Setting up a working group for an HR project: who should be involved?

The secret of a working group that works

There is a tendency to think, usually wrongly, that brilliant people will necessarily be able to work together more effectively. This is not the case. Many other qualities come into play. If it is necessary to have a project manager capable of communicating easily for project management, the management of human resources can be mutualized in order to involve the whole team. As everyone can be involved in HR development, it results in stronger cohesion.

For a workgroup to work, it’s imperative that team members can trust each other. Everyone will be able to express and defend his or her point of view, and thus participate in the debate. A leader may emerge from the group. He will generally be able to defend his ideas and disseminate them within the group.

Everyone must also be open-minded, so as to encourage collaborative work and welcome the ideas of others while being able to explain and defend their own. The project manager and other participants will need to be able to sort through the ideas expressed, so as to retain and develop only those that will have a real impact on HR development.

Finally, every group success must be turned into an individual success. By feeling valued, the members of the work group will develop a stronger team spirit, a sense of belonging and will be more invested in the project.

Stakeholders for an HR development project

Do all working group members have to come from project management or human resources backgrounds? No, of course not. The wider the range of skills present in the working group, the greater and more positive the impact on the project.

It is therefore important to involve a variety of actors, including those who are not necessarily thought of at the outset, such as support managers, the communications department or finance. Everyone can bring their skills and their vision of the HR project. It’s a group’s diversity that makes it rich.

It can also be interesting to invite people from outside the group, either occasionally or regularly. They bring an outside view to the project and allow us to take a step back. For example, a technical expert can come and share his experience acquired on a similar project in order to feed the continuous improvement process necessary for any project management. These participations can come from other departments, or even from outside the company.

See also our feature on "HR strategy management tools".

• What are the key issues facing HR departments today?
• Organization, talent management, recruitment: priority HR projects?
• Human resources management: what HR strategies for the future?
• Best practices to manage your HR strategy in an optimal way
• The different HR management tools to carry out your HR strategy
• HRIS software: the different areas of intervention for the HR function
• How to convince your management to invest in an HRIS tool?
• Is it necessary to be accompanied in the management of an HR strategy?
• What indicators should be defined to measure the performance of an HR strategy?
• HR strategy: how to achieve effective HR reporting?
• Who should drive HR projects in the company?
• Setting up a working group for an HR project: who should be involved?