TOPIC: Question about EEF- Personnel Administration

I have a question about the Enterprise Environmental Factors stated in various parts of PMBOK e.g. p.80.

Why it isn't a Organizational Process Assets since this involves company guidelines like hiring and firing / employee preformance review etc.

Thanks

Silvia,

I'm not sure that I understand your question: Are you asking "What is the difference between EEF and OPA?" or are you asking why a particular item is an EEF and not an OPA?

I mean why the Personnel Administration is an EEF and not OPA. I also got a bit confuse on the difference between EEF and OPA

Thanks

Silvia,

Ah! I see what you are saying.

Enterprise environmental factors can be external and/or internal factors. The idea is that your project is embedded in an "environment" and that this "environment" has certain factors that guide and limit what you can do on your project.

The Personnel Administration in this particular situation is an internal EEF. It's clearly not an Organizational Process Asset because it doesn't address a project / project management process. It discusses how to hire/fire and manage personnel.

If you read through the definitions of OPA and EEF in the appendix and you apply these definitions to the various factors and assets, then you'll get a clearer picture of why an item is an OPA or an EEF.

But I agree that it can be confusing and that it's sometimes not easy.

I am trying to understand why " Personnel administration" is listed as an OPA in 4.4.1.5 but "- Personnel administration policies" is listed as an EEF in 10.1.1.4 , 10.2.1.4, 13.2.1.5, 13.3.1.3, 13.4.1.4.

It does not make sense to me.
Thank you!

Hi Estelle,

if you read what is included as OPAs in Sect. 4.4.1.5 under the label "Personnel administration" you will recognize they can be considered part of the knowledge base used by the organization (which is what defines OPAs); for example, employee development and training records clearly become part of the organization knowledge base, it is not a "constraint" for the organization, but rather part of the information generated and used by the organization itself as an input to support the Manage Project Knowledge process.
On the other hand, when the focus moves to Communications and Stakeholders Management, personnel administration policies may act as a constraint for the project team in the management of both communications and stakeholders; additionally, these policies are not under the control of the project team, thus being part of the "environment".

Hope this helps to clarify a bit.

Gabriella

Estelle,

In 4.4.1.5, it is referring to the skills/training/competencies of the people working for the organization. Those skills are assets that can be leveraged to help move a project forward.

By contrast, EEF (Enterprise Environmental Factors) reflect things such as culture or policy or other elements of the environment in which the company exists that can have an impact on the project.

So, for example, if Estelle is an awesome .Net developer, that fact should be noted as an asset to the company (and,hence, the project if it needs a .Net developer).
If the company has a personnel policy that states employees cannot work overtime, that is an Enterprise Environmental Factor that needs to be taken into account when planning the project.

I hope that helps!
Best regards,
Tracy