Communication Management

STUDY MATERIAL

Version. Rev Date Remarks

3.0 Mar-2006 Document updated with sample questions
4.0 Aug-2006 Minor changes incorporated based on feedback
5.0 Nov-2009 Strengthen the Application in Projects section

© This document contains confidential and propriety information of Infosys. It is furnished for evaluation purposes only. Except with
the express prior written permission of Infosys, this document and the information contained herein may not be published or used
for any other purpose.
Table of Contents

1 OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................................... 3
2 CHALLENGES TODAY...................................................................................................................... 4
3 CONCEPTS .......................................................................................................................................... 5
3.1 VEHICLES OF COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................... 5
3.1.1 Push Communication .......................................................................................................... 5
3.1.2 Pull Communication ............................................................................................................. 5
3.2 MODES OF COMMUNICATION ....................................................................................................... 6
3.2.1 Verbal Communication ........................................................................................................ 6
3.2.2 Written Communication ....................................................................................................... 7
3.3 COMMUNICATION NETWORK ........................................................................................................ 7
4 APPLICATION IN PROJECTS ......................................................................................................... 9
4.1 DEVELOP COMMUNICATION PLAN ................................................................................................ 9
4.1.1 Identify Stakeholders ..........................................................................................................10
4.1.2 Identify Key Messages for Communication .....................................................................10
4.1.3 Communication with Stakeholders ................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.13
4.1.4 Communication with Internal Stakeholders ................... Error! Bookmark not defined.13
4.1.5 Prepare Communication Plan ...........................................................................................13
4.1.6 Measure Communication Effectiveness ..........................................................................14
For Reporting.......................................................................................................................................16
Contents and Types of Reporting .....................................................................................................17
Techniques and Methods Used for Reporting ................................................................................17
Distribution of Reports ........................................................................................................................17
4.1.7 For Feedback.......................................................................................................................17
5 PRACTICAL TIPS ..............................................................................................................................18
6 APPENDIX...........................................................................................................................................19
6.1 COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PLANNING CHECKLIST............................................................19
6.2 REPORTING - CHECKLIST ............................................................................................................19
6.3 ORGANIZING MEETINGS/STATUS CALLS ....................................................................................20
6.4 ORGANIZING PRESENTATIONS.....................................................................................................21
6.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF EMAIL COMMUNICATION .........................................................................22
6.6 INFORMATION STRUCTURE DESIGN ..................................ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.22
7 SAMPLE QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................................23

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1 Overview
Communication is a process of exchanging information using a common system of language or
symbols.
Today, IT Organizations have become more complex as projects run by these organizations are
transforming business like never before. Virtual teams have become the norm of many
organizations and this has multiplied the communication challenges and increased the number
stakeholders in projects.
Communication serves as an enabler in engaging and aligning various stakeholders to project
objectives. Exchanging information is fundamental to all project activities. Execution of all project
activities therefore requires managing this information exchange.
Project communication management includes the processes required to ensure timely and
appropriate generation, collection, representation, dissemination, storage, and ultimate
disposition of project information to all stakeholders.
It is of utmost importance that the project team is aware of the various stakeholders and the
communication plan. This knowledge would drive timely communication to relevant stakeholders
preventing misinterpretation of sensitive information and to wrong audience.

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2 Challenges Today
We face a number of challenges today in the area of project communication management. The
following lists some of these:
» Lack of Pro-Active Communication: Generally there is a lack of synchronization related to
some trivial issues happening within the project with either the customer or the senior
management. Providing head-up well in advance would be the appropriate communication
tactics. Slippages in schedule, quality metrics are some examples.
» Inadequate Stakeholder Involvement: This issue arises when project teams fail to
communicate the dependencies in the plan, to relevant parties in time. This causes delays,
poor quality and finally customer dissatisfaction.
» Lack of Assertiveness with Customers: This primarily means “Unable to say no to
customers”. This could lead to unrealistic schedules, scope creep and so on, which in turn
results in inability to deliver as per the agreement, cost overruns, and so on. Finally, this
causes customer dissatisfaction.
» Lack of Formal Communication Planning: Many a times, Project Managers do not define
the objectives of the communication - who needs to know what and how etc. This issue
could lead to the following:

Delay in communication

Communication of sensitive information to the wrong audience

No communication to some of the required stakeholders.
Even when the project is running on schedule, within budget and with required quality, if the
project status is not communicated to the customer properly it would lead to customer
dissatisfaction.
» Ineffective Planning / No Controlling and Tracking: Most of the times, the communication
plan is not defined properly. The tracking mechanism is also not defined and hence no
tracking is done.
» Communication between geographically dispersed teams: Project teams today are
located in multiple development centers all over the world based on availability of talent
providing best value to the customer. This scenario also poses challenges of lack of proximity,
cultural differences, and working in different time-zones.
» Communication in large and integrated project environment: Systems are getting large
and complex due to their transformational & integrated nature. Stakes are higher, and so is
the number of stakeholders. In this scenario, managing stakeholder expectations, business
process change and senior management commitment pose a challenge.
» Communication channels getting overloaded: The effectiveness of communications is
thinning as communications on various happenings within DU, DC and organization is
getting overloaded.

