The system of motivation for participants in project activities in the city. Mutual settlements of the project and the parent company. Lack of any perspective

Alexander Lokshin, First Deputy Head of Rosatom for Operations, opened the conference. After he was introduced by the host, he joked: "I did not expect that I had already become a tradition, without which the conference would not take place." That's where the jokes ended. The operational director of Rosatom summed up the results of the last year. On the one hand, the portfolio of orders is growing, the devaluation of the ruble has doubled the competitiveness of Rosatom, and more and more people are striving to work in the industry. On the other hand, the demand for electricity in Russia has slowed down, and Rosatom has postponed the commissioning of several nuclear units at once.

Against this background, competition in the construction market is intensifying. nuclear reactors. In addition to traditional rivals, Westinghouse and Areva, Rosatom has to keep an eye on new players. For example, China is expanding abroad. Cheap gas generators are appearing on the electricity generation market, and the cost of solar energy is improving every day. Alexander Lokshin emphasized that the key to maintaining a leading position in a highly competitive environment is the fulfillment of the obligations undertaken, and quickly, efficiently and with benefits for the state corporation. One of the key roles here is given to designers.

“In the project complex, the competitiveness of our projects is formed, technical solutions are laid down that determine the cost,” said Gennady Sakharov, director of capital investments at Rosatom. And he confirmed this thesis with figures: despite the fact that design services account for only 4-5% of investment costs for the construction of nuclear power plants, 80-90% of the project cost is determined at this stage. Deputy Director of Rusatom Overseas Sergey Egorov, who has worked in the design complex for many years, conveyed the whole meaning in one phrase: "Design is the tail that twirls the whole dog."

The pilots failed

Rosatom worked hard on the motivation system for design organizations. “Everyone involved in the design and construction of objects should be interested in the fact that these objects are created in as soon as possible and for minimal funds,” explains Alexander Lokshin. And a year ago, such a system was launched, it began to be implemented at several pilot sites: the Akkuyu and Khanhikivi NPPs, the Kursk NPP-2, the MBIR project and a number of nuclear facilities. However, the system does not work in practice yet, Gennady Sakharov stated with regret. After monitoring design institutes, OCKS found that approximately 80% of employees know about the motivation system, but half do not see how to achieve savings, and another half do not believe that they will receive a bonus. The remaining 20% have never heard of new system. “At the top level of management, we did everything, but at the bottom there was a huge layer of work left. It is necessary to convey the essence of the motivation system to every person, to every performer,” insists Gennady Sakharov. - We have done colossal work, prepared a bunch of documents, they are very good, they have passed the examination of the Ministry of Construction, a working group has been created there. But it turned out that the most important thing is to change the psychology of people. And it is much more difficult than developing documents.”

According to Gennady Sakharov, the St. Petersburg Atomproekt has advanced further than others in the implementation of the system. Sergey Onufrienko, General Director of the enterprise, is confident that the first bonus payments will raise the level of employee confidence in the motivation system up to 100%. In addition, the OCCC has proposed launching several small pilot projects. “People will complete projects in the next two or three months and receive a bonus. This is how we will show that it really works,” explained Rosatom’s director of capital investments.

Why didn't the motivation system work? There is no sufficient awareness directly of design engineers. Additional information days and seminars are needed. The uncertainty is frightening: there are fears that in the future there may be a reduction in the wages of designers. The conference was helpful. The new approach to the organization, in addition to the team-building effect, gave the event a certain dynamic. Unfortunately, the format of parallel sections does not allow participating in the discussion of all topics. Shorter meetings can be held more frequently, discussion workshops limited quantity questions. Alexander Yashkin, Director for Design Production, NIAEP

Expensive projects

Rosatom's expenses for designing facilities in Russia and abroad by 2030 may amount to 400 billion rubles. Naturally, the state corporation is interested in these funds being spent wisely. However, at the moment, the effectiveness of the work of designers raises questions, despite the fact that the level of salaries in the design complex of Rosatom makes it possible to attract the best specialists. The OCCC analyzed the execution of the investment program in 2014 and found that almost half of the violations are somehow related to the design. The main problem is low development technical solutions. As a result, already during the implementation of the project, its refinement continues, which causes a chain reaction at the next stages. Sad but true: the phrase " best project is a project that is completed, paid for and not built” has become a common joke.

OCKS compared financial indicators nuclear design organizations and design organizations from related industries, mainly the electric power industry. Their incomes are comparable, but the marginality in the nuclear industry is much higher. “The products that are issued today by our design institutes are quite expensive. There is only one conclusion: we need, among other things, to reconsider pricing issues,” said Gennady Sakharov.

Rosatom's strategy assumes a reduction by 2019 of the construction time for nuclear power plants to 48 months, the design time to 24 months, and a 15% reduction in capital costs compared to the VVER-TOI project. And without optimizing the work of designers, these indicators cannot be achieved, the head of the OCKS summed up.

Recipes for effective work

In what direction it is possible to move, the largest organizations of the complex have demonstrated. According to Alexander Yashkin, Director for Design Production at NIAEP, the key to success is standard solutions And Lean. The optimization program adopted at NIAEP provides for almost a third increase in two years in such indicators as labor productivity, the term for issuing working documentation, the number of adjustments to working documentation, and the time spent by an engineer on value-added activities. The main tool is the office RPS. The approach is already applied in the project of the Belarusian NPP, later this experience is planned to be extended to the Kursk NPP-2.

Another tool to increase work efficiency and motivation is the transition to weekly-daily planning, as well as the rationing of routine operations. To do this, you need to create a database of repeatable jobs. Besides, the best employees should be encouraged - by insignia, inclusion in personnel reserve, says Alexander Yashkin.

GSPI General Director Vyacheslav Galushkov proposes to create a multi-level quality control system for design and survey work and form an internal project review department, develop and implement a code classifier for comments and inconsistencies. In addition, the system will help solve some of the problems. standard documentation based on unified solutions, taking into account the main requirements of the customer, says Vyacheslav Galushkov. Moreover, the use of such a system is possible even for unique objects - due to the unification of individual solutions.

