Chapter 10

The goal of project communications management is to ensure timely and appropriate generation collection, dissemination, storage, and disposition of project information

Main process include: -Plan communications management -Manage communications -Control communicaitons

Sample template includes:

Objective: Scope: Assumptions: Cost: Schedule:

Most important non-technical skills include problem solving, teamwork, and listening

Some organizations will hire individuals with minimal technical skills so long as they demonstrate solid soft and business skills

The goal of project communications management is to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage, and disposition of project information

There are three main process of project communications management

-Collaboration is a key driver of overall performance of companies around the world

-3 collaboration technologies that were more commonly present in high-performing companies than in low-performing ones were: Web conferencing, audio conferencing, and meeting-scheduler technologies

Research says that in a face-to-face interaction:

-58% of communication is through body language -35% of communication is through how the words are said -7% of communication is through the content of works that are spoken

2. Managing communications

-Creating, distributing, storing, retrieving, and disposing of project communications based on the communications management plan -Outputs are project communications, project documents updates, project management plan updates, and organizational process assets updates -Recall from Ch 4 that organizational process assets are formal and informal plans, policies, procedures, guidelines, information systems, financial systems, management systems, lessons, and historical information.

Suggestions for Improving Project Communications

-Develop better communication skills -Run effective meetings -Use e-mail and other technologies -Use templates for project communications

-if the entire message can fit in the subject line, put it there. -Ex) if a meeting is cancelled, just enter that message in the subject line

-Do not continue replying to an email thread when the subject has changed without changing the subject line. -the subject line should always relate to the latest topic

-Rarely does the receiver interpreter a message exactly as the sender intended

-Geographic location and cultural background: -Different working hours -Language barriers -Different cultural norms

2. Push communication

-Information is sent or pushed to recipients without their request via reports, e-mails, faxes, voice mails, and other means -ensures that the information is distributed, but does not ensure that it was received or understood

3. Pull communication

-Information is sent to recipients at their request via Websites, bulletin boards, e-learning, knowledge repositories lie blogs, and other means

3. Controlling communications

-Monitoring and controlling project communications to ensure that stakeholder communication needs are met

-Project managers say they spend as much as 90% of their time communicating -Several concepts can help:

-Need to focus on group and individual communication needs -Use formal and informal methods of communicating -Distribute important information in an effective and timely manner -Set the stage for communicating bad news -Determine the number of communication channels

-People are not interchangeable parts -In Brooks' book "The Mythical Man-Month", you cannot assume that a task originally scheduled to take two months of one person's time can be done in one month by two people

-Nine women cannot produce a baby in one month

-As the number of people involved increases, the complexity of communications increases because there are more communications channels or pathways through which people can communicate.

-Number of communications channels = n(n-1)/2 n is the number of people involved

-recall from Ch 1 that progress reports are considered to be a super tool-extensively used and improves project performance

-Performance reports are normally provided as progress reports or status reports. -Many people use the two terms interchangeably

Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution and similar products provide these tools to enhance communications:

-Portfolio management -Resource management -Project collaboration

-Oral communication via meetings and informal talks helps bring important information-good and bad-out into the open

-Stand-up meetings have no chairs which forces people to focus on what they need to communicate -Recall that projects using an agile approach have daily meetings to make sure everyone is on the same page. -have virtual meetings if can't meet face to face

-The main goal of controlling communications is to ensure the optimal flow of information throughout the entire project life cycle

-The project manager and project team should use their various reporting systems, expert judgement, and meetings to assess how well communications are working. -beneficial to have a facilitator from outside the project team assess how well communications are working

-Introverts like more private communications, while extroverts like to discuss things in public -Intuitive people like to understand the big picture, while sensing people need step-by-step details

-Thinkers want to know the logic behind decisions, while feeling people want to know how something affects them personally -Judging people are driven to meet deadlines while perceiving people need more help in developing and following plans

1. Interactive communicaiton

-Two or more people interact to exchange information via meetings, phone calls, or video conferencing. -Most effective way to ensure common understanding

Project Archives

-a complete set of organized project records that provide an accurate history of the project -can provide info for future projects as well as lessons learned

Communications management plan

-a document that guides project communications

Lessons-Learned Report

-a reflective statement that documents important things an individual learned from working on the project -the project manager and project team members should each prepare one. -the project manager often combines information from all the lessons-learned reports into a project summary report (template and sample in ch3)

A Wiki

-a website designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify Web page content

Google Docs

-allow users to create, share, and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online

SharePoint portal

-allows users to create custom websites to access documents and applications stored on shared devices

Communications management plan

-communications management plan varies with the needs of the project, but some type of written plan should always be prepared -for small projects, the communications management plan can be part of the team contract -for large projects, it should be a separate document

Progress reports

-describe what the project team has accomplished during a certain period of time -monthly or sometimes weekly progress report

Status reports

-describes where the project stands at a specific point in time -address where the project stands in terms of the triple constraint, meeting scope, time, and cost goals. -Recall from Ch 2, when using agile project management, progress is communicated via daily Scrum meetings and burndown charts

1. Planning communications management

-determining the information and communications needs of the stakeholders -Outputs are a communications management plan and project documents updates

Blogs

-journals on the web that allow users to write entries, respond to another poster's comments, create links, upload pictures, and post comments to journal entries.

Forecasts

-predict future project status and progress based on past information and trends

Status review meeting is an important technique for performance reporting

-recall in Ch 4 (project integration management), Status Review Meetings are a good way to highlight info provided in important project documents, empower people to be accountable for their work, and have face-to-face discussions about important project issues. -they can become battlegrounds where conflicts between different parties come to a head. (project managers should set ground rules)

Kanban boards

-visually show tasks that need to be done, are in progress, or are completed -have become a popular tool to improve communications

There are 3 broad classifications for communication methods:

1. Interactive communication 2. Push communication 3. Pull communciaiton

The Communications Management Plan Contents

1. Stakeholder communications requirements 2. Information to be communicated, including format, content, and level of detail 3. Who will receive the information and who will produce it 4. Suggested methods or technologies for conveying the information 5. Frequency of communication 6. Escalation procedures for resolving issues 7. Revision procedures for updating the communications management plan 8. A glossary of common terminology