Project Launch Process L160

Blog: Biz-Performance, David Brown

L160 – Mobilise Resources

DEFINITION

Take actions to commence the involvement of participants as required.

SUMMARY

Organise and confirm the start-up arrangements for each team member. Check that appropriate arrangements have been made with any third parties involved and that any contractual issues have been addressed by the client organisation.

PATH PLANNING GUIDANCE

This process is normal practice.

DEPENDENCIES

Prerequisites (Finish-Finish):

Segment Plan (L120)
Agreed project organisation and roles (L130)
Set up / review infrastructure (L140)
Contracts / agreements with third parties as required (eg L150) (Confirm or renegotiate supplier contractual relationships – optional)

Dependent procedures (Finish-Start):

(subsequent processes involving the project team members)

RECEIVABLES

Segment Plan
Project Organigramme
Existing proposals, contracts, agreements as appropriate

DELIVERABLES

(project team participants ready and available)

TOOLS

(none)

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TASKS

Getting the people

Details of the participants required for the project, their roles and time requirements should already have been established during the consideration of the segment plan (L120) and the project organisation (L130). In most cases it will already have been agreed that the people identified should be made available for the project at the levels of involvement as shown in the plan.

In some cases, the resources will have been identified by nature rather than by name. In such cases, steps must now be taken to identify the actual individuals to be involved in the project. This may require discussions and agreement with their line management.

It is frequently found that the resources are not immediately available to the extent agreed. This is particularly the case where staff are being lent to the project free of charge, for example, from line positions within the client organisation. (If the staff are being charged for, there is usually no difficulty in obtaining them.) It is common for some degree of pressure to be required before the right people are made available. This pressure should normally be applied through the project’s sponsor or other key management as appropriate. Where pressure is applied by the project manager this can lead to bad relations between key line managers and the project team.

Where resources are to be provided by external organisations (such as a Consultant, the package vendor or contract staff), the contractual details should have been finalised. If there are any outstanding contractual issues, these should be completed. However, the agreements and contracts should normally be agreed between the client organisation and the appropriate external bodies. It is not normal for the project team to be involved other than to advise about the project’s needs.

Start up arrangements

The project management should make sure that they are ready to receive the participants and that the participants are aware of their start-up arrangements. In particular, it is important that the project management is in a position to start the participants on their work when they arrive. There is no point in the participants arriving only to find that there is no one available to brief them about their duties or that the work is not yet ready to start.

Some of the infrastructural details were considered in Process L140 – Set up / review infrastructure. That process established accommodation and infrastructure, eg office space, desks, telephones. These arrangements for the participants should be ready before they arrive.

It is important to build a team spirit as rapidly and effectively as possible. Full-time participants should normally be accommodated within the project team’s facilities. They should have desks, computer equipment and telephones as appropriate. Significant part-time participants should also have accommodation with the team. They should be encouraged to work with the team and away from their normal environment so far as is practical.

The participants should be informed of the arrangements with as much notice as possible. Particular consideration should be given where staff are likely to be disrupted or adversely affected by the arrangements, for example, if they have to move to a new location to perform their project work. Participants should be told clearly when and where to report, and should be given as much background and administrative information as possible. For example, they might be told about:

the purpose, nature and time-frame of the project,
the project organisation and how they relate to it – e.g. who they report to as part of the team,
how their relationship with their regular line management is affected – e.g. whether they are still part of the line department and still managed by it from a personnel-management point of view,
details of tasks which they are expected to participate in,
where they will be based – e.g. location, telephone number,
administrative details – e.g. dining room arrangements, hours, car parking, security passes, claiming expenses.

Steps should be taken to make sure that the participants’ management are also aware of the detailed arrangements and are aware of the need to transfer the regular duties of the participants to other staff. In some cases it may be necessary to agree the phasing over of the participant’s availability or their continuing availability to deal with any exceptional problems or queries from their former duties.