9.2.1 Inputs to Staff Acquisition

.1 Staffing management plan. The staffing management plan is described in Section 9.1.3.2. It includes the project’s staffing requirements as described in Section 9.1.1.2.

.2 Staffing pool description. When the project management team is able to influence or direct staff assignments, it must consider the characteristics of the potentially available staff. Considerations include, but are not limited to:

   Previous experience—have the individuals or groups done similar or related work before? Have they done it well?

   Personal interests—are the individuals or groups interested in working on this project?

   Personal characteristics—are the individuals or groups likely to work well together as a team?

   Availability—will the most desirable individuals or groups be available in the necessary time frames?

   Competencies and proficiency—what competencies are reqired and at what level?

.3 Recruitment practices. One or more of the organizations involved in the project may have policies, guidelines, or procedures governing staff assignments. When they exist, such practices act as a constraint on the staff acquisition process.

9.2.2 Tools and Techniques for Staff Acquisition

.1 Negotiations. Staff assignments must be negotiated on most projects. For example, the project management team may need to negotiate with:

   Responsible functional managers to ensure that the project receives appropriately competent staff in the necessary time frame.

   Other project management teams within the performing organization to assign scarce or specialized resources appropriately.

  The team’s influencing competencies (see Section 2.4.5, Influencing the Organization) play an important role in negotiating staff assignments as do the politics of the organizations involved. For example, a functional manager may be rewarded based on staff utilization. This creates an incentive for the manager to assign available staff who may not meet all of the project’s requirements.

.2 Preassignment. In some cases, staff may be preassigned to the project. This is often the case when (a) the project is the result of a competitive proposal, and specific staff were promised as part of the proposal, or (b) the project is an internal service project, and staff assignments were defined within the project charter.

.3 Procurement. Project procurement management (described in Chapter 12) can be used to obtain the services of specific individuals or groups of individuals to perform project activities. Procurement is required when the performing organization lacks the in-house staff needed to complete the project (e.g., as a result of a conscious decision not to hire such individuals as full-time employees, as a result of having all appropriately competent staff previously committed to other projects, or as a result of other circumstances).

9.2.3 Outputs from Staff Acquisition

.1 Project staff assigned. The project is staffed when appropriate people have been reliably assigned to work on it. Staff may be assigned fulltime, parttime, or variably, based on the needs of the project.

.2 Project team directory. A project team directory lists all the project team members and other stakeholders. The directory may be formal or informal, highly detailed or broadly framed, based on the needs of the project.