Learn easily!

From the very beginning, the organizers of the conference violated the usual idea of such events. The participants were seated by five to seven people and spent 15 minutes getting to know each other. The host proposed to calculate the total length of service in the industry for each table: it turned out that this figure ranges from 30-40 to 110 years and more. And the maximum "age" of the table was 144 years. So the organizers raised the topic of generational difference. “Business is getting younger, there are more and more people of a different formation who were practically born with AutoCAD in their hands and have never used a drawing board. For them, this is the norm. And this speeds up the process of thinking, they find information faster and easier,” comments Eduard Abdulmanov, business coach, partner at EveryCo. But they demand more. Therefore, using the old methods, we will disrupt communication, interaction with these people.”

The speakers' presentations were interspersed with team-building modules. During one of them, Eduard Abdulmanov told how people developed the habit of taking pictures, showed how the telephone has evolved. “We wanted to convey the main idea: changes occur regardless of our attitude towards them. We can reject, not use new technologies, but they still enter our lives,” the interlocutor of “SR” explained.

As part of another module, the participants were divided into groups and given the task of building a highway in a limited time - a structure for transporting the ball. Each group was responsible for its own section, at the end of the sections it was necessary to dock so that the ball passed along the entire highway without delay.

“In the theory of learning there is such a section - andragogy. In it, one of the principles of development and involvement in the process of adults is the ability to try out in practice the theoretical studies that are being discussed. It is very important not just to look at the theory from the outside, but to test it in real actions, to check what works in it and what does not work. In addition, it was important for us to keep people's attention at a high level. The brain turns off in the mode of long-term work of the same type, for example, so a change in activity is needed. Thus, we expand both the possibilities of RAM and, in general, the possibility of including a person in any activity. We also use different channels of perception,” explained Eduard Abdulmanov.

Having stretched their brains, the next day the participants of the conference were divided into round tables. We discussed the fine-tuning of the motivation system, in particular, how best to make accruals - through the payroll fund or, for example, through the reserve fund. There were discussions about lowering the remuneration threshold: on the one hand, 5% of the cost of a nuclear power plant construction project is a huge amount of money, and on the other hand, if several millions can be saved with the help of a specific design solution, this is also a significant benefit for the industry. The aspects of typical design and application of innovative methods, interaction of the customer, designer and supervisory authorities were analyzed. Sound questions and rational proposals were raised, but the experts did not come to a final decision on the motivation system - they agreed to create working group and continue tuning the mechanism.

Motivation of project teams

Is there any project motivation at all?

PMBOK states: "Only required behavior should be rewarded" (PMI 2004:214), and then recommends rewards "based on team performance" (PMI 2004:218). The basic literature on project management completely ignores the problem of material motivation, and the literature on material motivation almost does not consider the issues of special motivation of project teams.

So is it necessary to motivate project teams?

In practice, we really almost never meet requests for the development of a separate motivation system for organizational projects. Requests for motivation often come from companies for which project management is the main activity (development, etc.).

However, project management has been using the "incentive contract" for decades - awards for the successful implementation of the project. Usually his goals are: 1) time, 2) cost, 3) quality. In fact, an incentive contract differs from the usual bonus practice in only one issue, but very significantly. If the task of the usual bonuses for employees is to increase productivity, then the incentive contract aims to distribute risks. An incentive contract is a system of penalties, not positive reinforcement.

Do you need special system motivation for project teams?

According to a number of researchers (Bragg 2000, Lewis 2000, Knight 2002), material rewards are always effective, regardless of the specifics of the activity and the circumstances in which it is received. According to other researchers (Armstrong 2004, Deeprose 1994, McKeon 2002, Wilson 2003), rewards will influence motivation indirectly by activity specifics and circumstances. And only the second point of view suggests that project teams require some kind of specific motivation system, depending on the specifics. project activities.

In practice, many companies follow the first path and develop motivation systems for project teams by analogy with the motivation of line managers. They simply agree on certain project performance indicators and the amount of the bonus for achieving these indicators.

But let's look at the specifics of project activities and determine for ourselves how much it will affect the manager's activities, and whether it should be taken into account when developing a motivation system.

The main differences between project and "linear" activities:

The clarity of the task. As a rule, all project tasks and ways to solve them are new. In every project, there is a degree of uncertainty both about what needs to be done and how to do it. Therefore, design work is more uncertain than linear.

Project performance. Typically, projects have certain success criteria, such as completion time, cost, and quality. The end result is more significant than the intermediate performance. In contrast, linear work is usually performance-oriented, and consists in an endless cycle of solving the same problem.

The level of change. Projects are accompanied by more or less large-scale changes in the relevant area of activity, or even the entire company as a whole, and also often bring changes to the subsequent work of the project team members themselves. Linear work is usually formalized, regulated and does not change the company.

Project stages. PMI divides a project into initiation, middle and completion stages. During these stages, completely different kinds works and different people may be involved. This is different from line work, which is done by the same people in the same way.

The timing of the project. Projects have different degrees of urgency. The greater the urgency, the higher the time pressure during the project and the earlier its starting point. This is completely different from regular functional activity. The purpose of line work is to keep the business going.

It can be seen that project activities are quite specific, and a special approach may be required to motivate project teams.

Case Study: KPI Project Team Motivation System

A quarterly bonus system (quarterly bonuses) was developed for project participants, which were calculated based on an assessment of compliance with the deadlines and budgets of key events. However, contrary to expectations, communication within the team did not improve after the introduction of the motivation system, and the project implementation time began to increase.

What were the mistakes

When choosing to evaluate a smaller event (a separate work or task), there was a problem of the lack of schedules and plans in such detail.

In an attempt to cope with the lack of detailed plans, the company has tried to implement calendar-network schedules. investment projects. Specially trained managers were allocated to maintain schedules, colossal paperwork was carried out and “sheets” were filled in Excel. However, the plans came out "stillborn" - they were outdated even before approval CEO.