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3 Concepts
Common forms of communication include the following:
» Sign language
» Speech
» Written communication
» Gestures
» Broadcasting

Further, Communication can be:

» One-way or Interactive
» Intentional, or Unintentional
» Verbal or Non-verbal
» Formal or Informal

3.1 Vehicles of Communication

Vehicles of Communication determine ‘how’ information will be transported from person
responsible for communication to relevant recipients. Communication in a project can happen in
several modes.

Communication can be in a push or pull mode.

3.1.1 Push Communication

Push communication is sent to specific recipients who need to know the information.

Examples include:
» Letters
» Memos and Reports
» Faxes and Emails
» One-to-Ones
» Meetings
» Phone calls
» Video conferencing calls

The advantage of push communication is that it provides a certainty that a message will reach its
target within an appropriate timeframe.

3.1.2 Pull Communication

Pull communication is accessed at the recipient’s discretion.

Examples include:
» Intranet Broadcasts
» CBTs
» E-learning
» KM repository

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The advantages of pull communication are as follows:
» It is voluntary for the recipient.
» Very large quantities of information can be made available at any one time.
Project manager should identify one or more of the communication vehicles for use in the project
and ensure their availability to relevant recipients. Communication vehicles should be carefully
chosen so as to convey the information in a clear, precise, unambiguous and timely way while
being sensitive to cultural, protocol, and emotional dimensions. To illustrate the point, some of the
characteristics of the ubiquitous email communication make it unsuitable in certain situations.
This is elaborated upon in the appendix.

Refer to Appendix for characteristics of email communication and their influence on

communication.

Projects often bring about significant change in the way organization conducts business.
Communication can enable the breakdown of real and perceived resistance to change, ensuring
smooth transition. Communication for driving organization change can be enabled by means of
emails, electronic and traditional newsletters, formal debriefing sessions, corporate intranet, and
discussion boards.

3.2 Modes of Communication

Following are the most popular modes of communication.
» Verbal Communication
» Written communication

3.2.1 Verbal Communication

As the name indicates, in Verbal Communication, communication is done orally. It could be
conducted in different forms of formality depending on the needs. For example, it could range
from a brief conversation in the pantry to an extended meeting in a conference room.
Some of the important points to keep in mind for a project related communication are
» The intended message should be first correctly understood by the sender.
» It should be focused and the objectives well defined.
» The tendency to drift along in general talk would result in inefficient utilization of time.

In case a verbal communication is formal, especially with clients, the following points are
important for a successful verbal exchange:
» Always get the other person's name and always give your name.
» During the conversation, use the other person's name at least once.
» Always try to connect with the other person in some common interest or bond. This helps in
establishing a rapport.
» If you are speaking in person, look the other person in the eye. (This doesn't mean stare at
the other person).
» Minimize focus on yourself and keep the conversation on the other person.
» Ask open-ended questions that cannot be answered with a "yes" or "no" to keep the
conversation rolling.

There are other aspects of a conversation that are also universal. These are as follows:

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» Smile.
» Be Sincere.
» Be Complimentary when the compliment is sincere.
» Do not mumble
» Be Enthusiastic and Positive.

3.2.2 Written Communication

As the name indicates, information is communicated in the written form here. The means could
vary from an e-mail to a signed hard copy document.

3.2.2.1 More on Written communication

Please refer to the E-learning module from ILI for more information on written communication.

3.2.2.2 E-Mail Etiquettes

The objective of the e-mail is to inform or obtain a desired response from the recipient.
Following some of the E-mail etiquettes which helps in writing effective e-mails

 Subject – Give an appropriate subject to the mail. It helps the reader to identify the
purpose of the mail.
 Body - This should be paragraphed and neatly laid out. English should be formal and
direct. Short sentences and clear expressions should be used.
 Attachments - The body of the mail should mention the attachment nature and purpose.
 Conclusion - This should include appropriate professional remarks like Thanks, Regards,
and so on.
 Signature - This should provide adequate details to identify the sender.
 Theme - The message should have a central theme.
 Purpose - The action required and the owner for the action should be clearly identified in
the mail.

