promote innovativeness Protect team members from operational threats or risks Develop and maintain the skills of subordinates Interact with subordinates and resolves their issues Build and sustain the effective organizational culture Comprehend the expectations and aspirations of subordinates Manage organizational resources Align individual goals of team members with the project Ensure that the right tools and training are provided to the team members to enable them

to perform to the best of their abilities.

(c) Goal setting theory:

Edwin Locke, an American psychologist and a pioneer in goal-setting theory explains that

specific and difficult goals lead to higher performance than easy goals. It also suggests that

feedback and commitment lead to higher performance and bridges the gap between the actual

and expected performance of individuals. It also suggests that for self-improvement, an

individual should have SMART goals that is the goals that are specific (S), measurable (M),

attainable (A), relevant (R) and time-bound (T). The goal setting theory is based on the

following five basic principles:

Clarity: Implies that the goals of individual should be measurable and unambiguous. Goals

should also be communicated clearly so that the employees may know what is expected from

them.

Challenge: Implies that the goals should be a bit difficult to attain. It is important to note that

the goals must not be neither so challenging that they seem unrealistic, nor should they be non-


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challenges organizations have started adopting new practices to help project members achieve

work- life balance. Some of such practices are as follows:-

Introduction of wellness programmes, yoga and stress buster sessions Running specialized programmes on healthy food habits for project members Empanelment with therapists, counsellors to address growing depression and stress

among project members Flexible timings and option of work from home Sandwich leave to allow project members spend a decent amount of time at home and

fulfill personal responsibilities

Apart from the above mentioned practices organization may also look upon reducing the

amount of work allocated to the project members. This can be achieved by hiring new project

members if the cost allows, work process improvements and work-reengineering.

Q2 . Discuss the stages and challenges involved in developing a project team?

Ans.

(a)Stages involved in developing a project teamThe life cycle of a project team has the stages of Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and

Adjourning.

Forming (Orientation):It is the first stage in the life cycle of a project team when the team

members are introduced to each other. In this stage, team members behave very cautiously andtry to understand others. A group is formed where members have high expectations and are

eager to know their roles and responsibilities. Although the members of the group in this stage

show low productivity, they are highly committed. Therefore, the project manager should direct

the team and clearly communicate the project objectives to the team members.

Storming (Dissatisfaction): In this stage, the goals and objectives of the project are clearly

communicated to the team members. The project requirements are also specified and

performance standards are established. The storming stage strives at integrating individual team

members into a cohesive team. As the project progresses the team members may developfeelings of frustration, disagreement and conflict and may seek more clarity about their roles

and responsibilities. It is the responsibility of the project manager to resolve contradictions

among the team members and make them focused towards the accomplishment of project goals

and objectives. In this stage, power struggle can also occur in the team when team members

decide the informal leader of the team. This stage is also known as confrontation stage.


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Norming (Resolution):In this stage the conflicts among the team members and between the

team and the project manager are resolved. The norming stage strives to bring harmony, hope,

conviction and respect among the team members. The team members are involved in the

decision-making process. This motivates them and increases their productivity. The project

manager supports the team members by providing them proper feedback about their

performance.

Performing (Production): In this stage the team members are committed to accomplish the

goals and objectives of the project. Therefore, this phase is characterized by high-level

productivity, confidence and morale of the team members. The team members work

interdependently and collaborate and coordinate among themselves. Therefore, in this stage, the

project manager must adopt the delegating style of leadership for the proper development of the

project team.

Adjourning (Disassociation or Disbanding):It is the last stage in the life cycle of a project

team and corresponds to the close-out phase of the project. The adjourning stage ischaracterised by the completion of the project and disassembling of the project team. In this

stage, the team undergoes disbandment or is reduced to an extent that is essential to carry the

project activities.

(b)Chal lenges in way developing an eff icient project team:Type of organization: The biggest challenge in developing a project team depends largely on

the type of organization. For example, motivating and developing a team/member in a

functional organization is very difficult as resources are borrowed and it takes time for them toadjust in the project team. Also, their final assessment and growth is assessed by their

functional manager and not by the project manager. This also creates problem to them in

developing strong association with the other team members.

