CC BY
7
UDC 005.8:005.216:005.22
Osakwe Ikenna
IMPOVED APPROACH TO PROJECT TEAM CATEGORIZATION
A model of categorization is created, which allows a reflection into the relationship between project team categorization and project team performance. New interrelations were discovered between effective project team grouping and their performances due to proposed model of project team categorization process. Fig. 2, ref. 15.
Key words: categorization, process, motivation, managerial influence, best practice, work environment.
INTRODUCTION
Problem statement in a general view and its actuality: Human resource management in developing economies still has a lot to learn and develop. Its relationship with its personnel is still poor and shallow in most. It's yet to hold the values of human resource management in its core thereby leaving its personnel lonely at some points. According to Richard A. [1], team building means talking, discussing, asking and answering, being ready for brainstorming or working harder than usual, listening and asking for suggestions, respecting and following the indications received, keeping the morale as high as possible and motivating people when necessary. With regards to the project team, emphasis was laid on the following; Composition of the team, their Professional competence, the Level of responsibility of the team members, challenges encountered by the team, the factors that accounts for the success or failure of the project, the level of involvement of team members in the planning and design of the project and the level of monitoring of the project. The success of a project does not only depend on the project manager but also on the whole team With regards to the project team, emphasis was laid on the following; Composition of the team, their Professional competence, the Level of responsibility of the team members, challenges encountered by the team, the factors that accounts for the success or failure of the project, the level of involvement of team members in the planning and design of the project and the level of monitoring of the project. UNITED NATIONS [2] also stated that the importance of training is stressed by a growing gap between existing competences and skills and those competences and skills that are required to meet future challenges and ensure a successful modernization of official statistics. A framework of skills/capabilities begins with a gap analysis and a description of how to close the gap. Lack of resources is a major barrier. To stay updated competences of employees need to be assessed and trained regularly. This is sometimes referred to as competence management, other times as development plans. However all these did not fully border in practical terms on the how categorization can be done and when. The UNITED NATIONS agrees to the need for competency management which is done within the project by an already existing team, but that cannot be possible without the initial competency management done while recruitment is still ongoing.
Analysis of the last researches including attempts to solve the problem, highlighting of its unsolved part: Up till this day, there is still no fully spelt out rules within most of such countries as to the limits and bounds for human resource leadership or structure as such the organization determines what its limits have remained. In my personal observation of developing economies with emphasis on Nigeria, majority of the wasted resources on project has a lot to with management of personnel. If this is however addressed properly, less money will spent on projects and still attain maximum result with the little resources available while maximizing "УправлЫня проектами та розвиток виробництва", 2015, № 1(53), 73-78
personnel at the same time. One major way this is possible is by categorization method.
A class may include one or more positions [3, 4]. To achieve this, a project manager must have a deeper sense of knowledge of his project team, he must know what each is capable of and believe in such persons as well as other members of the team. According to PMBOK, the first part of human resource management is to work on the project team plan. Now let's take a look at the perspective of PMBOK on this.
The PMBOK 5th edition being an improvement on the 4th deals extensively on the performance of the project team, organizational processes, work performance, output and many more beginning with developing human resource plan. However, in a peculiar developing economy like that of Africa taking Nigeria as a case study, it will be discovered that it's not just enough. You will achieve better results when the love of the staff for the job is full and the place of their full dedication as a result of fulfilment is not in doubt. According to PMBOK 5th edition, The Human Resource Management Plan oversees Input to the Manage Project Team process and is Used to identify team members' roles and responsibilities as it Defines roles, responsibilities, level of authority and required level of competency for each team member, As input to Manage Project Team process, provides a clear indication of what is expected of each team member [5, 6]. According to EDWARD E, GERALD E. (1992), the concept of skill and the capabilities of individuals are basic to human resource practice. The most common approach to human resource management is based on job descriptions. Needed skills are discovered by analyzing the jobs in the organization. Job evaluations typically rate job value on the basis of skill level. Their approach to HRM believed that training systems enhance job-related skills that are identified through the job description process. Selection systems hire employees who have the skills needed to perform the jobs available in the organization. Labor contracts in organized settings usually codify these human resource practices and job descriptions in the form of labor contracts while Síle F. scientifically proposed that human resource (HR) policies are, in the main, centrally determined and developed and that in the HRM system, the Human Resource Planning, Recruitment, Selection Promotion should come before Training and development which afterwards Rewards/Pay Industrial Relations Equality Health, Safety and Welfare Personnel Administration [7, 8]. We propose a scientific approach which necessitates that training and selection should come before promotion and be referred to as categorization which is a part of recruitment. This is necessary because promotion should not come before training especially in developing economies unlike the developed in which available skills are developed like Edward E focused on.
