Preface

Why This Series of Books?

Managing projects requires unique skills and techniques, different from those needed to manage ongoing operations. As project management moves into the 21st century, project managers face the challenges of operating in a project environment characterized by high levels of uncertainty, cross-cultural teams, and global competition for competent human resources. These challenges can be met by developing a clear understanding of human factors in project management and by effective use of the human resource management skills that are required to inspire project stakeholders to work together in order to meet project objectives.

Extensive literature and many software packages are available for the traditional aspects of project management: planning, scheduling, and reporting; cost control and risk analysis; and management of scope and quality. Yet most project managers agree that the real management challenges lie not in technical problems but in the behavioral and organizational aspects of projects.

We sometimes forget that, despite the recent information and technology revolution in project management, people are at the center of projects. People determine the success or failure of a project. They define project goals. They plan, organize, direct, coordinate, and monitor project activities. They meet project goals and objectives by using interpersonal and organizational skills such as communication, delegation, decision-making and negotiation. In project environments, people can be viewed as problems and constraints— or as solutions and opportunities.

Human resource management is therefore a vital component of project management. Many books on general management, personnel management, and organizational behavior contain concepts and techniques that support project management. But understanding the myriad complex human factors that determine project success requires research and experience specific to the project environment. The Project Management Institute has played a leadership role in this area by developing practical and thought-provoking literature and the A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge, which includes human resource management as one of the eight knowledge areas. This series gathers together these and many other resources on the human aspects of management. It focuses on making the most of human resources on projects. The emphasis is on people and how they can be organized to increase their overall effectiveness as individuals, as project teams, and as members of organizations.

Throughout my working life, I have always been fascinated by the degree to which human factors influence the success of project management. The ideas presented in this series developed from years of study and research; from my practical experience at TRIUMF; and from discussions with friends, colleagues, other project management professionals, family, clients, and those who have attended my classes and seminars. These ideas are not likely to become the last word in human factors in project management, but I hope they will incite an increased awareness, just as the efforts of researchers and project management practitioners who have successfully implemented creative leadership motivated me to think further about effective project human resources management. Project management will be more successful, and my efforts in writing this series well rewarded, if project management educators and practitioners are inspired to devote more energy to this important area.

One final note: As you read, you may occasionally come across a concept or an idea that you feel you already know. That may be true indeed. As Somerset Maugham said, “Basic truths are too important to be new.”