Diversity: Diversity in a team implies that members of the team belong to different

backgrounds. In todays competitive and global scenario, team composition in an organization

is more heterogeneous in terms of gender, age and cultural background. The team members

differ in psychological thinking, values, beliefs, knowledge, skills, experience and

qualifications. Team diversity leads to generations of different ideas as people belong to diversebackgrounds. However, it also causes conflicts between team members and leads to

misunderstandings and unclear communication.

Dissimilar interests: A project team faces tough challenge if team members do not share

similar skills and interests. This is because dissimilar interests create conflict between team

members and makes it tough to achieve the purpose of the team.


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Lack of competitive skills: Selecting a team in which all the members consist of similar

completive skill sets and abilities is another challenge for a project manager. Identifying people

with similar skills and knowledge at a same time is a tough task for forming a team.

Poor communication: When people work as part of a team, they require smooth flow of

communication during all phases of the project. Lack of communication or communication gap

is a challenge in the smooth functioning of a project. For example, if a team member completeshis work independently and does not share the results with other team members, it may impact

the project as the outcome of one process might be an input to another process. The

communication gap at one level affects the outcome of its successive levels.

Lack of guidance: For a controlled functioning of a project, the project team requires a leader

who can give right direction to the project. Lack of effective leadership and correct guidance

adversely impacts the project development. In addition, the dynamic and composite nature of

the team demands a decisive leader. Without guidance from a strong leader, the team may lose

momentum for achieving the target. Finding a strong and decisive leader for managing andguiding a project team is a challenging task.

Role clarity: Even though a team works collectively to achieve a goal, each team member

should know their specific role within the team. Incomplete and unclear information about the

role may lead to confusion and faulty functioning of the project. Providing clear roles and

responsibility to team members is a challenging task for a project manager.

Conflict: A team consists of people belonging to different backgrounds, culture and thought

processes. This difference may generate conflicts. In addition, it is important to know how teammembers deal with conflict. Managing conflicts between team members is a huge challenge for

project manager.

Poor work environment: A team requires a specific place to perform the project tasks. The

workplace should be quiet and conducive in order to produce effective teamwork. Poorly

managed or unorganized workplace can create deviations in proper functioning of any project.

Creating an efficient workplace is a challenging task as it is possible only when the team works

together to accomplish goals with some pre-decided strategies and norms.

Q 3.Write short notes on. 5-P model of SHRM Barriers to effective communication Financial resources for project Project team members

Ans.


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5-P model of SHRM :Randall S. Schuler, Professor of Strategic International Human Resource Management

and Human Resource Management Strategy at Rutgers University, developed a 5-P

model of Strategic human resource management (SHRM) that consists of five HR

practices- Philosophies, Policies, Programmes, Practices and Processes with strategic

business needs.

Let us discuss the five HR practices involved in the 5-P model of SHRM in brief:Philosophy: It refers to organizations attitude towards its employees and how they

should be treated. Apart from this, it also focuses on the roles; the employees should play

for business success. In other words, HR philosophy discusses how to treat and value

people in the organization.

Policies: It refers to the guidelines regarding people management. In other words, HR

policy emphases on creating action oriented guidelines related to business issues and HR

programmes.

Programmes: It refers to coordinated HR efforts that help in initiating and implementingstrategic organizational changes.HR programmes help in facilitating changes in order to

deal with employee related business issues.

Practices: It deals with the performance problems and encourages creativity at the

workplace. In addition, it forms work teams and includes employees in decision making

processes.

Processes: It deals with the identification, creation and execution of HR activities to meet

the strategic goals of the organization. HR processes define how all HR activities are

carried out in the organization

Barriers to effective communication:Communication often suffers due to factors that distort the information or understanding

of the information. These factors are known as barriers to communication. The barriers

to communication can be classified as follows:

Psychological barriers: Some emotional or psychological factors such as prejudices

impact the perception of information by its receiver. It leads to various consequences

such as pre-evaluation of information before it is actually received, selective listening,

selective retention and selective transfer of information.

