HR Project Management Final Team Report

Progress, Results, and Finalizing the HR Project

Project management is the use of knowledge, skills, and tools to perform all project activities. To successfully manage and direct a project, all project activities must be completed according to standard project implementation guidelines. The project plan should be followed to the latter and the budget should guide the project manager. Project objectives are used to evaluate the success of a project. In a successfully directed and managed project, all objectives should be achieved (Meredith et al., 2018).

Strategies to Manage and Sustain Progress in The HR Project

A key strategy for managing and sustaining the HR project is the involvement of stakeholders. Stakeholders in this project are the management, maintenance personnel, HR staff, and other employees. Each of these stakeholders plays a crucial role in project management and sustainability. The system is meant for the human resource department and therefore involving the key stakeholders will lead to better management of the process. HR personnel and other employees will provide important information to enhance the quality of the HR software. The management will be consulted whenever the development team encounters development hurdles that require executive directives. During development, a sensitive issue like the privacy of employee data will be presented to the management.

Another strategy is proper scheduling and budgeting. Scheduling and budgeting are key project planning activities that require adequate data. Unrealistic deadlines are common problems associated with project schedules. In this system, we will capture all project activities in the schedule and address uncertainties for each deadline. This way, challenges associated with the project schedule will be eliminated. As far as budgeting is concerned, budgets will be developed using the available information. During budgeting, a contingency plan will be developed to ensure project sustainability in case of changes that may lead to the insufficiency of funds.

Also, the development of a sound communication plan is a good strategy for the management and sustainability of the HR system. In project management, a communication plan is needed for conveying messages to the development team and other project stakeholders. Through communication, the project manager collects feedback that is used for decision making. Different communication methods will be used in the project.

Strategies to Address Risks

There are many risks associated with the development of software projects. Risks that can affect our HR project include poor scheduling, under budgeting, low productivity, loss of project staff and changes in system requirements. Different strategies can be used to address and resolve any risk within the control of this project.

The development of a data back plan can help in resolving issues such as data losses in case of errors or natural calamities. Natural disasters such as fires, floods, and earthquakes may lead to data losses. Loss of source codes, data, and implementation plans have a negative impact on the progress of a project. With a data back-up plan, disasters will have a smaller impact on the progress of the project. Notably, a back-up data center should be located in a different location.

Staff training before the start of the system development process is a crucial activity in a project. Some development risks are caused by human error and have adverse effects on the progress of a project. During staff training, employees should be taught how to reduce risks by following the recommended system development guidelines. Currently, there are many technologies for mitigating risks during software development. The personnel will be trained on how to use the technologies before the development process begins.

Another strategy that could be used to address and resolve risks is the continuous evaluation of the project. During development, developers may perform actions that increase the probability of risk occurrence. Continuous project evaluation can help in identifying these actions. The actions can then be corrected to resolve the risks.

Actions to take during closeout

Project closeout is the final stage of the project development process. As the closeout phase begins, many actions can be taken by the project manager (Pratt, 2018). One of the actions is the development of a training plan for the target users. Some aspects of software projects are complex and thus, staff training is a necessary activity. The training should be conducted before the system is deployed to ensure that users are conversant with all project functionalities. Some of the training methods that can be used include instructor-led training, video training, simulation training, and e-learning training methods (Crimando & Riggar, 2017). 

Another action that can be performed at this phase is risk assessment. In addition to a risk assessment conducted at each phase of the development cycle, an overall risk assessment is conducted at the closeout phase. The assessment is done to identify any risks in various parts of the system. This assessment is the final one, hence it should be thorough. All the risks identified must be analyzed and mitigated.

Analysis of the project development process can be done at this phase by the project manager. The activity involves the evaluation of project activities to determine whether or not the objectives were achieved. Furthermore, the manager can review the performance of the development personnel.

References

Meredith, J. R., Mantel Jr, S. J., & Shafer, S. M. (2017). Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Pratt, M. (2018). Project Closure Document.

Crimando, W., & Riggar, T. F. (2017). Staff training: An annotated review of the literature. Routledge.