After writing the e-mail, review it before sending. Eliminate the following common errors.
 More than one idea in a paragraph.
 Incorrect English language usage and long winding sentences.
 Vagueness in the message from the reader’s perspective.
 Sending the mail to the wrong recipients.

3.2.2.3 Precaution during Communication

The message to be communicated should be unambiguous. As a sender or transmitter of
a message, you should use correct words. Words should be pragmatic, such that they
mean what you want to say rather than literal dictionary meanings.
Understand the cultural background of the sender and receiver. The same word could
have different meanings in other cultures. In some cases, the phrases used could have a
different choice of words and meanings.

3.3 Communication Network

Communication networks are channels, by which information flows in an organization. The
following are the basic qualities of networks:
» Networks can be dyadic (two people), group, or organizational level.
» An Employee can be a member of multiple networks simultaneously.

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Formal Networks
The formal network, made up of memos, reports, staff meetings, department meetings,
conferences, company newsletters and official notices, is highly documented and as such, has
very little chance for change. It follows organizational structure defined by organization charts.

Benefits of Formal Networks

The benefits of formal networks are as follows:
» They provide clarity in communication.
» They create an open environment when formal communication is frequent and percolates
down to all levels in the company.

Informal Networks (Grapevine)

The grapevine is very useful in supplementing formal channels. It provides people with an outlet
for their imaginations and apprehensions. It also helps satisfy a natural desire to receive
information. Some of the characteristics of this network are as follows:
» People rely on it when they are insecure, threatened, or faced with organizational change.
» Employees use the grapevine to acquire majority of their “on the job information”.
» There is no permanent structure. Employees join / disband as a function of particular issue or
situation, an emergent structure.
» It is open to change and multiple interpretations.
» It can route around damage of formal network communication.
» It is situational and spontaneous. Thus, creating an organizational structure of its' own.
» It is usually faster than formal channels.
» It can be used to informally test the waters before a formal communication rollout. This
aspect should be used carefully depending upon the situation. For example; if you want to
implement some process changes in the project, discussing this informally in casual meetings
would be a good technique, but discussing a prospective onsite opportunity may not be a
good situation to implement the same.

Benefits of Informal Networks

The benefits of informal network are as follows:
» A good source to understand the pulse of the team.
» Can be used to create positive feelings in the team by communicating the right message.
» Low setup overheads. This can be an effective tool for team building.
» Creates buy-in for not-so-popular decisions that you want to take in future.

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4 Application in Projects
Primary purpose of communication in projects is to enable timely decision making/action by
providing right information to right stakeholders. Right information reaching the right set of people
enables a positive impact on the success of the project.

Illustrated below is the structured approach for effective communication within project.

Figure 1. Approach to Communication Management

There are four main steps in managing communication in a project’s lifecycle:

1. Develop Communication Plan in Planning phase

2. Implement Communication Plan in Execution and Control phase
3. Measure Communication Effectiveness in Execution and Control phase
4. Communicate Project Results in Closure phase

The following sections provide details of each activity in the approach illustrated above.

4.1 Develop Communication Plan

Given the importance of communication in the success of a project, it should be well planned
keeping in mind all stakeholders’ needs. Development of communication plan is a series of
activities as explained below.

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4.1.1 Identify Stakeholders
As a first step to planning, all project stakeholders should be identified. This activity is detailed in
Managing Project Stakeholders module.

It is important to know the key stakeholders who have the greatest influence on the project and
what factors influence their views or actions. Their information needs in terms of content,
frequency, preferred mode of communication and so on should be elicited.
For example: Project Sponsor may prefer to have the overall status sent to him/her once in a
month in a word document.

Some of the Key stakeholders in a project are:

• Customers
• Project Sponsors
• Senior Management
• Project Team
• Finance and other support groups
• Vendors and sub-contractors

Project stakeholders may belong to one or more organizations, within or outside the parent
company viz. IT, business, infrastructure, vendors, and customers. Since each stakeholder may
have different communication needs, identifying stakeholders’ needs helps in tailoring the key
communication messages, selecting appropriate vehicles for communication, deciding the
protocols, and managing issues and escalations.