The second error of project motivation was the choice of collective bonus indicators for a company with a functional structure. The members of the “team” worked in different departments, did not interact with each other, and did not report to the project manager. As a result, it became clear that the assessment of the entire “team” according to single collective indicators is extremely biased. Then it was decided to “load” the motivation system with individual coefficients. This decision introduced subjectivity into the assessment, which finally undermined the credibility of the system.

The third, and biggest, mistake was in the choice of objective key indicators efficiency - KPI. To assess KPI, the company was forced to turn the entire Management Accounting and load key employees with unnecessary reporting. The terms for making decisions, signing acts and contracts increased, and eventually the delivery of the projects themselves began to be delayed.

Our findings

Project teams definitely require a special motivation system, and most likely this is not a KPI. Why KPIs are often not appropriate: a) project team members do not have enough influence on high-level indicators, such as budgets and completion dates; b) indicators of a lower level do not have a significant impact on the progress of work, and are not objective in terms of the effectiveness of the project as a whole. In addition, KPI assessment significantly loads the accounting system, and in the conditions of project activities, this can negatively affect the timing.

The higher the uncertainty of the project, the less motivation should be result-oriented. In such cases, motivation based on competencies or skills is more suitable. Also, do not forget about the recognition of the merits of employees and about the prospects career development.

Project Milestones provide "natural" points of time for evaluating and rewarding the project team. Achieving a milestone is the most obvious opportunity to reward a project team.

When developing project motivation, it is very important to objectively evaluate organizational structure company and the organization of the project team. IN functional structure only individual motivation will work, and in the project it is better to use the mechanisms of team formation and collective bonuses.

The tasks of building an effective project management system and creating an equally effective system of staff motivation are so relevant that you can even save time on the obligatory words of a boring introduction designed to draw attention to the article.

So let's get straight to the point.

The recommendations proposed here are applicable to projects of any complexity and thematic focus. Recommendations for building a system of motivation for project teams are varied, for each option comments are given on the effectiveness of their implementation in the conditions of certain projects.

I immediately appeal to skeptics who love to argue: “Projects are different projects! And how can one talk in one article about DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS (usually pronounced in sublimely poetic tones) and about some small things organizational development?!”. I will answer categorically: “It is possible!”.

personal participation in projects: R&D, external consulting projects, organizational development projects in large companies
development of project management systems for development companies and companies in the oil refining industry
short but very productive collaboration with the Institute project management PMI

Now - to the point ...

Introduction. Project Management - Conceptual Factors Important to Understand

If you are reading this article, then you are already a minion of fate. Fate gave you the opportunity to become an expert in one of the most sought-after areas of management for the money of the employing company. The dynamics of changes in our life is such that even the most processing / in-line production is acquiring more and more clear signs of project management.

Whatever project you are currently interested in, to get the maximum benefit from current work in terms of personal professional growth, I recommend immediately focusing on what is “conceptually solid” - on what makes different projects similar and what exactly makes them different.

Structurally, all projects are the same!

The project is always

Structured, scope of work that:
- can run in parallel or
- must be performed strictly sequentially
A set of resources for the implementation of work, resulting in costs, which form the budget of the project.

What gives real exclusivity to projects ...

Project scale

It is this parameter that gives significance to development projects. Yes, indeed, the successful implementation of a long and costly project is respected. But, returning specifically to the issue of building a project management system, the only trouble that is associated with a large-scale project is the requirements for detailing the work and an honest definition of the critical path with the further construction of a monitoring system.

In fact, it is required to shift the understandable technology of construction / erection of something into the format of project management. Required resources are clear and generally available. Most of the basic work lends itself to rationing.

The real problem that can be faced is the construction of a reliable system for monitoring the implementation of the project, providing up-to-date data on the progress of work and the costs incurred.

In a large-scale industry-specific project, management requires broad delegation of authority and distribution of responsibility for the implementation of certain stages of work. Yes, the project manager is responsible for the project as a whole, but he may not have specialized competencies that allow him to make specific decisions, managing the progress of work.

In reality, this is what happens in companies - the project manager interacts with a certain number of experts, each of whom is responsible for the effectiveness of the project at a certain stage. Performance is measured:

Time (terms and actual duration)
Money (spent budget)
The quality of the work carried out

Reliable knowledge about the progress of the project is distributed among the decision-making centers (in other words, stored in many heads). And, in general, the task of managing a large-scale project comes down to organizing an information space that ensures high-quality coordination of the interaction of participants and the supply of resources. The monitoring system is the basis of such an information space. There is a separate section on this below...

Unfortunately, a long list of expensive, long, intricately intertwined, but understandable works does not add super-exclusivity to the project. The work is understandable, there is a lot of work, working for a long time is a good guarantee of long-term labor relations between project participants and their employer.

But when the scope of work is not obvious, but only the deadlines are obvious and, if it’s not at all lucky, the approved budget ...

Degree of uncertainty

Uncertainties are more than enough in R&D projects (research and development work). These projects include, among others:

projects related to the modernization of production
complex organizational development projects, which also suffer from a lack of complete certainty,
and if we recall development, - the development new series apartment building - this will be a long-term project with a very high degree of uncertainty.
and the list, I'm sure you can go on.

What it looks like:

there is a task of the project - requirements for the result that should be obtained at the output. For example, a certain product.
there is a common understanding of what needs to be done to get the desired result
there is a lack of understanding of how we will implement some intermediate stages. Lack of understanding is defined by:
- or technological/methodological multivariance. Clarity will appear only after the completion of the previous stages, or it is possible to correct the task itself
- or, if not at all lucky, in the middle of the project we have a couple of white spots in science: “Create something that you have never seen, about which there is nowhere to read, but it should work in such and such a way and have such and such dimensions ...”
and there is a recommended (not at all lucky - approved) budget for creating a design miracle

There is no exaggeration of the problem here, such projects underlie the activities of many companies. And these projects need to be managed.

Uncertainty in the organization of project work imposes serious requirements on the exclusivity of professional skills required to solve project problems. Expensive specialists are involved in projects, who are not so numerous in the labor market and you need to have serious arguments in order to interest them in your projects.