Goal and task of the article: the goal of this article is to propose a scientific approach in which project team training and skill development is used to improve project team performance and can be improved using the methodology of human resource categorization and classification.
Methodology. This involves the development of the model of Skill Discovery Process which will reflect a basic relationship between project team member's personal skill and its discovery. When that is achieved a new model, which is the model Project Team Categorization Process is created, this model shows an interrelations between project team grouping/categorization and its performance. In order to achieve this, the methods of analysis and graphic simulating were used.
MAIN FINDINGS
This research shows that finding best individual project team member skills, certain processes will have to be undergone by the project team members as individuals under the supervision of the project or H.R manager to produce this discovery but noting that they all have different things that motivate them especially finances. Once
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that is done the performance as a team can be improved greatly under managerial influence and resource supply and management following a set of three more stages namely Test, Positioning and Grouping resulting in enhanced performance of team.
Categorization is the process of arranging or classifying in a particular order. It implies that concepts or something is classified into categories based on the commonalities and usually for some specific purpose. Categorization is fundamental decision making, in all kinds of interaction with the environment and in language. The classification of positions is based on analysis of the duties performed, responsibilities, supervision received or exercised, organizational structure, and qualifications necessary to perform those duties
In addition to the already existing processes used to Manage Project Team processes, the Key skills of effective team management framework should also include categorization and conforming (understanding where they belong and selling the vision to them in a way the buy it, see what you see and do it with joy) as well as the ability to make them accept and understand your project goals, vision, and targets. By so doing, the project team can open up as to what they are capable of that can help the project both professionally and casually. It was Nelson Mandela (a South African) who said "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language; that goes to his heart [9]". This would mean understanding the terms, mindsets, focus and points of view of each member of the team and being able to channel their experiences and knowledge in favor of the project.
His language in this case of project management refers to what makes him happy (his communicative reception). It is a system of communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals [10]. This is peculiar and differs person to person. Human relations management includes understanding the language of the workforce as a group and as individuals. Some project team members are motivated by passion, result driven focus and many others by financial incentives. Financial incentives is for many a major source of motivation, how much is paid and how it is paid. For a project team to be formed effectively and efficiently, there are certain things that must be put into perspective beyond the project itself [11]. The project team members must also be looked into. Their level of interest in the job, conditions that can make them most comfortable and interested and most of all their level of love freely lavished upon the job.
Employees/laborers/workforce love and fulfillment in an assignment is a function of how well they are able to fit into and get engaged in the role in their language/communicative style. For example, fitting a person with communicative skills and loves talking in a place that requires focus and utmost silence will create a gap in the person as silence is not his 'language'. So also a person who loves seclusion and silence when he is put in a communicative positon will do it grudgingly, not meet targets and will not be fulfilled in that arm of the organization. It is therefore vital that the project manager puts each person where they belong thereby 'speaking to them in their language'.
HR has the business to engage the project team such that they are eager to learn, share and execute existing or new knowledge. In a developing economy, some factors should be noted as influences that could affect human resource management for projects in such economies which could include political, economic and competitive advantage.