4.1.2 Identify Key Messages for Communication

Information shared in a project can be broadly classified as below:

• Project Objectives and Goals (and requirements at the right level of detail)
Objectives are the high level business purposes a project is expected to fulfill. Objectives
are translated into more measurable and achievable project goals. For example:
• The objective of a SAP transformation program is to create an efficient
foundation that will support a differentiated customer experience and goal is to
achieve 400 million in savings over 3 years by reducing the time to market and
streamlining the business processes.
• The objective of an appraisal process is to assess every individual’s
performance. Goals of appraisal process can be 100% coverage of employees,
on time closure, etc.

• Progress and Results

Project progress is how far project activities have moved. Project progress can be
measured in terms of percentage completion of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) tasks.
Results are outcome of one or more tasks. Both progress and results in a project should
be communicated to stakeholders from time to time. This would be a detailed report.

• Assumptions, Risks and Issues

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 Assumptions are made in a project where all the inputs are not available due to lack of
visibility or otherwise. Assumptions are normally based on previous experience in similar
projects. An assumption is something you will take to be true. Assumptions have to be
constantly verified for if they turn out to be false, may impact the project negatively.
Events, whose occurrence is uncertain, pose a risk to the project. When an event is sure
to occur, it ceases to be risk, and becomes an issue.
Risks should be periodically monitored and validated against assumptions.
For example, a project assumes a maximum 10% cost inflation of a given commodity.
Project runs a risk of cost over-run if the cost of a given commodity increases 10%
beyond planned cost. When the commodity price is certain to increase beyond 10% of
planned cost, it becomes an issue and needs to be addressed accordingly.

• Key Decisions
Some key decisions in a project can be change in scope, time, cost and quality. Senior
management becomes an important stakeholder in communicating key decisions to other
stakeholders (such as project teams, users). Communication of key decisions helps keep
all the relevant stakeholders aligned to project objectives.

• Feedback (two-way; top-down and bottom-up)

Feedback is an effective mechanism of getting other stakeholders’ perspective. Project
manager should continuously take and provide feedback to other stakeholders to ensure
alignment.

• Product /Service related information

A project outcome is a product and/or service. Project manager should communicate
information related to project product and/or service to its stakeholders.

• Status Reports
Status reports are shared with stakeholders on a pre-determined frequency like weekly,
bi-weekly or monthly, based on the content requested.

Communication and management of risks is discussed separately in Managing Risks in Projects

module. Issue management and issue escalation will be discussed in this document under
implementation of communication plan.
Key messages are mapped to stakeholders as below.

Internal Stakeholders Typical Communication Needs

1. Project Sponsor • Receive project progress information including issues
and risks involved and their remediation status
• Receive information on achievement of project
objectives

2. Senior Management • Receive project progress information including issues

and risks involved and their remediation status
• Receive information on achievement of project
objectives
• Communicate project objectives, and goals to project
teams
3. Project Teams • Receive project requirements from business and
− Software Development Team changes thereof

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 Internal Stakeholders Typical Communication Needs
− Software Testing Team • Communicate project progress information including
− Release Management Team issues and risks involved and their remediation status
− Application Integration Team to senior management
− Production Support / Maintenance • Communicate escalation of issues to relevant
Team stakeholders

4. Enterprise Architecture Team • Communicate enterprise architecture requirements /

standards to all stakeholders concerned
• Provide guidance on the standards
• Receive compliance related information
5. Other business enabler groups • Receive project progress information including issues
internal to the organization and risks involved and their remediation status
− Communication Design Group • Receive resource requirements and training
− Client Facing Group / Marketing requirements related communication from project
Group teams
− Training Group
− IT Infrastructure Group (CCD)
− Human Resources Group
− Finance and other support groups
6. Finance and other support groups • Receive project progress information including issues
and risks involved and their remediation status
• Send information on compliance to external and other
regulatory requirements to project teams
External Stakeholders Typical Communication Needs
1. Customer • Receive information on new products and services
− Business Groups which are the outcomes of the project.
− End users • Project requirements, scope and change
management.
• Status of projects, issue resolutions, risk management
and escalations.
2. Vendors, sub contractors • Communicate SLA achievement status, project
progress status, issues and risks, etc.
3. Regulatory Bodies • Receive compliance related submission

Table 1. Stakeholder Communication Needs

Even after the entire project being delivered as per the specifications, user acceptability can
make the project successful or unsuccessful. Communication can vastly improve the brand value
of the project (or product thereof) and hence its acceptability. Effective communication can create
an awareness on the change being brought in, sufficient desire to change, information on what
the change is really about, its impact and benefits, enabling (providing the ability) the change, and
reinforce change aspects.

