Project Communications Management
Formal and information communications
Informal verbal communications are equally effective ways to distribute information, but technical professionals tend to neglect more informal techniques.
Complexity of communications
There are more communications channels as more people are involved in projects
Use of technology
Using an internal project management information system, you can organize project documents, meeting minutes, customer requests, requests to change status, and make them available in an electronic format.
Status Reports
address where the project stands in terms of meeting scope, time, and cost goals
Administrative Closure
consists of verifying and documenting project results
Blake and Mouton
delineated five basic modes for handling conflicts
Progress Reports
describe what the project team has accomplished during a certain period of time
Status Reports
describe where the project stands at a specific point in time
Formal Acceptance
documentation that the project's sponsor or customer signs to show they have accepted the products of the project
Administrative Closure
formalizes sponsor or customer acceptance of the project's product
Status Review Meeting
good way to highlight information provided in important project documents, empower people to be accountable for their work, and have face‐to‐face discussions about important project issues
Project Archives
include a complete set of organized project records that provide an accurate history of the project
Performance reporting
involves collecting and disseminating performance information, including status reports, progress measurement, and forecasting
Communications planning
involves determining the information and communications needs of the stakeholders: who needs what information given, when will they need it, and how the information will be given to them
Administrative closure
involves generating, gathering, and disseminating information to formalize phase or project completion
Information distribution
involves making needed information available to project stakeholders in a timely manner
Project Forecasting
predicts future project status and progress based on past information and trends
Smoothing
project manager de‐emphasizes or avoids areas of differences and emphasizes areas of agreement
Confrontation
project managers directly face a conflict using a problem‐solving approach that allows affected parties to work through their disagreement
Forcing
project managers exert their viewpoint at the potential expense of another viewpoint
Withdrawal
project managers retreat or withdraw from an actual or potential disagreement
Compromise
project managers use a give‐and‐take approach to resolving conflicts
Lessons Learned
reflective statements written by project managers and their team members
Communications Infrastructure
set of tools, techniques, and principles that provides a foundation for the effective transfer of information among people
Status Review Meeting
sometimes become battlegrounds where conflicts between different parties come to a head
Status Review Meeting
used by many program and project managers to exchange important project information and motivate people to make progress on their parts of the project