The work environment - creating an enabling environment, setting realistic and achievable targets for the staff, competitive compensation and a general sense of well-being will create engaged staff , who will love their jobs, be easier to manage and
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respond better to training basically because the environment makes it even further conducive beyond their love for the job.
Financial security- for most people within developing economies, the reason for working extra hard is to attain a height of financial security. That has remained a major cutting edge that a lot of companies have over the others.
Family incentives: this could include health insurance covers, full expense paid visit or vacation with family during breaks from project site. This is another incentive that ensures the commitment of staff within a project period especially for project involving high risks.
Having looked at that in a general sense, I will like to specifically address the need for the staff /workforce to love what they do as this will keep them naturally motivated to maintain a steady flow and continuously meet target as they work not just with their brains but also their hearts. In order to achieve this, we have developed a model that consists of processes that should help a project manager to ease his categorization processes (fig. 1).
Fig.1 Model of the skill discovery process
Fitting them according to what they love most: find what they love doing the most and link it to their work. It is important that you identify the strengths of each employee and ensure that their current roles maximize those strengths while you train on their weaknesses. To do this, there are things the project manager must put into consideration, like the development of the personal skills of the project team members and that of the project team in general. These two may seem alike but in reality have different sets of processes even though when successful, they yield similar results in the project which is easing management and adding comfort to the work. Now we look at the first, development of project team member skills.
To develop the skills in project team members and find their best practices, the following processes will come in handy:
- Development of effective communication base among team members and between management
- Team member training in numerous skills available
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- Exercising and testing the team[competency assessment]
- Observation and monitoring [identification]
Once a good communication base is established, training of team proceeds before competence assessment and identification of skills of individual team members. This sets everything in motion for the result of best practice for individual project team member [12, 13, 14]. Having followed the above processes, the result will be discovering the individual skills. This process could have yielded best practice but in the project management world, no two projects nor project environments are exactly the same.
Best practice: A best practice is an idea that asserts that there is a technique, method or process - through research and application - that is more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method or process. A best practice is an optimal way currently recognized by industry to achieve a stated goal or objective [15]. However, that it worked in one project doesn't guarantee that it will work in the next. Note that the above is simply be grouped as being in the discovery stage for the next figure fig.2.
DISCUSSIONS
The previous model in Fig1 deals with skill discovery and enhancement for individual members of the team, but not the team in general. There however can be another approach to this, which in turn not only classifies the individuals but also the team into where they belong with ease. This the reason we now propose another model below shows us more of that and how it works (Fig 2).
Fig.2 Model Project Team Categorization Process
From the above, there it can be seen that there are four major stages using this approach which are: Discovery, Test, Positioning, Grouping.
Based on the above, the end result will be scientifically improved project team performance. The project manager will use the scientific approach to produce
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improved project team performance having followed the scientific processes. Note that a scientific process is the way scientists go about asking and answering scientific questions by making observations and doing experiments. It often starts with asking a question.
Conclusion. In this research, we suggested an approach to project team categorization. The features of this approach which stresses that team member training is highly necessary and should come before promotion and be referred to as categorization which is a part of recruitment. The advantage pf this approach is that it helps the project manager to have the opportunity to discover the true skills of his staff before putting them on the job.
Prospects of further researches: haven come this far in researches. We will still proceed to further develop and create practical instruments and test this approach in different kinds of projects in conditions of developing economies.
Reference:
1. Richard Amponsah (2013). The Real Project Failure Factors and the Effect of Culture on Project Management in Ghana: Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (Gimpa) Accra, Ghana
2. United nations economic commission for Europe (2013). Human Resources Management and Training:
3. County of San Bernadino (2009). Human Resources : http://www.sbcounty.gov/hr/ClassFaq.aspx
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7. Edward E. Gerald E. (1992). A skill-based approach to humanresource management: http://ceo.usc.edu/pdf/G9215218.pdf.
8. Síle Fleming: CPMR Discussion Paper 16 From Personnel Management to HRM: Key Issues and Challenges: http://www.ipa.ie/pdf/DiscussionPaper 16.pdf.
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