Personal barriers: Some factors such as attitude towards superiors, colleagues and other

team members impact the flow of information. Negative attitude may lead to distortion

of information and may create barrier to effective communication.

Organizational barriers: Excessive formality and rigidness in organizational structures

have a negative impact on the flow of information. The organizational barriers may arise

because of complexity in the organizational policies and rules and a lack of proper

communication facilities.


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Poor communication skills: Absence of communication skills makes the information or

message very confusing. In addition, lack of proper grammar makes the information

unclear.

Fear of high-ranking: Fear makes the person to drop his/her confidence while

communicating with the manager or departmental head. A person under the influence of

fear loses his/her balance and it affects the communication skills.

Stereotyping: It refers to categorizing people into a single class based on some trait. Instereotyping, the receiver compares the sender with some others on the basis of common

trait and this affects the objectivity of effective communication as the receiver may

misjudge the intentions of the sender.

Halo effect: It is a type of perceptive bias where perception of one personality trait

influences the perception of entire personality of a person. In other words, it leads

someone to form pre-conception about a person or a thing on the basis of overall

impression given by the same. For example, if you consider a person kind, you may also

tend to think that he/she is intelligent, hard-working and generous.Lack of response: Lack of response or inappropriate response from the receiver

discourages the sender of the information to communicate further.

Dilution of actual message: Dilution of information takes place when one person gets the

information and passes it on with an addition or an omission to the other person. The

actual message gets diluted and its meaning changes.

Use of jargon: Jargon refers to difficult or special words, which are specific a group or

profession. Such words are irrelevant and meaningless outside the group and therefore

adversely impact the communication outside the group.Unfavorable communication environment: If communication takes place in an

environment full of trust and confidence, it results in a positive response. In a favorable

environment, if the actual meaning of the message is missing, the receiver manages to fill

the missing part with favorable understanding. On the other hand, if communication takes

place under an unfavorable environment, even well formulated and meaningful

information produces a negative impact.

Distance: The physical distance between the sender and the receiver may delay

communication and affect the expectations of both the sender and the receiver. Distance

creates a major a barrier during communication, especially when done from two different

locations that are reasonably spaced out.

Financial resources for project:Finance is the lifeblood of any project. Financial resources refer to the money or fund that

a business or project requires in the forms of cash, loan etc.

Following are some the elements of a project for which financial resources are required:


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specializes in providing innovative project ideas can be involved in planning. On the other

hand, a team member who is proficient in coding can be involved at execution stage. Therefore

a project team is the sum total of different personnel who are intended to contribute towards a

common goal.

Q4. Explain the process a project manager must follow when estimating manpower

requirements.

Ans.

(a)Listing the steps of the process that the project manager must follow Scanning the environment Developing project objectives and policies Forecasting demand and supply Evaluating the estimation plan Implementing estimation plan Creating manpower estimation plan Identifying surplus/shortage

(b)The various stages involved in the process of estimating the required manpower

are explained as below:

Scanning the environment: The first stage in estimating the manpower is to monitor the

various external environmental factors, such as political economic, sociological,

technological, legal and environmental factors. The study of these external factors helpsin estimating the manpower need in a planned manner. For example, there are various

legal rules and regulations regarding the safety and security of workers during a project.

A clear knowledge of the relevant regulations will help the project manager to estimate in

accordance with the rules.

Developing project objectives and policies: After determining the environmental

factors, the project manager develops an achievable project objective and policy so that

the manpower can be estimated based on the goal to be achieved. For example, if a

project is to be completed within a very short time framework, a project manager will set

such an objective that can be achieved by the team effectively. Based on the objective

and the closing date of the project, the project manager will estimate the manpower and

assign them the tasks.

Forecasting demand and supply: Demand forecasting is predicting the future

requirement of manpower in advance. Demand of manpower depends on various factors

like duration of project, budgetary constraints, technological change and project needs.


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Supply forecasting is determining the availability of required manpower in future. To

balance the project performance, the demand for manpower should be supported by

appropriate supply of manpower.