4.1.3 Identify Vehicles of Communication

Vehicles of Communication determine ‘how’ information will be transported from person
responsible for communication to relevant recipients. Communication in a project can happen in
several modes.
Project communication can be in a push or pull mode.
Push mode is normally used to create awareness and credibility for the project. Such
communication includes general information such as “what-why-how”, as well as a description of

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 the benefits to be gained through completion of the project. To improve credibility, the high-level
messages should be communicated by the management team.
Pull mode is normally used when large amount of information is to be shared and is voluntary for
recipient to access. This strategy may also include an interactive communication to engage the
recipient and gather their inputs for increasing the projects chances of success.
Communication in a project can further be verbal or written.
Based on the mode of communication, some of the communication vehicles that can be used in a
project are:
• Surface /Air Mail (push, written)
• Faxes (push, written)
• Emails (push, written)
• In-person meetings including group discussions (push, verbal)
• Road-shows, exhibitions, conferences (pull, verbal/written)
• Phone calls (push, verbal)
• Video conferences (push, verbal)
• Internet /Intranet portals (pull, verbal/written)
Project manager should identify one or more of the communication vehicles for use in the project
and ensure their availability to relevant recipients. Communication vehicles should be carefully
chosen so as to convey the information in a clear, precise, unambiguous and timely way while
being sensitive to cultural, protocol, and emotional dimensions.
Projects often bring about significant change in the way organization conducts business.
Communication can enable the breakdown of real and perceived resistance to change, ensuring
smooth transition. Communication for driving organization change can be enabled by means of
emails, electronic and traditional newsletters, formal debriefing sessions, corporate intranet, and
discussion boards.

4.1.4 Prepare Communication Plan

Having identified the stakeholders, their communication needs, and the vehicles of
communication, next step is to prepare the communication plan. Communication plan will cover
the communication activities that need to be formally planned and tracked.

An example of the communication plan is given below.

Recipients Info Primary

Communicat Delivered Prepare
Vehicle When /Participan Source Information
ion Item by d By
ts
Weekly E-mail Every Project Project Project WBS task Task
Status Report Friday Sponsor Manager Manage tracker, /deliverable
before r/ Issue status,
12:30 Module tracker, Activities in
PM Leads Risk last week,
tracker activities
planned for
next week,
risks,
issues.

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 Recipients Info Primary
Communicat Delivered Prepare
Vehicle When /Participan Source Information
ion Item by d By
ts
Weekly Meeting Every Project Project NA WBS task Task
Status (face-to- Friday Team Team tracker, /deliverable
Meeting face, net before Issue status,
meeting 12:30 tracker, Activities in
and PM Risk last week,
telephon tracker activities
e) planned for
next week,
risks,
issues.

Table 2. Communication Plan Template

Communication Plan should also define the communication protocols. Communication protocols
should be aligned to the project governance structure at executive, middle management and
team levels. They serve to authorize channels of communication.

Communication plan should include plan to handle escalation of issues between two or more
organizations where Service Level Agreements (SLAs) do not exist. Escalation plan should cover
when to escalate an issue, who should escalate to who, escalation progression if not resolved in
stipulated time. An example of escalation plan is given below.

Escalation from Project Team to Service Provider

Escalation by Escalation To Issue NOT resolved in

Project Module Leads Project Manager 3 working days
(for example Development, Testing,
Release, Migration, Integration Leads)
Project Manager Steering Committee 5 working days

Escalation from Service Provider to Project Team

Escalation by Escalation To Issue NOT resolved in

Service Provider’s Module Leads Service Provider’s 3 working days
(for example Development, Testing, Manager
Release, Migration, Integration Leads)
Service Provider’s Manager Service Provider’s 5 working days
Relationship Manager
Table 3. Issue Escalation Plan

4.1.5 Review with Key Stakeholders

Project manager should get the Communication Plan reviewed with key stakeholders like Senior
Management, Single Point of Contacts (SPOCs) from supporting (internal/external) organizations.
Communication Plan should be updated and saved as a baseline after incorporating changes
from the stakeholder review.

