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Chapter 7

Uploaded by

andom
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter Seven

Project Communication Management


Chapter Contents
 Goal of project communication management
 Project communication process

 Communications planning
Chapter Objectives
At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
 Understand the importance of project communication management
 Describe project communication management processes
 Understand the tools and techniques for project communication management.

 Define communication planning considerations.

1. Goal of Project Communication Management


 Is to ensure timely and appropriate generation, connection, dissemination, storage
and disposition of project management.
 Clear and accurate communication is critical for the success of a development
project.

 Communication becomes crucial when the number of project participants


increases.

Challenges of communication in the project


 In addition to the manager-team dynamics, project manager must challenge with
communication on three other levels:
i. The assignment
o The executive (or committee) that first assigned the project to you may not
agree with your idea of what the project should achieve; or he may change
his mind about the outcome without letting you know.
ii. Other departments
o The managers of other departments have their own priorities and may
resist your schedule. This usually applies in two situations: when members
of their department are on your team or when you depend on that
department to supply certain information.

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iii. Outside resources
o Your project may depend on help or information from “outside”
resources—companies or individuals not part of the organization. These
include other divisions, subsidiaries, or offices; a vendor or separate
corporation; or a consultant.

2. Project Communication Management Processes


2.1. Communication Planning
 What type of information is necessary when, for whom, how deliver it.
 Description of information
 How distribute information, to whom, how we distribute it and what type of
information.
 The output is stakeholder communication analysis.

Example: sample Stakeholder Communication Analysis


Stakeholders Doc name Doc Format Contact Date
person
Customer Status report Hard copy Mr. X End of month
management
Technical Monthly e-mail Mr. Y End of month
customer staff status report
Information Communication Documents
 Your budget and schedule are your best communication tools.
 They are useful in communicating with both your team members and outside
resources.

The budget

 The budget defines the company’s financial commitment, and is used to ensure
that project expenses are kept in line.
 When you propose a project, you should communicate in terms of risk and likely
reward.
 Approval will be granted as long as you can convince management that there is a
good chance that future profits will recapture this investment within a reasonable
period of time.

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The schedule
 The schedule defines the project, and, as long as you share it with management, it
is a useful tool for ensuring that your definition conforms to theirs.
 You also need to use the schedule during the later phases of your project in
conjunction with review meetings to ensure (1) that you are on the right course
and (2) that management’s desired outcome has not changed.
 The schedule improves communication with your team, and helps avoid delays.
By identifying weak links and by communicating with other department managers
and outside resources, you will avoid unexpected problems.

2.2. Information distribution


 Involves making needed the information available to project stakeholders in a
timely manner.
Important consideration for information distribution
 Using technology to enhance information distribution
 Formal and informal methods for distribution of information
 Determining the complexity of communications

 Number of communication channels = n(n-1)/2, where, n is the number of people


involved in the communication.

Information Distribution Aids


 The agenda: The agenda itself can be a powerful communication tool, if
correctly designed. For example, a team member is facing a department deadline
that interferes with a project deadline. You could list this agenda item as
“Scheduling Conflicts,” a passive approach. But it would be better to describe it
as “Resolution to Upcoming Conflict in Schedule,” thus emphasizing a solution to
the problem, rather than merely raising the topic and talking about it.
 Simplified flowchart: Many people have problems understanding something as
complex as a network diagram. They can relate better to a top-to-bottom
flowchart that isolates a period of time and a limited number of tasks or phases.
 Gantt chart: To explain a scheduling problem and make it extremely visual, the
Gantt chart—although not so useful for your project control effort—can be used
in project meetings, if only to communicate the problem you’re facing.

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 Network diagram: For team meetings, the network diagram is the most effective
communication tool. If you expect a problem in the near future, both the
explanation and the likely solution will be made easier with the use of the network
diagram.

2.3. Performance Reporting


 It keeps stakeholders informed about how resources are being used to achieve
objectives.
 The inputs for performance reporting is project plan and work result. The outputs
are status report (current process status), progress reports (past reports), project
forecasting (future forecast).
 It might appear that a “successful” project is one that is completed on time, and
within budget. In fact, though, these surface achievements are most likely to be
realized when the people on your team have a sense of satisfaction from their
efforts.
 In some cases, the real problems leading to budget and schedule failures are not
merely mechanical or chance events but other problems your team is
encountering. So that performance should reported to an appropriate bodies.

Reporting levels
 Report to the Team
o Your report to the team is a form of performance review. Since you expect
the individuals to work together under your leadership, it also makes sense
to make your report to the entire group, and at one time. The review
process itself may be ongoing, but the report is made during periodic team
meetings.

 Report to Management
o Your report to management is likely to be more formal but less detailed.
o Here your concern is not with the details of execution but with whether the
project will be completed on time and within budget.
o Any problems meeting those requirements should be discussed in the
management progress report.

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2.4. Administrative Closure
 Which involves generating, gathering, disseminating, information to
formalize phase or completion?
 Every project uncovers new problems, unforeseen events, and unexpected
failures. Each project, therefore, constitutes an opportunity for learning and
anticipating new risks.
 Many software companies conduct a postmortem study of each project
after its completion. The postmortem includes collecting data about the
initial planned delivery dates and actual delivery dates, number of defects
discovered, qualitative information about technical and managerial
problems encountered, and suggestions for future projects.
 Although this phase is the least visible in the life cycle, the company
depends on it the most for learning and improving its efficiency.
 The main outputs:
o Project archives: history about projects (library)
o Formal acceptance
o Lessons learned

Suggestion for Improving Project Communications


I. Using Communication skills to resolve conflicts
There are five basic modes for handling conflicts in performance order
a. Confrontation: problem solving approach using war of word.
b. Compromise: use give and take approach.
c. Smoothing: avoids areas of differences and areas of arguments.
d. Forcing: win-lose approaches.
e. Withdrawal: retreat or withdrawal from actual or potential disagreements.

II. Developing better communication skills


o Takes leadership to improve communication.
III. Running Effective meetings
 You will need to meet with your team, with the executive who assigns the
project, with other departments, and with outside resources—at the onset of
your project, and possibly while the project is underway.

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 The meetings should be short and limited, or you will spend so much time
in discussion that the project will be delayed by an intended planning
process.
 Meetings held with outside resources and other departments should be held
primarily to anticipate problems and overcome them.
IV. Developing a communication Infrastructure
o A communication infrastructure is a set of tools, techniques and principles
that provide a foundation for the effective transfer of information among
people.
o Two modes of communication
o Scheduled modes of communication: These include planned milestones,
such as client and project reviews, team status meetings, inspections, and
so on. These are best supported by synchronous or face-to-face
communication, such as meetings, formal presentations, video
conferences, and telephone conference calls.
o Event-based modes of communication: These include problem reports,
change requests, issue discussion, and resolution. Event-based modes
usually arise from unforeseen problems and crises. Asynchronous
mechanisms such as E-mail, groupware, and problem databases need to be
set up early, and participants need to be trained to use them. When the
number of participants is large, centralized infrastructures, such as Web
sites and bulletin boards are preferable as they make more information
visible to more people than E-mail or bilateral conversations do.

Rules for improving and maintaining your communication with other


departments
I. Visit the other manager before you finalize the schedule.
II. Keep in touch while the project is underway.
III. Work with the manager to anticipate problems.
IV. Remain as flexible as possible.
V. Confront the problems, not the people.

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