Communications Management

Page 1

Communication

Management helps you avoid common kinds of errors (wrong person

getting the wrong message; mistakes in encoding and decoding the

message)

Makes

sure everyone gets the right message at the right time

Effective

communication means that the information is provided in the right

format, at the right time, to the

right audience, and with the right impact.

Efficient

communication means providing only the information that is needed.

Process

1: Plan Communications Management

The

process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for

project communications based on stakeholder’s information needs and

requirements, and available organizational assets.

The key benefit of

this process is that it identifies and documents the approach to

communicate most effectively and efficiently with stakeholders.

Plan

Communications Management: Inputs

Stakeholder

Register: Stakeholder register provides the information needed to

plan the communication

with project stakeholders.

Enterprise

Environmental Factors – What

are the company's policies toward project communication?

The structure of an

organization will have a major effect on the project’s

communication requirements.

Organizational

Process Assets - lessons learned and historical

information are of particular importance because they can provide

insights on both the decisions taken regarding communications issues

and the results of those decisions in previous similar projects. You

can gain insight from templates and lessons learned.

Project

Management Plan – You use what you know about the project to

find out what will be the most important things to communicate. This

is where you will find all the other plans that might affect this

Plan

Communications Management: Outputs

Communications

Management Plan – A part of

the project management plan where you figure out who needs to know

what. It contains details on

the events (Status meetings, budget report) that will lead to the

communication, the rationale, frequency, deliverables

(minutes/reports) as well as the responsible parties.

Project

Documents Updates

Project

documents that may be updated include, but are not limited to:

• Project

schedule, and

• Stakeholder

register.

Plan

Communications Management: Tools and Techniques

1. Communication

Requirements Analysis

Determines

the information needs of the project stakeholders. Project

resources should be expended only on communicating information that

contributes to the success of the project or where a lack of

communication can lead to failure.

The project manager should also

consider the number of potential communication channels or paths as

an indicator of the complexity of a project’s communications. The

total number of potential communication channels is n(n – 1)/2,

where n represents the number of stakeholders

2. Communication

Technology

The

methods used to transfer information among project stakeholders may

vary significantly. Factors that can affect the choice of

communication technology include:

Urgency

of the need for information. There is a need to consider the

urgency, frequency, and format of the information to be communicated

Availability

of technology.

Ease

of Use.

Project

environment. There is a need to determine if the team will meet and

operate on a face-to-face basis or in a virtual environment;

whether they will be located in one or multiple time zones; whether

they will use multiple languages for communication; whether there

are any other project environmental factors, such as culture, which

may affect communications.

Sensitivity

and confidentiality of the information.

3. Communication

Models

A

basic communication model consists of two parties, defined as the

sender and receiver.

Steps

in a basic communication model are:

Encode.

Thoughts or ideas are

translated (encoded) into language by the sender. You encode your

message into a phone call, document or IM Chat

Transmit

Message. This information is

then sent by the sender using communication channel (medium).The

transmission of this message may be compromised by noise (static on

the phone, spotty internet connection, distance, unfamiliar

technology, inadequate infrastructure, cultural difference, and lack

of background information)

Decode.

The message is translated by the receiver back into meaningful

thoughts or ideas.

Acknowledge.

Upon receipt of a message, the receiver may signal (acknowledge)

receipt of the message but this does not necessarily mean agreement

with or comprehension of the message.

Feedback/Response.

When the received message has been decoded and understood, the

receiver encodes thoughts and ideas into a message and then

transmits this message to the original sender.

4. Communication

Methods

Interactive

communication. Between two or

more parties performing a multidirectional exchange of information.

It is the most efficient way to ensure a common understanding by all

participants on specified topics, and includes meetings, phone calls,

instant messaging, video conferencing, etc.

Push

communication. Sent to specific

recipients who need to receive the information. This ensures

that the information is distributed but does not ensure that it

actually reached or was understood by the intended audience. Push

communications include letters, memos, reports, emails, faxes, voice

mails, blogs, press releases, etc.

Pull

communication. Used for very large volumes of information, or for

very large audiences, and requires the recipients to access the

communication content at their own discretion. These methods include

intranet sites, e-learning, lessons learned databases, knowledge

repositories, etc.

5. Meetings

Plan

Communications Management process requires discussion and dialogue

with the project team to determine the most appropriate way to

update and communicate project information.

Formal

Written Communication: Any

form of legal documentation like contract; blueprints; invoices; specifications and project management plan. Anytime

Informal

Written Communication: Emails,

memos and

sticky notes

Formal

Verbal Communication: Presentations,

speeches, and prepared talks

Informal

Verbal Communication: Meetings,

hallway chats, planning sessions and phone calls

Non-verbal communication is any type of communication that doesnt use words, for example, changing body language, making eye-contact, gestures,

facial expressions and appearance when communicating. There's more

non-verbal communication than

verbal communication during

interactions.

Para-lingual

communication:

Tone & pitch of voice can influence the receiver decoding the

message. Do you sound upset? Are you being sarcastic? Is there dread

in your voice? A type of non-verbal communication that conveys more than the words you speak. It is usually accompanied by a change in the tone of your voice

Feedback:

Can

be in the form of asking questions and

summarizing the main points to the sender. Active listening is

characterized by lots of feedback, rephrasing the question and

responding

Manage

Communications - The process of creating, collecting,

distributing, storing, retrieving and the ultimate disposition of

project information in accordance with the communications management

plan.