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4.2 Implement Communication Plan

Implementation of Communication Plan involves two broad activities:

• Design information structure
• Share information
For Design Information structure, the information can be structured at three levels:
1. Metadata - ‘data about data’. For instance, metadata for a status report would be its
recipients, creator, date of creation, duration it pertains to, nature of report etc.
2. Primary Information - the actual information.
3. Reference Information - Used to validate the source of primary information.
Having defined the information structure, project manager should share the information with
stakeholders as per the communication plan.
Often good communication plans fail to get executed because communication activities are
considered separate from project delivery activities. Consequently, communication activities are
not scheduled and corresponding time and effort is not planned for. It is therefore important to
implement communication activities alongside project schedule activities.
Some of the attributes for communication activities are activity description, start date, end date,
resources, and deliverables.
Communication activities can be scheduled based on:
• Event - dependent on other project activities. For example: project kick-off
communication to team, informing successful completion of a phase to all stakeholders. OR
• Time - independent of other project activities. For example: weekly status report,
quarterly update to senior management etc.
Once included in the project schedule, execution of communication activities is tracked like any
other project activity. It is imperative to govern completion status of all communication activities
and rescheduling of dependent communication activities as part of overall project tracking and
control.
Communication of project issues is a scheduled activity. However, escalation of issues is an
unscheduled activity and should happen as and when the situation demands. Project Manager
should keep in mind organizational dynamics while deciding to escalate an issue.

4.3 Measure Communication Effectiveness

It is important to measure the organization’s comprehension of the key messages and the impact
of these key messages. This helps the project to achieve its objectives faster, better and with
optimum use of resources.

Today, there are several frameworks to measure business value of IT projects, but none of them
deals with business value of communication in projects specifically. This section captures certain
parameters on which effectiveness of communication can be measured qualitatively and
quantitatively.

These parameters can be largely derived as impact on project by alleviating communication

issues and as project objectives achieved through communication.

» Cost of issues due to lack of /delay in communication

» Opportunity cost due to lack of /delay in communication

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» Number of issues arising due to incorrect version of information
» Number of issues arising due to error of interpretation
» Improvement in visibility of the project
» Improvement in user acceptability (number of users; number of usage issues)
» Improvement in project team /end user satisfaction

Team /user satisfaction is qualitative and can be determined through periodic surveys.

4.4 Communicate Project Results

Towards project closure, project manager should communicate the success /failure of the IT
project to its stakeholders. For instance:

» End users can be communicated about the new features, enhancements, deletions in
business application
» Team members can be communicated about the product quality metrics, process quality
metrics, lessons learnt, etc.
» Senior management can be communicated about the overall project financials, number of
users affected, business value realized.

Project manager should also inform the stakeholders about the administrative closures such as:

• Release plan to team members

• Contract closures to vendors, legal department
• Financial closures to sponsors, finance department

Project manager should solicit feedback from stakeholders (for example users, internal
customers) and share it appropriately with others (for example project team). Project manager
should also provide assessment of performance to all team members towards the end of the
project.

4.5 Communication in Projects

4.5.1 For Control and Tracking
Communication plays a critical role in the effectiveness of the project’s control and tracking
mechanism. The one mantra which is most important in this phase is – Follow up! Important
points for a Project Manager during the control and tracking of the communication plan are as
follows:
» Define review triggers and mechanism for the communication plan.
» Define plan for revisiting the communication plan. The communication plan should be
revisited at a periodic frequency, to ensure its relevance to the current scenario.
» Define tracking and controlling mechanism for the communication plan.
» Ensure implementation of the communication plan is as per the tracking and controlling
mechanism.

4.5.2 For Reporting

Reporting in a project should ensure that required information is distributed to project
stakeholders in a timely manner. It includes implementing the communication management plan,

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as well as, responding to ad-hoc requests for information distribution. It is important to clarify the
objective of any communication. The objective could be to provide updates, request some
information / action, need a decision or to highlight problem areas.

4.5.2.1 Contents and Types of Reporting

Project reports could be project records like documents, correspondence, memos or
presentations.
The project reports should include status on progress, forecasting, scope, schedule, cost and
quality details. Other details may include effort used, any changes (for example requirements
resources), risks, specific goals, action items, and so on.
Generally, at the end of a project (or in some cases at each phase ending), closure reports and
lessons learnt are distributed. These become history database for all future projects.

4.5.2.2 Techniques and Methods Used for Reporting

One or more methods could be used in conjunction with each other to gather inputs for project
reports.
» Performance Reviews – These are the meetings held to understand the status of the project.
» Variance Analysis – This is a measure of the actual vs. planned. This data could be about
defects, cost, efforts, and so on.
» Trend Analysis – This is about observing performance of a project over a period of time to
see if overall performance is improving or deteriorating.
» Work results.
» Information retrieval from file systems, and project management software.
The results of performance report distribution would be to take corrective actions on the projects,
and generate change requests if necessary.

