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9 - PROJECT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

9.1.2 Plan Human resource Management: tools and techniques

9.1.2.1 organization charts and Position descriptions

Various formats exist to document team member roles and responsibilities. Most of the formats fall into one of
three types (Figure 9-4): hierarchical, matrix, and text-oriented. Additionally, some project assignments are listed
in subsidiary plans, such as the risk, quality, or communications management plans. Regardless of the method
utilized, the objective is to ensure that each work package has an unambiguous owner and that all team members
have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. For example, a hierarchical format may be used to
represent high-level roles, while a text-based format may be better suited to document the detailed responsibilities.

PM
RAM Role
Responsibilities 9

Authority

Organization Chart Responsibility Chart Role Description
(hierarchical) (matrix) (text)

Figure 9-4. roles and responsibility definition Formats

• Hierarchical-type charts. The traditional organization chart structure can be used to show positions and
relationships in a graphical, top-down format. Work breakdown structures (WBS) designed to show how
project deliverables are broken down into work packages provide a way of showing high-level areas of
responsibility. While the WBS shows a breakdown of project deliverables, the organizational breakdown
structure (OBS) is arranged according to an organization’s existing departments, units, or teams with the
project activities or work packages listed under each department. An operational department such as
information technology or purchasing can see all of its project responsibilities by looking at its portion of
the OBS. The resource breakdown structure (RBS) is a hierarchical list of resources related by category
and resource type that is used to facilitate planning and controlling of project work. Each descending
(lower) level represents an increasingly detailed description of the resource until small enough to be used
in conjunction with the work breakdown structure (WBS) to allow the work to be planned, monitored and
controlled. The resource breakdown structure is helpful in tracking project costs and can be aligned with
the organization’s accounting system. It can contain resource categories other than human resources.

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