This

process goes on to ensure that the information being communicated to project

stakeholders has been appropriately generated, as well as received

and understood.

It

also provides opportunities for stakeholders to make requests for

further clarification and discussion.

Manage

Communications: Inputs

Communications

Management Plan - The

communications management plan describes how project communications

will be planned, structured, monitored, and controlled.

Work

Performance Reports - Work

performance reports are a collection of project performance and

status information that may be used to facilitate discussion and to

create communications.To

optimize this process, it is important that reports be comprehensive,

accurate, and available in a timely manner.

Enterprise

environmental factors - Organizational

culture and structure, Government

or industry standards and regulations, and Project

management information system.

Organizational Process Assets: Policies,

procedures, processes, and guidelines regarding communications

management; Templates; Historical

information and lessons learned.

Manage

Communications: Tools and Techniques

1.

Communication Technology

2.

Communication Models

3.

Information Management Systems: How do you get the information you need to manage communications? Hard-copy document

management (letters, memos, reports,); Electronic communications

management: e-mail, fax, voice mail, telephone; Electronic project

management tools: web interfaces to scheduling and project management

software, meeting and virtual office support software, portals, and

collaborative work management tools. Are

there time sheets for tracking hours? Are there budgeting systems for

tracking expenses?

4.

Performance Reporting

Performance

reporting is the act of collecting and distributing performance

information, including status reports, progress measurements, and

forecasts. Performance reporting involves the periodic collection and

analysis of baseline versus actual data to understand and communicate

the project progress and performance as well as to forecast the

project results.

Taking

project information on how work is being done and distributing it to

stakeholders who need to know.

Work

Performance Information tells the status of each deliverable;

whenever a team member gives the PM an update, it's called work

performance information

Manage

Communications: Outputs

Project

Communications: performance reports, deliverables status,

schedule progress, and cost incurred.

Project

Management Plan Updates: The

performance measurement baseline is an approved

plan for the project work to which the project execution is compared,

and deviations are measured. Project

baselines, communications management and stakeholder

management may require updates based upon the current performance of

the project.

Project

Documents Updates: Project

documents that may be updated include, but are not limited to: Issue

log, Project

schedule, and Project

funding requirements.

Organizational

Process Assets Updates: The

OPAs which may be updated : Stakeholder notifications. Project reports,

presentations and records, stakeholder feedback, lessons learned

documentation. Examples

of updates to lessons learned: “Don't use 70s Phone for calling

international vendors”. Updating lessons learnt implies that future

OMs can learn from you

Exam

Highlights

You'll

need to be able to count the communication lines for the exam –

Don't forget to always include the Project Manager as an additional

person on the project

Control

Communications - The

process of monitoring and controlling communications throughout the

entire project life cycle to ensure the information needs of project stakeholders are met.

Control

Communications: Inputs

Project

Management Plan: The project management plan describes how the

project will be executed, monitored,

controlled and closed

Project

Communications: Deliverables status, Schedule progress, and Costs incurred

Issue

Log: You

may want to communicate issues to stakeholders. A

written log document and helps to monitor who is responsible for

resolving specific issues by a target date. This

information is important to the process as it provides both a

repository for what has already happened in the project and a

platform for subsequent communications

to be delivered.

Work Performance Data: Work

performance data organizes and summarizes the information gathered,

and presents the results of comparative analysis to the

performance measurement baseline.

Organizational

Process Assets: Report templates; Policies, standards, and

procedures that define communications; Specific communication

technologies available; Allowed communication

media; Record retention

policies; and Security requirements.

Control

Communications: Tools and Techniques

Information

Management Systems: Provide a set of standard tools for

the project manager to capture, store, and distribute information to

stakeholders about the project’s costs, schedule progress, and

performance. Some software

packages allow the project manager to consolidate reports from

several systems and facilitate report distribution to the project

stakeholders.

Expert

Judgment: Expert

judgment is often relied upon by the project team to assess the

impact of the project communications, need for action or

intervention, actions that should be taken, responsibility for taking

such actions, and the timeframe for taking action.

Meetings: The

Control Communications process requires discussion and dialogue with

the project team to determine the most appropriate way to update and

communicate project performance, and to respond to requests from stakeholders

for information.

Control

Communications: Outputs

Work

Performance Information: Work

Performance Reports should be added to OPAs so that future PMs can

use them as a source of historical information. Work

performance information organizes and summarizes the performance data

gathered. This performance data typically provides status and

progress information on the project at the level of detail required

by the various stakeholders

Change

Requests: The

Control Communications process often results in the need for

adjustment, action and intervention. As a result, change requests

will be generated as an output. May result in: New

or revised cost estimates, activity sequences, schedule dates,

resource requirements, and analysis of risk response alternatives; Adjustments to the

project management plan and documents; Recommendations of

corrective actions that may bring the expected future performance of

the project back in line with the project management plan; and Recommendations of

preventive actions that may reduce the probability of incurring

future negative project performance. Approved

changes are thus made to the project plan.

Project

Management Plan Updates: Control

Communications process may trigger updates to the communications

management plan as well as other components of the project management

plan (e.g. stakeholders and human resource management plans).

Project

Documents Updates: Project

documents may be updated as a result of the Control Communications

process. These updates are: Forecasts, Performance reports, and Issue log.

Organizational

Process Assets Updates: Report formats and lessons learned documentation. Lessons

learned from talking to stakeholders are recorded

The Basics

Process1: Plan Communications Management

Process 2: Manage Communications

Process 3: Control Communications