4.5.2.3 Distribution of Reports

Distribution of reports could be done in a variety of ways like in project meetings, soft-copy / e-
mail distribution, online access for on-demand reports, hard-copy distribution through shared
databases, fax, video conferencing, intranet, and so on.
Care should be taken to identify the correct stakeholders for each report that is distributed.

4.5.3 For Feedback

It is easy to give positive feedback to people. But it is important to communicate the negative
feedback as it provides crucial inputs for improving a person’s performance. Feedback should be
structured and communicated, so that it is reinforcing. If given properly, feedback is almost
always appreciated and motivates people to improve.
Characteristics of effective feedback are as follows:
» The feedback provider must be clear about motives.
» The feedback should be problem oriented and not people oriented.
» It should be checked with others to support its’ validity.
» It should be specific, descriptive, and not evaluative.
» Supportive and open to hear new and possibly disconfirming information.
» It should be helpful to the receiver and directed towards behavior, about which the receiver
can do something about.
» Feedback is useful when given at the right time.
» It should be accurate and based on facts.

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5 Practical Tips
» Pro-active communication to relevant stakeholders is the key for stakeholder satisfaction.
» In case of recurring meetings, the first agenda should be to track the action items from the
previous meeting.
» In case you need to discuss about a team member with a third person, always keep the team
member informed about the communication, as far as possible. This ensures transparency
and builds trust.
» Prepare, refer to and revisit the Stakeholders’ Communication Needs document periodically.
» Schedule communication activities alongside project activities. Assign responsibility and track
like any other project delivery activity.
» Enable the person responsible for communication by providing proper authorization.
» Leverage technology and collaboration tools for communication. For example: IP telephony,
Instant Messengers, SharePoint portals, WebEx, NetMeeting, etc.
» Design communication artifacts to take care of explicit as well as implicit communication
needs.
» Ensure recipients do not have to process the communicated information further.

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6 Appendix
6.1 Communication Management Planning Checklist
Sr. No Checklist Item Y/N
Have all internal and external stakeholder information needs been
1 assessed?
2 Are their long and short term information needs identified?

Have responsibilities for communication been assigned, including who

3 must approve the various types of communications?
4 Are processes in place for dealing with ad-hoc communication needs?
5 Are feedback mechanisms identified and planned for?
6 Have communication tasks been inserted into the project schedule?
7 Has the plan been communicated to the Project Team?

Table 4. Communication Management Planning Checklist

6.2 Reporting - Checklist

Sr. No Checklist Item Y/N
1 Have all “stakeholder information needs” been addressed?
2 Have the statuses of milestones and deliverables, variances, causes and
mitigating actions been identified?

3 Has the scope status, including any critical change requests, been included?

4 Has the status of any sub-projects or interdependent projects been included?

5 Have communication activities been included?

6 Has the status of critical project risks been included?
7 Has the status of critical project issues been included?
8 Have quality improvement activities been included?
9 Has a copy of the status report been filed in a viewable project repository,
such as a project library or internal project system?

Table 5. Reporting - Checklist

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6.3 Organizing Meetings/Status Calls

PLAN » Objectives of the meeting.

» List topics on the agenda.

INFORM » Ensure everyone knows what is going to be discussed in advance

» Distribute material pertaining to the agenda items in advance.

» Order items on the agenda.

PREPARE » Fix time for each item on the agenda based on importance.
» Ensure everyone comes prepared to the meeting with comments on
the material to be discussed.

STRUCTURE » Make sure that nobody hijacks the meeting or carries on personal
& conversations.
CONTROL » Make sure any item that needs lot of discussion does not disturb the
entire structure of the meeting; postpone it to the end or for later for a
separate discussion.

SUMMARISE
& » Note down all the points which are discussed in meeting.
RECORD ALL » Prepare the minutes of meeting after meeting and circulate it to all
DECISIONS participants.

ACTION
ITEMS » The summary should include all the action items decided in the
& meeting and the owners for each action item.
FOLLOW UP

Figure 2. Organizing Meetings/Status Calls

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6.4 Organizing presentations
Plan » Analyze your audience, Stick to the Agenda.

» Jot it down.
Prepare the » Transfer notes to cards; talk it through.
Presentation » Arrange cards in an order that makes sense to you.
» Sculpt the language, especially the intro and conclusion.
» Develop a detailed rehearsal outline.

» Converse at all times.

» Be solution - oriented.
» Be precise and brief.
» Don't put too much pressure on the introduction.
Effective » Don't make promises you can't deliver.
Introduction & » Don't force a commonality that does not exist.
Presentations » Don't hedge and don't be too impressed by your audience.
» Don’t use buzz words and trendy language.
» Sustain the audience's interest.
» Follow a logical order.
» Offer variations in pace.
» Provide smooth transitions from subject to subject.