And now we have short description complete beauty:

the uncertainty of the implementation process, multiplied by
the desire to believe in getting the desired result, and all this is built into
the degree of mandatory investments that are difficult to analyze for their effectiveness.

Project for project, project drives ...

Well, now let's remember that the company's activities are not limited to the implementation of some single project:

The main activity can be project - the company earns by implementing projects. Project costs form the company's budget. The payroll of the project team is approaching the total payroll of the company (most of the staff is engaged in projects)
The company develops by implementing organizational development projects. The costs of implementing such projects put pressure on the company's budget and are investment
The company must maintain production facilities in a healthy resource-saving state - the capital expenditure budget for modernization and repair programs that are “go figure how much they are done” when one activity is suddenly replaced by another ...
The company creates new products, sells marketing programs, - which also either have an effect, or the effect comes down to the fact that the budget is not exceeded ...

And all this is managed by super-humans - TOP managers of the company. Which should keep in mind a holistic picture of the effectiveness of all activities, control financial flows companies in providing everything that boils and seethes.

spend time in production meetings, listening to each manager about the progress and problems of his project,
look at the tables management accounting looking for areas of financial starvation,
hang up schedules for project implementation in their offices (it has always been a mystery to me who updates these schedules and how often),
make decisions on the redistribution of resources between projects on-line.

They are the first to need efficient system monitoring the performance of the company, including information on the implementation of current projects.

Project implementation monitoring system.

Going up and down...

Requirements for integration and consolidation.

TOP managers are the end users of the project implementation monitoring system. For them, of course, each project is interesting and important, but they need a picture as a whole, with the ability to get the required level of detail.

If these are sales, then it is important to have an idea of the revenue received from processing activities and from project activities. If these are indicators of marginal profitability or management profit, it is all the more important to know where we get this profitability/profit from. The principles of accounting are different, but in summary form, everything should be presented in a form that is digestible for analysis.

This can be realized by integrating the project management system with the company's performance management system - by embedding a system for monitoring the implementation of projects in a comprehensive KPI model of the company's activities.

Fig 01. Integration of the project management system into the KPI model of the company's activities

It is integration, and not a simple transfer of some data on the implementation of projects, that will provide quick access to complete information on the implementation of projects:

Fig 02. Detailed information on project implementation.

Whether you like the following idea or not, if your company's activities are filled with projects, you will have to think about choosing a specialized automated business performance management system based on kpi. There are systems on the market and their cost is incomparably low in comparison with the losses that companies incur in the conceptual management of projects (management “by concepts”)

Requirement 1. To the system for monitoring the implementation of projects - absolute integration with the business management system as a whole.

Project Manager important to have up-to-date information on the progress of the project as a whole. He can get this information only from his subordinate experts responsible for the implementation of certain stages (we immediately consider a large-scale project with a high degree of uncertainty). Production meetings and phone calls are great, but you need a consolidated picture.

The person responsible for the execution of the project stage has an additional task - to bring to the attention of the project manager information about the progress of the work. And this communication of information may require efforts and labor costs no less than the actual performance of professional duties for the coordination of work.

Unfortunately, most automated project management systems are poorly adapted to organizing the collection of the necessary information.

The project is transferred to the system as a single indivisible object. And, “so that no one breaks anything in it and does not deceive anyone,” in practice, companies are forced to create dedicated units to collect and transfer information about the progress of the project work into an automated system. There is a beautiful name for such units ...

Project office and requirements for the organization of information collection.

But look at the functionality of this unit ... Honestly and aloud list what the specialists of the Project Office are doing:

create projects in an automated system
record actual data on the progress of projects, based on the information provided to them

What else fills their life:

Development information forms providing data on the implementation of projects
Clarification of errors and inaccuracies in the final data on the implementation of the project. Unfortunately, very often errors are revealed during production meetings, when top managers and project managers operate with different data.

A vicious circle arises: new requirements for the provision of information are needed to minimize errors. Mistakes are made, among other things, due to frequent changes in the formats for providing information (typos by the end executors) and / or insufficient qualifications of the employee who enters the data directly into the system.

How can this vicious circle be broken - to collect data directly at the places of their occurrence.

Banality? - Yes!

Why is this not being done? The reasons, unfortunately, are no less banal:

If the company automated system project management is missing, then there is nowhere to enter. Data is consolidated in MSOffice files, their presentation formats are constantly changing, only a dedicated group of specialists can support this process
If the company has implemented an automated project management system:
- the company saves on licenses by giving members only access to view information
- the automated system does not allow providing access to changes in the data of the selected stage of the project (the project is a monolith, and you can either change any information or nothing)

Requirement 2. To the system for monitoring the implementation of projects - each project manager must have full access to the system, including the ability to enter up-to-date data on the progress of the project and adjust the scope of the project

Naturally, we are talking about providing access to that part of the project that is under the control of the leading participant.

Access to change the scope of work of a project stage is necessary for managing projects with a high degree of uncertainty. Either the Project Office and highly paid project experts will get bogged down in the eternal process of agreeing on how the project stage should look like, or the expert, within his competence, will complete the project on his own.

The project office is transformed from a call center to an analytical center. Project office analysts will always have up-to-date information:

requiring only additional confirmation/approval from the financial department
sufficient to generate analytical reports for top managers with recommendations on the redistribution of resources

Agree that this role is more honorable than the role of the center of constantly making mistakes (according to colleagues) operators.

Such an approach will add efficiency to the process of developing the project structure itself. Let's talk about honesty again...

Key performers-experts who will be involved in the project are most often known. How they are distributed in stages is also clear. Give them a task, set a deadline by which they must give their vision of what and how should be done in order to get the desired result, and give them the opportunity to form a work plan and calculate the budget, for which they will be responsible.

Figure 03. Formation of the project structure, taking into account the distribution of responsibility between key participants (performers).

You will need to hold another wrap-up meeting project team to approve the final project implementation plan, making the necessary adjustments.

