final report

Finalizing the Human Resource Project

Tremayne Robinson

Strayer University

Progress, Results and Finalizing the Human Resource Project

Introduction

The initial phase is planning the project and putting together a team to deliver its objectives. Once these initial phases have been put into practice, and the project is being implemented, the manager must evaluate the progress, the results, and what is to be done towards the closure. As the project manager, getting the team involved in all facets of the project is not just a word. It needs to be practiced. Collaboration should not be just a buzzword; it is a proven strategy for innovation and staying on the track for the best outcomes. As the human resource project nears completion, the manager will be required to present actionable, decision-making information to the managers and those in charge of funding the human resource initiative. To best achieve this, the projects must be managed effectively, with all risks handled and all components closed out and handled.

Directing and Managing Project Work

During the planning phase of the project, there are bound to be several changes which involve the information system, organizational infrastructure, work guidelines, procedures and policies. As such, project managers must direct and manage project work. Directing and managing project work encompasses leading and performing the specified tasks defined and detailed in the project management plan. The process also involves implementing approved changes and updates to achieve the goals and objectives of the project. The significance and key benefit of directing and managing the project work is that the overall project work is effectively managed, and any risks met head on. Apart from managing the project team which is an essential strategy for directing the project, there are three other steps that can be implemented.

Directing and managing the project also requires sustaining progress in the project. Firstly, to sustain progress in the project, the project manager must create a seamless and effective flow of communication. According to Ziek and Anderson (2015), regular constant communication and sharing ideas can help transfer knowledge and updates on key changes that need to be integrated into the project. The project manager can create a simple communication flow through a work execution platform. By synching documents, comments, pictures, and calendars in a single location, the manager can monitor project budgets, scheduling changes, and critical updates which affect the progress of the project. Such a robust platform would allow the project team and the leadership to relay or inform the rest of the shareholders in real time through easy-to-visualize dashboards, automated actions, instant alerts and emails (Kloppenborg & Anantatmula, 2019).

Secondly, even as work is being done, the manager must continuously plan to stay ahead of any risks and challenges. Suomalainen, Kuusela, and Tihinen (2015) explain that the project team can experience unexpected changes in the initial project plan, and this can derail its successful completion. Even the slightest adjustments can affect the timelines and overall plan of the project, and this can be true in the middle of the implementation. Continuous planning enables the project team to stay ahead of any challenges or changes that may come along.

The third strategy to sustain project progress is to measure milestones while comparing them with outcome deliverables. Milestones indicate the start and the major stages in the project. They not only help to schedule the project into digestible parts, but they can also help in measuring, managing, and sustaining the project progress (Kloppenborg & Anantatmula, 2019). Each time the team achieves a specific milestone within the required timelines, the progress of the project can be measured and projected.

Addressing and Resolving Risks

Larson and Gray (2017) and Ziek and Anderson (2015) explain that risks are inherent in projects and can be faced using different strategies. Firstly, the project manager can employ the tactic of avoidance- avoiding the risk. Since continuous planning can help the project team avoid risk, the manager can come up with better alternative ways of looking at the situation without having to abandon a course of action completely.

For instance, suppose the project team was supposed to pitch their employee retention strategy to the sponsor in the tenth week of the project, putting them through effective employee retention strategies during the same time can be risky. The presentation may not be successful because they may not have all the knowledge to address employee retention strategies. The team is likely to be too busy during such planning sessions to attend training sessions on specific aspects of the project. Such training can be rescheduled to a later date when the planning and other facets of the project have been completed.

The second strategy is to transfer risk. Transfer of project risks is not the best tactic; neither is it often used to resolve or manage risks within the project, especially in cases where many teams may be involved (Kloppenborg & Anantatmula, 2019). The basic idea here is to transfer the management and impact of the risk to a different team or individual. For instance, if the project team has a third party contracted to work on the staffing needs of the human resource project, the organization can transfer the risk that there will be the poor selection of staff over to them. They will be responsible for addressing or resolving the risk, through additional training and development of the recruited staff.

Thirdly, the project manager and the team can limit the impact of the risk. Limiting the impact of the risk is an effective way of resolving or addressing risks within the project because it reduces the magnitude of the risk, and therefore, it can be easily fixed. For instance, if a non-technical staff within the project team is selected to work on the best HR system for employee interaction and collaboration, they may not get all the facts correct. To reduce the impact of this risk, the project manager and the technical leads can provide training to this team. Despite the training, there is a good chance that some members may miss the training or do not grasp the concept. The risk impact, however, would be significantly reduced because some of them are likely to grasp some ideas from the training.

End of the Project

As the project ends, the project manager and his team can implement certain actions. The first action is approving the project deliverables. Accepting the deliverables is important because it shows the team has accomplished what it was set up to do. Before accepting the deliverables, the team and the manager must go through them one by one ticking boxes which have been satisfactorily met.

Secondly, all the processes that were indicated in the project management plan must be executed. The project manager must ensure this. As the project progress and comes to completion, there are a series of processes like risk management and knowledge management, which not only affect the outcome but also how future projects can be completed. Sometimes there are risks that are avoided or even pushed towards the end of the project (Kloppenborg & Anantatmula, 2019). As the team begins to close, the manager should ensure that all the processes that had been agreed upon probably outside of the final product have been executed.

Thirdly, the project manager should begin to prepare a formal recognition, which indicates that the project has been completed and start getting the sponsors or the customers to acknowledge the document. Formal recognition of the completion of the project may take time because the sponsor may want to test different aspects of the outcome. However, the case, such meetings, and engagements must be initiated in good time to avoid resources being used outside the scope.

Significance of Information

Learning and information are important in shaping how the project teams work together. Knowledge and the lessons learned provide key insights which enhance the performance of the team not only during the project but also beyond. The culture of learning is, therefore important but also requires the same knowledge to be shared to people who may not have been involved in the project (Kloppenborg & Anantatmula, 2019). If the project team are not willing to invest their time not only to capture but also share their insights to other people, the lessons learned are likely to be in vain.

The project team must be willing to share their experiences, insights, and key information that may guide future human resource projects. For the human resource project team, a system is created where they can share their normal daily activities, record both mistakes and best solutions in real time. Providing mistakes made will help future teams avoid them, while the solutions will help generate even better ideas, innovative project teams. The other option adopted by the team is combining a content-based system and an understanding of which employee knows what.

References

Ingason, H. T., & Jónasson, H. I. (2009). Contemporary knowledge and skill requirements in project management. Project Management Journal, 40(2), 59-69.

Kloppenborg, T. J., & Anantatmula, V. K. (2019). Contemporary Project Management. Wells Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. FOURTH EDITION

Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2017). Project management: The managerial process. McGraw-Hill Education.

Suomalainen, T., Kuusela, R., & Tihinen, M. (2015). Continuous planning: an important aspect of agile and lean development. International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 8(2), 132-162.

Ziek, P., & Anderson, J. D. (2015). Communication, dialogue and project management. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 8(4), 788-803.