Project management in HR: What it is and why it's important

The field of human resources is constantly developing as innovations surface each year, from automation tech to new strategies for managing people. One of the most popular HR trends is using project management to guide operations and achieve specific goals. By implementing project management principles and organizing each step of a project with specialized tools and software, HR managers can help their teams stay on task and track progress easily. Here's a bit more information about project management in HR, along with steps you can use to implement it.

What is project management in HR?

Project management is one of the biggest trends in HR management right now. It involves applying principles from project management to HR. By using project management to guide HR operations, teams can streamline their efforts and reach their goals more quickly. It helps outline each step of a task and track progress continually, making it easy to know when to adjust the plan.

There are many areas where it's easy to approach HR in a project management context, such as recruiting new hires and facilitating effective communication between employees and company stakeholders.

Why is it important to use project management in HR?

Project management in HR is an important strategy for several reasons, including the enhanced organization it brings to companies that use it. By treating each operation in an HR department like a project with a clear scope and end goal, HR teams often find it easier to stay on top of deadlines and important appointments. For example, an HR department might create a project that involves making a shared calendar that shows everyone's appointments, which makes it easier to schedule meetings without infringing on anyone's current plans.

Another key benefit of using project management for HR purposes is it allows HR managers to develop change management plans easily, making for a smooth transition into the company's next stages. A change management plan is a written strategy for approaching a new project or significant change in the organization, such as a new CEO or restructuring departments.

By applying principles of project management when developing a change management plan, HR managers can streamline the process and keep everything organized and on hand for other employees to review and provide feedback on. This helps everyone in a company remain in the loop about key changes and lets everyone prepare effectively for their new roles.

"By using project management to guide HR operations, teams can streamline their efforts and reach their goals more quickly."

How to use project management in your HR department

Here are some steps you can use to apply project management principles to your HR operations:

Outline the scope of the project

The first step in using project management for HR is to outline the scope of your project. The project scope is a complete look at the goals, steps, materials, and surrounding details involved in a project. By outlining details such as the size of the project, the end goal, and the resources needed to complete it, you'll have a better idea of what steps to take to reach your ultimate objective. Having everything in a centralized area is beneficial, as your entire team can review the scope and add their ideas while developing it.

When discussing the project's scope with your team, remember to mention that the project will be dynamic. This means to prepare for unforeseen circumstances and accept that there may be changes to the plan in the future. By communicating this with your team, you'll make everyone a part of planning the HR project, so people will feel more comfortable sharing their ideas if you end up needing to pivot your strategy.

Schedule regular progress meetings

Before you begin working on each step of the project, schedule progress meetings that will occur regularly throughout the project timeline. This will help your team stay on task, as they'll be able to gauge how much progress they need to make by each meeting date. Having routine meetings to track progress will give you the chance to adjust your plans as needed. This makes it less stressful when unforeseen circumstances arise, such as a lack of materials or delays from other team members.

Guide team members in developing new skills

Throughout the project, you'll be able to help your team members develop transferable skills that they can use for the rest of their careers. Since you'll have each step of the project outlined, you can guide team members through activities they may not be familiar with, such as managing stakeholders and planning change management. These are skills employees can use in various positions, making them more competitive candidates for promotions and other career advancements.

Try a project management tool

One of the most exciting parts of project management in HR is the opportunity it provides to try new tools and software. There are several project management tools designed for HR, all of which aim to make organization, communication, and progress tracking easier. For example, many HR project management tools feature software that lets users schedule meetings in a shared calendar, set objectives to track progress, and communicate with other team members remotely. This allows everyone to stay on the same page about their responsibilities and the overall progress of the project.

Perform project evaluations

Another key aspect of managing projects in HR is completing project evaluations. This allows you to identify steps of the project that went especially well so you can use those strategies again in the future. This also lets you use work quality examples to identify the most successful aspects of a project, giving credit and praise to employees and raising morale.

In the same way, project evaluations will tell you which aspects of a project didn't work as well as anticipated. This lets you find strategies to avoid when completing similar projects later. Knowing what not to do in the early stages of project planning is important, as it'll save time later by allowing you to jump into trying a new strategy instead of using the old strategy first.

Hire a project manager who specializes in HR

Whether it's your first time using project management in your HR department or you've been doing it for years, you can benefit from hiring a project manager who specializes in HR. These professionals often have technical training in specialized topics that makes them experts at outlining, completing, and evaluating projects. Since an HR project manager will do much of the planning work for you, such as overseeing the outlining of a project's scope and implementing new programs in the workplace, you'll be able to focus more on supporting employees through the change.

Applying project management principles to your HR operations is a great way to increase your chances of meeting goals and building out the skills of your entire team. Whether you only use a few elements of project management or fully commit to using a new strategy or software, you'll see the benefits of HR project management quickly. Try approaching your next HR goal as a project and using the steps provided to see firsthand how project management in HR will help your team succeed and work together more efficiently.