A good question is: “How to get project participants to enter correct data on the progress of work in a timely manner?”

And here we turn to the issue of motivation of the project participants.

Project team motivation.

Project participants will timely update data on the progress of the work, if through this update they can control the accrual of their personal bonus.

If, immediately after the update, they can look into their bonus card and get acquainted with the current assessment of their performance, which directly affects their bonus ...

Fig 04. An example of presenting a consolidated assessment of an employee’s project performance

…They will enter the necessary reliable data very carefully and in a timely manner.

Why is the data valid? Because the Project Office has not been canceled and the office staff is carefully watching. And the identified errors may be the reason for lowering the assessment of compliance with regulatory discipline, and this assessment is also part of the bonus card.

How to build a system of employee remuneration from participation in projects.

Option 1. It is bad, but acceptable at the start of the implementation of a project management system.

Use the resulting consolidated performance score in the summary bonus card. It might look like this:

Fig 05. An example of a bonus card that includes an assessment of project performance

In fact, we are not talking about accruing an additional bonus for participating in projects. The assessment for participation in projects affects the amount of the accrued base bonus.

A more or less similar approach is acceptable for evaluation for participation in organizational development projects, especially if they are implemented constantly (that is, the main activity of the back office is the implementation of development projects).

It is a very bad decision to apply this approach to core activity projects. Demotivating factors will immediately turn on. The main thing that this concept does not take into account is the scale of employee workload in projects. The most efficient employees will be involved in the maximum amount of work, the less efficient ones will be entrusted with a smaller and simpler amount of work. And everyone will be equal before the bonus card. Sad?

Of course, the situation can be corrected by adding a corrective assessment of the leader, but this is already manual control with all its charms of conflict resolution.

Option 2. Honest assessment of performance and accrual of a bonus upon the implementation of project work

If you decide on this option, then there are no boundaries for perfection.

A bonus to a project participant can be accrued:

1. For the fact of the implementation of a specific work, taking into account the assessment of the performance of the work(budget, deadline, quality)

The basis for the bonus can be:

Levelized cost of work (if the work lends itself to rationing)
Contractual value - we determine the amount of the bonus, which is paid subject to 100% performance

2. For the fact of closing the child works of the stage- for employees responsible for the execution of the stage. This adds motivation to the stage manager to make every effort to resolve all organizational issues.

Bonus basis:

The established amount of the bonus for the implementation of the entire stage

% of the bonus fund for the works forming the stage

3. For the fact of closing the stage / stages, of which the work is a part - this bonus component includes the team's interest in the implementation of the project. The basis for calculating the bonus is the actually accrued bonus for the implementation of work (it takes into account the personal performance of the employee)

4. For the successful completion of the project. As a basis for accrual, we take the bonus actually accrued to the employee for the implementation of the project work in which he took part.

This approach adds maximum drive to the project participants and keeps the drive until the completion of all work.

It is necessary to redo something, to help someone - the only deterrent is the personal harmfulness of the employee.

The main thing is to have a money “pinarik” in front of your eyes - either we are waiting for an SMS notification that the money has dropped onto the card, or we are not waiting:

Fig 06. An example of presenting information on bonus accrual

The only thing that can scare away from the implementation of the proposed option for building a system of motivation for project teams is the fear that it can be "can't" count.

But, excuse me, there are drawings in the article, which means you can count.

Better focus on the benefits:

Transparent system for project implementation control.
The motivation system is built in strict accordance with the project implementation evaluation system.

There is no reason for disputes with employees - they see both the assessment of the project implementation, and the assessment of their own performance, and their bonus.

Comprehensive employee motivation system

A comprehensive system of employee motivation includes all the components of material motivation, the set of which may differ depending on the category of employee.

It could be:

Reward for the execution of the bonus card.
Separate remuneration for the execution of tasks/orders.
Project performance.
An additional bonus for special merit or generated by the distribution of the company's/division's consolidated bonus fund.

Fig 07. An example of presenting information on the accrual of the total bonus.

The most important thing:

Correctly determine the size of the base bonus:
- The bonus fund of the project must be consistent with the expected financial and economic performance of the project as a whole. Simply put - not burdensome for the company.
- The size of the company's bonus fund (supposed to accrue to employees) should be calculated based on the actual coverage financial sources. 100% performance of the staff, calculated on the basis of bonus cards and assuming the accrual of 100% bonus, should mean the financial and economic performance of the company is at least 100%.
The rules for calculating the bonus and the indicators underlying the calculation of remuneration must be clear to the employee.

Position

about the system of motivation of project participants.

1. General provisions.

1.1. This Regulation has been developed in order to regulate the motivation system for participants in development projects "__________________" (hereinafter referred to as the company).

1.2. The motivation system for participants in development projects is a mechanism for stimulating and rewarding company employees who have successfully completed a development project.

1.3. The Regulation acts as a regulatory and organizational document, its implementation is mandatory for all participants in the company's development projects.

1.4. The position can be improved under the influence of factors external environment and taking into account internal changes in the company's activities.

1.5. The users of the Regulations are:

Development Council;

Development Directorate;

Project management system administrator;

Project Working Groups (PWGs) that carry out development projects;

RGP managers;

RSE curators;

Heads of departments of the company.

2. Goals of the participant motivation system
development projects.

2.1. Increasing the activity and material interest of the company's employees in successful implementation development projects.

2.2. Increasing the activity of the company's employees to generate proposals for the development of the company.

3. Processes of the system of motivation of participants
development projects.

3.1. Calculation of the motivation fund for development projects.

3.2. Calculation and implementation of motivational payments under the project to participants in development projects.

4. Description of the processes of the system of motivation of participants
development projects.

4.1. Calculation of the motivation fund for development projects.

4.1.1. The calculation of the development project motivation fund is made by the project manager when developing the project plan.

4.1.2. The value of the project motivation fund is calculated according to the project plan using the formula:

Fp \u003d ZPsr x H x Tp x Kp, where

Фп – project motivation fund;

ЗПср - the average monthly salary of the project team members;

N - the number of employees employed in the implementation of the project;

Tp is the planned period for the implementation of the stage (months);

Kp - coefficient characterizing the importance and complexity of the project. Kp can take values from 0.1 to 1.5.

