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9 - PROJECT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

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PROJECT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Most of the material in Section 9 of the PMBOK Guide is applicable to human resource management for 9
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software projects. This section of the Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide presents additional considerations
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for managing software project human resources.

As stated in the PMBOK Guide, Project Human Resource Management includes the processes that organize,
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manage, and lead the project team. The PMBOK Guide provides general advice for human resource management
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that is suitable for a variety of project environments. It covers how to acquire appropriate project resources, develop
them, and manage them from a domain-independent viewpoint. It can be applied to machinists, construction
workers, or researchers.

However, because of the need to provide universal guidance applicable to all kinds of projects, the PMBOK
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Guide does not focus on domain-specific guidance for knowledge workers, including software developers who
collaborate to solve novel problems with incomplete information. This Software Extension focuses on managing
human resources for software projects. The knowledge worker recommendations of authors such as Peter Drucker
and Don Reinertson are also appropriate in these situations [34].

Software project team members typically possess technical knowledge and skills superior to those of their project
managers as related to the software product. Therefore, to be most effective, project managers need to find ways
to leverage the knowledge and skills of software project team members. Successful software project managers
typically put less emphasis on directing the work and more on facilitating the efficiency and effectiveness of project
teams. This subtle, but crucial shift dramatically changes the way teams are created, developed, and managed.
It effectively changes the approach from Plan Human Resource Management to “Manage Project Team(s).”

Also, since software teams spend a large proportion of their time collaborating, discussing ideas, and making
joint decisions, the “fit” of each team member within the team is extremely important. Rather than hiring a
competent programmer who does good work in isolation, a programmer who can easily and effectively interact
with the members of the software team may be a better choice than a competent programmer who does good work
in isolation. It is desirable to have team members engaged in the selection process of other team members. This
influences the “Acquire Project Team” process for a software project (see Section 9.2 of this Software Extension).

Software project teams often build novel solutions using new technology; therefore, they may not know the
solution during initiation and planning of the project. Instead, they innovatively solve problems, iterate on proofs of
concepts, and improve their processes as they develop the software product. This approach is most effective for
self-empowered teams who self-diagnose, engage in introspection and retrospective meetings, and continuously
improve. The process of instilling and promoting these concepts is common among successful software project
managers; the concepts influence the way project managers develop and manage software project teams.

©2013 Project Management Institute. Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition 161
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