SUPPORTING SKILLS

Selecting Resources for Your Team

As a step in the initiating process, the project manager defines the necessary skills needed for the project. In planning, roles and responsibilities, time commitment, and the resources' organization are identified for each skill set. This information will provide the criteria for selecting and securing resources for your project team.

Some questions to keep in mind while selecting resources include:

• Who has the necessary information?
• Who is available?
• Who is needed politically?
• Who is needed technically?
• How many people are needed?

A recommended method for staffing is:

1. Review standard operating procedures around human resources or staffing.
2. Determine the number of people required.
3. Review the commitment and skill sets with the functional managers responsible for possible team members
4. Interview perspective team members to determine skill levels.
5. Create a development plan for any gaps in skills.
6. Select team members and notify their functional managers.

Best Practice: Use generic resources until specific resource assignments are made.

Best Practice: Keep the set of resources to a minimum by assigning team members full-time whenever possible. Other commitments can distract part-time resources, and managing large teams is more difficult and time-consuming than managing small teams.