4.1.3. This calculation is agreed with the Development Directorate.

4.1.4. The size of the motivation fund for development projects is approved by the Development Council.

4.1.5. For each development project, a reserve fund is created in case of additional involvement of company employees in the amount of 20% of the value of the material incentive fund.

4.2. Calculation and implementation of motivational payments to participants in development projects.

4.2.1. Calculation of motivational payments to the participants of the development project is made by the project manager.

4.2.2. This calculation is agreed with the development directorates.

4.2.3. The development project motivation fund is distributed by the project manager and presented in an approved format after each completed stage.

4.2.4. When calculating the motivation fund of a development project, only completed activities are evaluated.

4.2.5. Based on the assessment of the contribution to the implementation of activities of each participant in the development project, motivational payments are calculated for each performer.

4.2.6. The budget for motivational payments for each development project is based on the assumption that 50% of payments are made upon the successful completion of one or another activity within the development project.

4.2.7. The remaining 50% of payments under the project are made upon successful completion of the entire project as a whole.

4.2.8. Consolidated planning of budgets for motivational payments for development projects and accounting for the actual implementation of project activities are carried out in the Development Directorate.

4.2.9. Approval of the completed activities is carried out monthly by the minutes of the meeting of the Development Council.

4.2.10. The Development Council has the right to reduce the payments of the motivation fund for each stage of the development project in case of poor performance of work by project team members by no more than 30% of the planned amount.

4.2.11. The amount by which the motivation fund is reduced for each stage of the development project is paid after the comments of the Development Council are eliminated.

4.2.12. The reserve fund is distributed by the project manager among additionally involved employees of the company.

4.2.13. After approval of the report on the work of the project team for each stage, the project manager prepares a memo addressed to the development director with the distribution of the motivational fund among the project participants, as well as with the distribution of the reserve fund among additionally involved employees of the company.

4.2.14. Based memo project manager, the development directorate prepares a draft order on the distribution of the project motivation fund.

4.2.15. The order is approved by the CEO of the company.

Director of Development.

____________________/AND. O.F. / "__" __________ 200__

All IT projects use as the main resource human resources. To put it simply, all the work is done by people, project participants, all the main costs go to them, and the success of the project also depends on people by 90%. Given this, it is difficult to overestimate the role of project participants on the part of the contractor - consultants and project managers. Much, if not all, depends on their qualifications and impact. And if it is now possible to find qualified consultants, then motivate them to efficient work project is much more difficult. After all, this is teamwork, and in addition to the individual motivation of the project team members, there should be “collective motivation”, that is, a focus not only on individual achievements, but also on achieving results for the project as a whole, a mood for productive intra-team cooperation, for positive relations with representatives customer and so on. Achieving this state of the team is not easy. After all, the team consists of personalities, and besides, often difficult personalities, people with a good education, well-paid, high self-esteem. Simple administration does not work here. Therefore, one of the main tasks of the project manager is to build the right motivational policy within the project team in order to achieve maximum synergy, high efficiency of the overall work, which, in turn, will lead to the successful completion of the entire project.

Types of motivation

The types of motivation that are discussed in this article, in general, correspond to Maslow's pyramid. Here they are:

Reward Motivation
Bonus (performance bonuses)
Job security
Status upgrade
Professional growth, obtaining project experience
Sense of responsibility for the result
Feeling the importance of a personal contribution to overall success
Satisfaction with the result.

Team motivators can be added to this list:

A sense of security in the team.
Partnership.

Now you can go to more detailed description these factors.

Reward Motivation

Reward motivation is the starting motivating factor. Of course, if you pay little, then no one will take the job. And it is not enough – concerning average market indicators. But after the employee has become involved in the project, the motivating effect of monetary rewards sharply weakens. The employee reacts seriously to abrupt (at least 25%) changes. But this reaction is short-lived. So, if you increase the salary of a consultant, well, let's say, 1.5 times, then for the first month at most he will work more intensively, and then return to his usual rhythm. That is, the effect of habituation will work. It is impossible to raise wages permanently, because financial resources are always limited, especially in projects with a limited budget.

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that employees respond to a relative increase in remuneration, and not to an absolute one. Therefore, the higher starting conditions by salary, the harder it is for the project sponsor to motivate employees to increase it. It is clear that if the salary is 1000, then an increase to 1500 is seriously motivating, although only once. And if the salary is 5000, then an increase to 5500 practically does not motivate the employee. At the same time, the monthly costs of the sponsor increase in both cases by 500.

Output: Remuneration (or salary) of sufficient magnitude to ensure that the necessary qualified resources are attracted to the project. But this factor has little effect on increasing the efficiency of employees. Therefore, it cannot be considered effective tools staff motivation.

Bonus motivation

Bonus motivation (performance bonuses) is almost the same as reward motivation. But this is a more effective mechanism for motivating staff in project work. In this case, the following conditions must be met:

The size of the bonus (bonus) must be significant in relation to wages (at least 50% of the monthly remuneration);
The size of the bonus (bonus) must be known to the employee in advance;
The conditions for receiving a bonus (bonus) must be known to the employee in advance, it would be best if these conditions are set out in a special document (for example, in a bonus letter);
The conditions for receiving an award (bonus) must be clear and achievable;
Terms of receipt individual award(bonus) must be dependent on the individual efforts of the employee;
The conditions for receiving a team bonus (bonus) must be dependent on team efforts;
Such a bonus should be paid at least once every six months (otherwise, an increase in labor productivity will occur only a couple of months before the planned date for receiving the bonus);
If all conditions are met, the receipt of the premium (bonus) must be guaranteed.

That is, in the company that leads the project, the system project bonuses should be well developed.

Another point - in some way "value for money": the effort expended on receiving the award must be adequate to the award itself. You should not expect employees to sit at night if the bonus does not help, at least, organize a good rest, pay for health restoration activities.