Creating manpower estimation plan: At this stage, the project manager scrutinizes the

gap between the demand and supply of the required manpower for a project. The project

manager analyses what will be the manpower requirement (in terms of number and skill)

in future and how that demand can be fulfilled by efficient sources of supply. Suchanalysis helps the project manager to create an estimation plan of manpower demand and

supply.

Implementing estimation plan: After designing the estimation plan, the project manager

executes it by hiring new personnel or bringing together existing personnel in the project

team. The project manager also works towards motivating, training and utilizing the

manpower for fulfilling the project objectives.

Evaluating the estimation plan: At this stage, the project manager assesses all the

preceding stages involved in the process of estimating the required manpower. The keypurpose of evaluating the estimation plan is to identify if the entire process is going on as

per the project plan.

Identifying surplus/shortage: After evaluating the estimation plan, the project manager

is able to identify if they actually required manpower is more or less than the estimated

number. If the actual number is less than planned, the project manager needs to

reconsider the estimation process and fill the gap by recruiting more manpower in

required numbers and skills. On the other hand, if there is a surplus, the project manager

can reserve them for future projects or involve them in the existing project to complete itbefore time.

Q5 Explain various types of collective bargaining?

Ans. Collective bargaining develops employees responsibility towards the society and limits

exploitation of labor during project operations. It can be of four types as below

Collective Bargaining Distributive Bargaining Supportive Bargaining Productive Bargaining Composite Bargaining

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


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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 prioritize their interest over the other, it would be considered as distributive

bargaining.

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 employee 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 of the union and takes actions accordingly or the

union reduces its demands by understanding the financial condition of the organization) then

such bargaining is known as supportive bargaining.

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.

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.

Q6. What are the key roles played by a project manager? Explain the functional areas of

a project manager. ?

Ans. Key roles played by a project manager:

Facilitator: As a facilitator, the project manager focuses on ensuring judicious use of the

resources required for a project. In addition, the project manager enables team members to work

effectively by making them comprehend the objectives of a project and assisting them to fulfil

those objectives. By performing the role of a facilitator, the project manager keeps the team

members integrated so that they can perform collectively towards achieving project objectives.

It also increases the overall productivity and quality of assigned tasks.


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Communicator: As a communicator, the project manager conveys all the information

regarding project guidelines, policies, responsibilities to the team members. In many cases

when team members hesitate to convey their message to the top management, the project

manager acts as a communicator and bridges the gap between them. This stimulates the team

members to share their ideas and thoughts regarding project as well as their personal problems

and helps in developing a sound rapport between the project managers and subordinates. In

situations where the project personnel are not acquainted with the adaptation of new policies orchanges in project plans, the project manager maintains transparency by communicating all

required information to the team members. This reduces the scope of misunderstanding

confusion and controversy in the project.

Convener: As a convener, the project manager addresses the issues of team members and

endeavors to manage the conflicts among them. In addition, the project manager listens to the

personal and professional concerns of the team members and tries to resolve these to avoid any

barriers in functioning of the project. The project managers role as a convener helps in

developing a sound understanding with the team members and leaves a positive impact on their

overall performance and productivity.

Functional areas of a project manager are as follows

Planning: It is the basic functional area of a project manager. The project manager makes a

project plan that covers the objectives and scope of a project and the work breakdown structure.

Budgeting:It is one of the most important functional areas of a project manager. The project

manager estimates the required costs and investment to run a particular project. The project

manager also formulates guidelines for time, cost and resources required for a project.

Financing:It is the functional area where the project manager determines the various sources to

raise capital for the project.

Procuring: It is the functional area where the project manager aims to arrange various non-

financial resources such as raw materials, machines, technology, land and building and

manpower to carry out the project.

Implementing: It is the functional area where the project manager is responsible for putting all

the planned activities into action. The project manager ensures the proper mobilization,

utilization and control of resources.

Controlling: It is the functional area where, the project manager monitors and supervises the

performance of the project, highlights the loopholes and rectifies them.


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Terminating:It is the functional area where the project manager compares the actual outcomes

of a project with its desired outcomes. If the actual outcomes match the desired outcomes, the

project is considered successful.

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