I would like to gather your experiences and opinions on the question above. Last week, we have had a quite vivid discussion in my team amongst project managers and disciplinary management on this topic.
I think that it is the ultimate responsibility of superiors to develop their employees and ensure they are qualified to deliver their work. In reality we see that junior colleagues are sent into project teams to develop them without any support from their originating team or superior. This results then in more work for the project managers who find themselves in the situation to qualify their team members to obtain the required quality of results.
What is your experience vs. expectation? Who selects the resources and how much can the project managers determine themselves? Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Svenja, a model to look at this is: the project manager is responsible for building the project team and selecting suitable people. These people come from resource pools, such as internal departments (incl PMOs), contractors, or partner organizations. To be selectable, the managers of these resource pools are responsible for building and maintaining the required capabilities and qualifications. Usually, a project manager requests people and negotiates with the resource owners about qualifications, timelines, and costs. I would not see resource owners as superiors but as peers. In addition, once people are assigned to a project, the project manager might establish some training specific to the project, e.g., to upskill members, close skill gaps, adapt to the context, and create alignment.
This really depends on the organization structure and political structure surrounding the project. In a project-oriented situation, the PM would have the formal authority and budget to either hire qualified staff or to have them formally trained to meet needs. In a functional situation, the PM gets what they get and might have no ability to escalate a capability gap.
In general, development of general skills (i.e. not specific to the needs of a given project) should be funded and managed by people managers. However a PM should play a role in developing team members as well - an example is giving a team member a stretch assignment rather than just having them do the same work they have done on past projects.
Remember that "mastery" (or the ability to gain it) is one of the levers of unleashing intrinsic motivation from Daniel Pink's Drive...
Until a few months ago, I looked to leads or managers to ensure the staff they assigned to the project had the necessary skills. I've made recommendations where there were obvious gaps, and worked with managers when disciplinary action was needed. I will still do that when the team member does not report to me. For the developers that report to me, I encourage them to take the time to fill any knowledge gaps and look for ways to improve and grow.
Before my title change, I started mentoring our QA analyst in business analysis. Now that he reports to me, I am more direct in assignments and opportunities to build his BA skills.
If you're in an organization where project team members are not dedicated and have a separate manager that they report to, you are usually dependent upon the team member's superiors to ensure you are given qualified personnel. Sometimes, this means you are given someone who is inexperienced but capable that is being given an opportunity to grow. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, but it's nice when the manager communicates that to you in advance so that you can account for it. Saving Changes...
Mike FrenetteManager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired)Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
This is a complicated issue that may vary from organization to organization. In my opinion, the project management office would normally be responsible for providing project resources. The PMO is also responsible for helping the organization develop resources. So, there is a fine balance between the two.
Many PMOs are able to hire consultants to fill roles when internal resources are not available. In this case, it is much easier to obtain qualified resources because the PMO can choose from many applicants and thoroughly vet the resources.
In the case of staff development within an organization, one is unlikely to get resources who are already qualified. For this reason, the PMO must set up training programs for project resources. This may be done in conjunction with the human resources department and the taking and passing of of training within a set period of time to should be a condition of being given the role.
​​​​​Training of project resources could come out of the general organizational training budget rather than the project budget.
A big issue that can occur is that organizationz sometimes expect that newly hired resources who aren't even trained yet should be put into their project roles. This leads to your stress and frustration for the individual as well as for the project teams. For this reason, I would say that resources are not yet qualified should be placed on projects only in mentored roles and 100% productivity should not be expected until training is completed and experience is gained. Frequent performance reviews are necessary during this time. Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Svenja, my colleagues provided solid feedback. I see team development as a two-way street: while it’s essential for superiors to support and guide their team members, it’s equally important for team members to take ownership of their growth by showing initiative and actively seeking opportunities to improve Saving Changes...
PMO Leader | Speaker & Mentor | Content Leader – PMOGA Latin America
Hub| Catholic University of UruguayMontevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
The responsibility for the qualification of project team members depends on the organisational context, project structure and human resources policies. Saving Changes...
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico.Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Svenja, I agree employee development is the superior's responsibility. However, in practice, project managers often inherit under-qualified resources. This necessitates on-the-job training, which increases project risk and delays. Ideally, project managers should have input on resource selection and training plans to mitigate these challenges. Saving Changes...
Hi Svenja, this is unfortunately a common situation where resources allocated to the project are lacking context, knowledge or required skills to facilitate project success and it often does falls on the project manager. I would expect the sponsors and direct managers to play a bigger role in upskilling & supporting resources assigned to the project. Project success must be enabled by the organization (not just the project manager) throughout its lifecycle - before execution by sponsors (during the project charter in terms of identifying and committing resources) and during execution by managers (in terms of helping SMEs contribute inputs & deliverables to help build the final solution). Saving Changes...
Thank you for bringing up this topic—it’s very relevant to the ground realities we often face. In my experience, project managers rarely have full control over resource selection; resources are usually assigned by functional teams based on availability rather than suitability. This can lead to junior or less-experienced team members being placed in critical roles without proper preparation.
On the ground, this creates a ripple effect. Project managers not only have to focus on delivery but also take on the responsibility of upskilling these resources, which stretches timelines and creates frustration within the team. Superiors may have good intentions of “developing” employees through real-world exposure, but without proper mentorship or training beforehand, the pressure shifts to the project team to compensate for the gaps.
In an ideal scenario, resources should be adequately trained and supported by their originating teams before joining projects. But in reality, it often comes down to the project manager stepping in to ensure results, even if that means additional effort to coach and guide team members. This disconnect between expectations and ground reality is something I believe organizations need to address to ensure sustainable project success.
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1 reply by Svenja Merle
Jan 21, 2025 5:59 AM
Svenja Merle
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Hi Pavan, I absolutely agree. Thanks for your comment!
Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
It sounds like group Managers are sending you their weakest employees to fulfill their obligations to the project while retaining their strongest employees for their own group's work.
If you have no choice but to accept the junior resources you've been sent, then document their lack of experience as a project risk and bring it to your superiors' notice often.
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1 reply by Svenja Merle
Jan 21, 2025 5:58 AM
Svenja Merle
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Hi Eric,
it is not that managers do send non-qualified resources on purpose.
In some cases, managers send "whoever is available" without properly comparing project requests with their teams capabilities and maybe switching assignments to better meet project requirements.
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