Output: The motivating effect of bonuses should not be overestimated. In addition, all the restrictions apply here as for wages - the project budget is always limited. But with a clear bonus system, this motivation mechanism is effective.

Job security motivation

Motivation by job security - during the period of economic recovery, it motivates people very little, since there is always somewhere to go. In times of recession, crisis - it motivates much more. But at the same time, the employee must clearly understand that improving the quality of project tasks will save him from dismissal, and vice versa. Unfortunately, in times of crisis, not everything depends on the efforts of employees. And if people feel that little depends on their efforts, then the threat of losing their job demotivates them. In this case, the same effect of addiction operates, but now to the “bad” one.

Output: this method of motivating by threat leads to the deterioration of morale in the project. Do not make this method of motivation the main one. But it cannot be completely abandoned. In addition to opportunities, employees must feel threats.

Status promotion motivation

Motivation by raising status is enough important factor. Of course, it affects employees in different ways, because there are people with clearly defined career (in a good sense of the word) aspirations, and there are people who are somewhat indifferent to this. In modern Russian companies this mechanism is declared, but it is weakly used. Maybe I was just unlucky, but I personally did not receive any clear plan my career growth. Unfortunately, the only serious way to advance your career is to move to another company. But this is not the topic of this article.

I believe that this motivating factor should be actively used in projects, but the following limitations and requirements must be taken into account:

An increase in status (grade, position, etc.) often leads to an increase in the cost of this resource. And the planned budget of the project does not change. Therefore, the project manager needs to either promise such changes at the end of the project, or take on the project underestimated promising employees and then raise their status during the project to the one planned in the project's starting budget.
The conditions for raising one's status should be understandable and achievable for the employee.
The conditions for upgrading an employee's status should be known and understood by the project manager.
An increase in status (especially an appointment to a higher position) can lead to valuable employee from the project. This is typical for the matrix structures of company management.

Output: this is an effective factor that must be used in the project, remembering the rule "do no harm."

Motivation by professional growth, gaining project experience

Motivation by professional growth, obtaining project experience is a very effective motivator, provided that the project really provides the employee with professional growth and obtaining the necessary project experience. Works well for beginners and intermediates. For them, everything is new and unfamiliar. Every day on the project gives these employees new knowledge. With experienced and highly qualified employees, it is harder - the project must really be innovative, or it must be very clearly, exemplarily managed, and the like. If a highly qualified employee does not find anything new for himself in the project, then this will demotivate him.

In one of my projects, an experienced consultant who came to him immediately stated that the project was very ordinary, but he was waiting for a good level of project management, because before that he had participated in projects with mediocre management. This is an example of feedback (the consultant stimulated the project manager, the project manager will be able to stimulate the consultant).

Output: this is an effective factor that must be used in the project, clearly differentiating it according to the level of each employee. At the same time, the project manager must make every effort to ensure that the project is well managed, use innovative technologies, and so on. Well, it is desirable that the project has a good chance of successful completion.

Motivation by responsibility for the result

Motivation by responsibility for the result is in some way a “negative” motivator. But if used constructively, this mechanism can be very stimulating for employees. If the employee is not only subject to regular checks of the results of his work by the manager, but feels the need for his work, feels that the results of his work are needed for the project, that his colleagues are waiting for them, that “if not him, then no one” - the employee will be forced (if he is not an incorrigible saboteur) to make additional efforts to achieve the necessary goals. Here, almost everything depends on the project manager, on the management system created by him, on the internal atmosphere of the project.

Output: it is a necessary motivator, the core of the entire system of project motivation. Without this method, everything else becomes meaningless. Proper application of this mechanism is the responsibility of the project manager. It all depends on his professionalism.

Motivated by a sense of significance of personal contribution to overall success

Motivation by a sense of the significance of a personal contribution to the overall success is the development of the previous mechanism. Each employee should know that his work has not gone unnoticed, that it has contributed to the overall result, that his efforts have led to a common success. The project manager should emphasize this, mention the achievements of each employee. And then the sweet taste of involvement in the victory will be remembered by the employee for a long time, and he will work with maximum efficiency next time.

Output: the manager should not forget to note the contribution of each employee included in the project team. And in the future it will bear fruit. In general, managers need to communicate with the team as often as possible, with everyone together and individually, encourage employees, praise them, and the like. Naturally, observing the correct proportions.

Motivation by satisfaction with the result

Motivation by satisfaction from the result is based on the creativity of a person. The main thing is that it should be noticeable not only to the employee himself, but also to his colleagues. It is necessary to discard the skeptical attitude towards innovative proposals and encourage employees to be creative. In IT projects, it is impossible to do without it. Again, without forgetting the main task of the project - achieving results.

Output: the mechanism must be actively used on projects, but clearly monitored so that the creative process does not fall into “auto-generation”, that is, into the generation of ideas that do not lead to a result. Everything is in the hands of the manager.

Demotivating factors (internal and external)

Demotivating factors can be divided into internal factors (managed) and external (mostly unmanaged). Accordingly, in each case, it is necessary to provide a mechanism for managing factors or mitigating their impact on employees.

Let's move on to internal factors. Here is almost a mirror reflection of the line of motivating factors:

Low remuneration
Bad reward system
Lack of perspective
Poor project management, lack of results monitoring
Disregard for employees.

Let's consider each separately and the mechanism for managing these factors.

Low remuneration

If an employee's salary is “below the market”, if he feels underestimated in this sense, it is difficult to make him work. The “hungry belly” is deaf to everything. Unfortunately, usually the project manager has little influence on the level of remuneration. However, line managers, who usually determine the level wages, must clearly understand: a small salary will lead to the fact that employees corresponding to this low level will remain on the project, and the result of the project will be unattainable. The project manager needs to sense these moments and immediately signal to the appropriate line manager. That is, the salary should not be low, it should not be high, it should be sufficient to attract the necessary employees to the project.

Output: the project manager should, if possible, monitor the level of remuneration of employees and, at the first sign of dissatisfaction with employees with their low salary, signal this situation to the line manager.

