Human Resource Issues in Project Management

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Project management involves monitoring of the whole project systematically by using various tools and latest technology. Project management was simple a few years before but now it has become highly technical. This has decreased the chances of failure of project but have you ever thought why some projects get failed although they use all tools, strategies and technologies? It is due to the fact that the project managers are unable to mange human resource.

What Are Human Resource Issues in Project Management?

There are two main types of problems that may rise in project management. The first one is related to the process or technology and the second one is caused due to human resource. Project management is a team work and when large number of people remain with each other for days or even months then it may lead to any issue that not only disturbs the environment but the complete project.

When it comes to human resource issues in project management, it does not mean that your team is not good as these issue may rise at every place where people work in the form of groups, regardless of how well each member is doing at their job. Now it depends on the team leaders that how they manage them.

I recently read a research on the same topic. According to that research, a team named as Apollo team consisting of all talented individuals cannot perform well within a group or team environment due to the strong ego of all individuals. There are many more examples in which people that were considered best individuals got failed when worked in team environment so if you are a project manager then it is your responsibility to take care of all human resource issues and to resolve any issue before it becomes serious as you are the leader of your team. Following is just an overview of some basic human resource issues faced by most of the project managers.

Sometimes, the project manager becomes unable to manage the team in a good manner as a result of which, the team members’ start doing whatever they want. They may form different groups within the team and sometimes they start teasing the individuals which they do not personally like such as their competitors. You may solve this problem by using your leading and controlling skills.

Common Causes of Human Resource Issues in Project Management

There are several factors affecting the human resource aspect of project management. Communication and diversity are two of them.

Lack of communication

Lack of proper communication may raise a feeling of dissatisfaction among the team members. When members are not able to air out their concerns, this results in even more misunderstandings, creating chaos among the group. Project managers are expected to be a god communicator. One should also interact with team members on regular basis and be able to implement effective project management communication strategies.

Diversity

Diversity leads to a large number of human resource issues these days. When you have people belonging to different cultures, gender, races etc in your team then you have to be extra careful as there is a difference in the point if views and behavior of all the team members in this case. A thing which is considered legal or good for one team member can be disliked by the other member.

The best way to avoid human resource issue is to remain close with your team members and listen to their problems so that you may resolve any human resource issue in a timely manner.