Online Custom «Questions Week 3: Human Resources and Project Management» Essay Sample

I. The human resources plan includes the three elements, such as the forecasting of the staffing needs, the evaluation of the supply, and the strategies for balancing the supply and demand. The plan is crucial as it represents the strategy of dealing with the most treasure element of the management, for example, the human resources. There are few ways for acquiring the new team members. First of all, at the beginning of the planning the project, manager has to evaluate already available resources and decide how to relocate them. Based on that, the needs in human resources are identified and then the negotiations regarding the ways for acquiring the personnel start. Here the outside sources might be determined. The project managers might also create the virtual team that would help to bring the new ideas to the improvement or development of the project. The recruitment of new human resources could be carried within the network of partnership organizations through the social media, the mass media, etc. All these methods are beneficial in terms of their effectiveness. On the other hand, some of them do not provide the comprehensive approach and do not cover the entire audience (Lunenburg, 2012).

II. The organizational structure is important for the project managers since it provides the information and understanding of the way the organization operates. It determines the decision-makers, differentiates the areas of responsibilities, and provides the clear understanding of whom to refer in if the help is needed in the course of the project management (Ledbetter, 2003). For example, the organization might include the media department that is responsible for the public relations (PR) and brand positioning in the social media. In such case, the project manager might appeal to them and ask for help. It would minimize the efforts and pressures made on the project manager and involve the professionals that would reduce the risks related to the inappropriate PR management. The human resources department might help to recruit the members and volunteers, as well as provide the assistance for the project managing.

The information on the organizational structure is frequently represented in its official documents or on the website of the organization. In order to ensure that the information reflected there is up-to-date, the project manager might also hold the meetings with the board members and the chiefs of the departments. Besides this, the meetings can provide an opportunity to find out exactly who is responsible for certain areas of work. It would help to prevent the failures, misunderstandings, or misconceptions about someone’s role within the organization and facilitate the management of the project.

III. The clearly distributed areas of responsibility, the written plan or strategy, and adopted rules for the conflicts resolution ensure the survival of the project. At the very beginning, the team of the project managers represents only a group without the norming. In the case of the storm, such as first conflict or failure, everyone starts to blame each other. However, if the clear distinction of the roles has been established, such tensions would not appear as the concrete person responsible for the certain area would be blamed. In other words, it stimulates the team members to perform their functions more responsibly and appropriately, as they might be scared of the punitive measures that might take place in the case of failure (Harackiewicz & Hulleman, 2009).

The clear goals also serve as the key performance indicators as their achievement or non-achievement shows the progress or regression of the team. On the other hand, the clearly set goals help the team members to understand their role and responsibilities more distinctively and precisely. It also contributes to the improvement of performance and prevents the burnout of the key leaders as all the responsibilities are equally distributed among the team members. The absence of the determined goals disrupts the group performance and causes the conflicts.