Project Management and People

Successful projects comprise several key features. One is the ‘people’ factor. Good project outcomes rely on both strong leadership and management skills which include the explicit specification and understanding of requisite roles, responsibilities, skills and effort of project participants. Project Management and People identifies and critically assesses the qualities of people working on projects and extrapolates how they can contribute to project success in a diversity of known and uncertain contexts. The unit also explores how human behaviour in project-focused organisations differs from that in more traditional organisational forms. The evidence base of theoretical and translational approaches to people management is reviewed and critiqued.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Differentiate between audiences internal and external to a project and their impact on project management;
2. Conceptually map how project teams can be established and roles allocated;
3. Critically evaluate different structures that can be created to ensure both intra and inter-team communication;
4. Devise tools and techniques for motivating staff and ensuring high levels of morale in project teams; and
5. Manage grievances and conflict in a team setting, provide space for team members with special skills and abilities, and introduce incentives and rewards to ensure ongoing efficiency.