Bad reward system

An indistinct bonus system, without clear rules and amounts, has a depressing effect on employees. Employees are beginning to realize that getting a bonus will be as difficult as winning a lottery. In the best case, labor productivity will remain at the same level, and most likely it will decrease. Here, the project manager also needs to feel such moments and immediately signal to the appropriate line manager. True, unfortunately, the project manager may not know anything about bonuses for his team members, influencing the bonus calculation only indirectly. The task of line managers, the company as a whole is to develop and apply a clear bonus system. The requirements for it are given in the description of bonus motivation.

Output: if it is possible to influence the bonus system for employees, the project manager should do it.

Lack of perspective

If an employee does not know what will happen to him after the project, he will not strive to complete it on time. If an employee does not understand how the success of the project will affect his progress, he will not strive to work efficiently. If the project does not give anything to the employee in professionally if its impact on wage growth is not clear, no one will expect good work on the project from this employee.

Output: the project manager must clarify all the rules with line managers and communicate them to his team members so that they clearly understand their perspectives. It is desirable to select a team in such a way as to provide each employee with opportunities for growth during the project.

Poor project management, lack of results monitoring

Poor project management, and especially the lack of monitoring the results of the work of each member of the project team, will lead to the fact that employees stop making efforts to achieve results. They will have a clear feeling that nothing depends on them, their work is not particularly needed on the project, someone else can do the work instead of them. As a result, after some time, the manager will note with chagrin the catastrophic delay in terms, while employees will spend most of their working time on the Internet.

Output: everything is in the hands of the project manager. Having created a clear project management system, working on the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, correctly leading project documentation, the manager will be able to turn the situation around.

Routine work, inability to acquire new knowledge and skills

As mentioned above, consultants need new challenges, new horizons for their professional growth. Of course, a project cannot do without a routine, but it is necessary to properly redistribute such work among the employees in the team, taking into account their qualifications, inclinations and character traits.

Output: The project manager must correctly distribute tasks among the project team members.

Disregard for employees

It must be remembered that people are working around and they appreciate when they are paid attention. If you communicate dryly with consultants, do not praise them, do not encourage them, then the morale of the team will fall. It is necessary to combine daily encouragement and periodic public recognition of the achievements of employees. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of each member of the team.

Output: The project manager must know his people and give them the attention they need.

Consider external demotivating factors. They are connected either with the general state of the economy or with the economic state of the customer's company and/or the contractor's company. Force majeure situations will not be considered.

These are the factors:

Recession in the economy
Deterioration of the client's financial situation
Deterioration of the financial situation of the contractor.

These factors cannot be controlled by the project manager. Of course, it would be nice to have some kind of "airbag", but in modern IT projects, a rare customer can afford such a luxury. In any case, the project manager must try to keep the project and the team to the last possible. People will appreciate it and will generally work better. Well, if the situation becomes critical, you need to warn people in time and honestly.

Motivational policy of the project manager

There is a wide variety of project management styles. Between the following extremes - hard management, soft management, centralization, decentralization, absolutely formalized management, informal creative management, and the like - each project manager chooses his golden mean, depending on the personal qualities of the manager, the culture of the company in which he works, the requirements senior management and so on.

In the same way, the project manager chooses a motivational policy, selecting the necessary “tools” into his motivational package. There is no “golden recipe” for this and cannot be. You just need to remember that the main resources in projects are people, with all their complexities. Therefore, it is necessary to use several ways to motivate project team employees, applying them flexibly depending on the situation and personal qualities of a particular employee.

For successful motivation, the main thing, in my opinion, is communication with the employees of the project team. The project manager needs to communicate with his team as often as possible, individually and collectively, using formal means (correspondence, meetings, seminars, conferences, etc.) and informal ways (conversations, joint dinners, team events, etc.). It is necessary to make it clear to the team members that they are not subordinates, but colleagues, to encourage their activity and independence. Well, we must not forget about the basic methods of motivation, that is, about the material side of things.

In general, in my opinion, each project manager needs to determine his motivational policy on the project, it is best to write it down and try to follow it during implementation. design work. At the same time, it is not necessary to publish this motivational policy.

Team building in the right sense of the term

For some reason, the term team building in everyday life has been reduced to identification with team events of an entertaining nature. In fact, this is a very complex process that falls entirely on the shoulders of the project manager. It is necessary in a fairly short time to create a viable project organism from a heterogeneous group of employees assigned to the project, to turn ordinary people into a team capable of jointly solving complex problems. The task is very difficult, and in this article I will only touch it lightly in terms of motivation.

Team building should go on in the project constantly. It plays a huge role in this personal communication. It is necessary to regularly hold general meetings, use brainstorming sessions to solve complex problems. It is necessary to force, if possible, problematic issues to be discussed in a personal meeting, and not to engage in endless “spam-like” e-mail correspondence. Then people will feel each other, understand the usefulness and effectiveness joint work in a team. And joint activities, transparent and understandable, will motivate them to work better.

As for team activities of an entertaining nature, they are necessary. But these activities must be strictly dosed and tied to certain events (the beginning of the project, the closure of a large stage of the project, the successful completion of the entire project, and the like). In this case, employees will perceive this event as a reward, as attention to themselves from the management, as an assessment of their merits. And then they will strive next time to work out in such a way as to deserve such an event.

Accumulation of experience

Like all project activities, motivating project participants is a complex and multivariate process. There are many tools, they can be used in different ways, each case has its own nuances. The project manager must accumulate this experience, analyze his successes and failures, and adjust his motivational policy. And then on subsequent projects, the motivation of employees will be more and more successful.

Afterword

In this article, I did not try to teach anything. It's just my experience, it's the result of communication with colleagues. In my opinion, working with project participants is very important for its success. Underestimating it means increasing the risk of project failure.

Most likely, I have listed a small part of the motivational tools. But these methods have been tested by me, and I can evaluate them.

If in your feedback on this article you share your experience in motivating the project team, I will be extremely grateful to you.

It might be useful to read: