Anticlue

Acquiring a Project Team Process

Acquiring a project team is the process of obtaining the people needed to accomplish the project. Sometimes the project management team has control over the selection process. When selecting teammates, there are several base considerations which need to be evaluated. The inputs to acquiring a project team are:

1. Enterprise Environmental Factors – Teammates are available from internal and external sources. When selecting team members it is important to evaluated:
   • Availability – Who is available and when are they available?
   • Ability – What competencies do people possess?
   • Experience – Have the people done similar or related work? Has the work been of high quality?
   • Interests – Are the individuals interested in working on this project?
   • Costs – How much will each team member be paid? Especially if they are contracted from another organization.
2. Organizational Process Assets – Reviewing the documented policies, procedures, and guidelines governing staff assignments are encompassed in considering the organizational process assets.
3. Roles and Responsibilities – The roles and responsibilities document should be reviewed to ascertain team member’s roles, responsibilities, skills, levels of authority, and competencies.
4. Project Organization Charts – A project organization chart is reviewed to provide an overview of how many individuals are needed for the project.
5. Staffing Management Plan – The Staffing Management Plan, along with the project schedule, should be reviewed to ascertain when team members will be need and to gain understanding of the processed to acquire and release staff.

In order to complete a project, it is helpful to gather the best team available. With the right team, one will have a good foundation to overcome all opportunities presented. The common tools and techniques utilized to help assure the acquisition of a good project team are:

• Pre-assignment – Pre-assignment is commonly done when the project team positions are known in advance. This is commonly when the project is dependent on the expertise of an individual or if staff assignments are defined as a part of the charter.
• Negotiation – Negotiation is used when the pm needs to assure that the project receives competent staff within the required time frame, and that the project team members have the bandwidth to work on their assignments through to completion. Another situation which call for negotiations is when specialized or scare resources are needed to complete the project plan.
• Acquisition – When performing organizations do not have the in-house staff needed to complete the project, the staff acquisitions may be net new resources, consultants, or subcontractors.
• Virtual Teams – Virtual teams are utilized in the following situations:
  1. Teams comprise individuals who are not co-located in the same region
  2. Teams comprise employees who work from home.
  3. Teams consist of individuals from different shifts.
  4. Teams consist of individuals with mobile handicaps
  5. Projects which have no travel budget to co-locate.
  In a virtual team, communications are very important. Also while planning, consider the time added due to increased communications for setting expectations, how to resolve conflicts, and how to include the right individuals in decision making processes.

The results from acquiring the right project team are the same as those desired in any game of strategy. You want to have the right players in the right roles. When you have considered which people you need to complete your project and you have negotiated and secured their services, you have acquired your project team. The outputs resulting from the Acquire Project Team process are:

1. Project Staff Assignments - Project staff assignments illustrate who has been assigned to the project. These assignments should be documented in a team directory, in notifications to team members, in project organization charts, and in schedules.
2. Resource Availability - Resource availability details the time periods when each project team member is or is not available to work on the project.
3. Staffing Management Plan Updates – Changes in the Staffing Management plan may be needed in order to rebase the planned with the real team.

A project manager success starts with creating the best team possible and having the right people in the right roles.