» Keep language informational and spare.

» Take a personal stand.
High Impact » Don't use abbreviations.
Language » Use the active voice.
» Avoid softeners.
» Repeat for emphasis.
» Nurturing words are weak.

» Stand with your weight evenly on both feet.

» Pause before you speak.
» Move your whole body towards various sections of the room.
» Jerky, uneven movement is low impact.
» High impact speakers complete their gestures.
Body » Make your first eye contact during the pause before your introduction.
Language, Eye » Move from the far left to the near right as your deliver your talk.
Contact & » Don't feel as if you have to stop at every face.
Voice » Don't stare.
» Lower your voice by opening your mouth wider.
» Loosen up with deep breathing.
» Reach way down for a prolonged vowel sound.
» Power voicing is not being loud. Often, it's being softer.
» Too loud is insecure.

» Signal the end of the talk

The » Briefly summarize your main points
Conclusion » Reiterate your central theme
» Convey an optimistic tone
» Offer a final salutation

Figure 3. Organizing Presentations

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6.5 Characteristics of Email Communication
Section 3.1.3 discusses judicious identification of vehicles of communication. We will elaborate
upon the characteristics of email communication that make it suitable in some situations and
unsuitable in others.

Email is a text based, asynchronous and electronic (as opposed to visual, synchronous / real-time
and face-to-face) medium. This makes it susceptible to escalating conflicts as against face-to-
face or telephonic communication. Face-to-face communication facilitates the participants in six
of the eight ways to ground their conversation (Clark and Brennan, ’91):

» Co-presence – the parties are in each other’s presence

» Visibility – the parties can see each other
» Audibility – the parties can hear each other
» Contemporaneity – the parties communicate during the same time frame
» Simultaneity – the parties can communicate simultaneously
» Logical Sequencing – there is no scope for communicating out of sequence

Teleconference (no co-presence) and telephone (no co-presence and visibility) are close
substitutes to face-to-face communication. Email lacks social clues, reduces feedback and
sometimes occurs in a context devoid of human sensibilities. Hence, email communication has
propensity to escalate conflicts.

However, there are a couple of properties that email has which is not present in face-to-face
communication – ability to review and revisit. This feature enables the user to provide a
considered response to issues. With project teams getting global, email also provides a
communication vehicle for people working in different time zones with little or no overlap.

To summarize, emotional issues are best handled face-to-face with sensitivity while analytical
issues can be handled better by email.

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7 Sample Questions
Q1 (Multiple Options – only 1 correct)
You are working on a proposal for a client. Only one week is left before the proposal submission
is due; you come to know that another unit from your organization is also bidding for the same
proposal. This is completely unexpected and is a potential source of embarrassment during the
client presentation.

Which of the following options was the root cause for this problem?
a. Client communication policy was the real reason
b. Internal departments wanted to compete with each other
c. Internal communication mechanism was poorly defined
d. Senior management was at fault.

Q2 (Multiple options – 1 or more correct)

Ajay, a developer was not present in one of the team meetings. At the end of the meeting, the
minutes were circulated by the module lead which included action items for Ajay too. The minutes
included the action items and the person responsible.

Ajay was not keen to take up the assigned action items. In the next meeting you realize that the
progress on his action items is not satisfactory. What could have been done better in this
scenario?
a. Minutes of meeting should have been sent by the project manager instead of the module lead
b. Follow up dates to track action items should have been included in the minutes
c. Module lead should have called up Ajay to discuss the action item with him
d. Action items should not be assigned to people absent in the meeting

Q3 (Multiple responses - 1 or more correct)

In your organization, a comprehensive change in the salary structure was recently introduced.
You need to communicate this to your team members.

Select the option(s) you would choose for this communication

a. Convey the information along with the rationale in a team meeting and collect feedback
b. Send a mail to the team informing them of the change. As it is a deployed change, feedback is
not necessary.
c. Meet separately with team members who have issues with the change and take appropriate
action
d. As you were not a party to the salary decision, any person with any issues should be directed
to HR

Q4 (Match the following)

Match the communication artifacts on the right hand side with the primary recipient for that artifact
on the left hand side

a. Senior Managers (i) Status update on detailed tasks, on a weekly basis

b. Client Manager (ii) Knowledge sharing mails
c. Project Team (iii) Case studies and collateral
d. Marketing (iv) Milestone report with in-process data

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