Acquire Project Team – Obtaining the human resources needed to complete

9.1.2 Human Resource Planning: Tools and Techniques

.1 Organization Charts and Position Descriptions Various formats exist to document team member roles and responsibilities. Most of the formats fall into one of three types Figure 9-4: hierarchical, matrix, and text- oriented. Additionally, some project assignments are listed in subsidiary project plans, such as the risk, quality, or communication plans. Whichever combination of methods is used, the objective is to ensure that each work package has an unambiguous owner and that all team members have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. 9 Figure 9-4. Roles and Responsibility Definition Formats • Hierarchical-type charts. The traditional organization chart structure can be used to show positions and relationships in a graphic, top-down format. Work breakdown structures WBS that are primarily designed to show how project deliverables are broken down into work packages become one way to show high-level areas of responsibility. The organizational breakdown structure OBS looks similar to the WBS, but instead of being arranged according to a breakdown of project deliverables, it is arranged according to an organization’s existing departments, units, or teams. The project activities or work packages are listed under each existing department. This way, an operational department such as information technology or purchasing can see all of its project responsibilities by looking at its portion of the OBS. The resource breakdown structure RBS is another hierarchical chart. It is used to break down the project by types of resources. For example, an RBS can depict all of the welders and welding equipment being used in different areas of a ship even though they can be scattered among different branches of the OBS and WBS. The RBS is helpful in tracking project costs, and can be aligned with the organization’s accounting system. The RBS can contain resource categories other than human resources. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge PMBOK ® Guide Third Edition 2004 Project Management Institute, Four Campus Boulevard, Newtown Square, PA 19073-3299 USA 205