Project Communications Management
Project Communications Management
Processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution,
storage, retrieval and ultimate disposition of project information. This knowledge area is
made up of five processes to determine what to communicate, to whom, how often,
and when to reevaluate the plan
An effective project manager spends about 90% of his time communicating and 50% of
that time is spent communicating with the project team
Communication Model – Various Elements
The person who needs to initiate the communication Sender
The person who gets the message Receiver
The thing used to transmit the message Medium
A response to a message Feedback
Something that interferes with the message Noise
Modify a message so that it can be sent Encode
Modify a message that has been sent so that it can be
understood Decode
Kinds of Communication
Kinds of Communication
Example Communication Type
RFP, Project Charter Formal Written
E-mail, Memos Informal Written
Speech Formal Verbal
Conversations Informal Verbal
Additional Information
Nonverbal Communication
Means gestures, facial expressions, and physical appearance while you are
communicating your message
Para lingual Communication
Is the tone and pitch of your voice when you are telling people what’s
going on with your project
Feedback
Is when you respond to communication.
Active listening
When you give feedback to someone who is speaking
Communication Management Processes
Process Group Process
Planning Plan Communications management
Executing Manage Communications
Monitoring and Controlling Control Communications
Plan Communication Management
Determining the project stakeholder information needs and defining a
communication approach. It entails:
How often communication will be distributed and updated
Mode of communication (email, teleconference etc)
Information that will be included in the project communications
Stakeholders that will receive this information
Plan Communications Management -
Inputs
• Project Management Plan -
provides information on how the project will be executed , monitored , controlled , and
closed.
• Stakeholder Register
provides the information needed to plan the communication with project stakeholders.
• Enterprise Environmental Factors
Plan communication management process is tightly linked with enterprise
environmental factors, since the structure of an organization will have a major effect on
the project’s communication requirements.
• Organization Process Assets
Lesson learned and historical information are of particular importance because
they can provide insights on both the decision taken regarding communication
issues and the result of the decision in previous similar project
Outputs Tools and Techniques Inputs
Communications Communications Project management plan
Management Plan requirements Stakeholder Register
Project document analysis Enterprise Environmental Factors
updates Communications Organizational Process Assets
technology
Communication
models
Communication
method
Meetings
Plan Communications Management - Tools and
Techniques
Communication Requirements Analysis , The analysis of the
communication requirements determine the information needs of the project
stakeholders. The project manager should also consider the number of potential
communication channel or paths as an indicator of the complexity of a project’s
communications. For Example if there are n people involve in a project
communication. The total number of channels would be n(n-1)/2
4(4-1)/2=6
4people - 6 channel
Plan Communications Management - Tools
and Techniques
Communication Technology, The method used to transfer information among
project stakeholder may vary significantly. For example, a project team may use
technique from brief conversation to extended meetings, or from simple written
documents to extensive materials which are accessible online as a method of
communication .
Factors that can affect the choice of communication technology include :
Urgency of the need for information
Availability of technology
Ease of use
Project environment
Sensitivity and confidentiality of the information
Plan Communications Management - Tools and
Techniques
Communication Models, Basic model of communication
includes following parameters
Encode : Thoughts and ideas translated to a language which
can be understood by other
Message & Feedback Message : Output of encoding
Medium : The method used to convey the message
Decode : Converting feedback back to understandable form
Plan Communications Management - Tools and
Techniques
Communication Methods are broadly classified into
Interactive communication
Push Communication
Pull Communication
Meetings , The plan communication process requires discussion
and
dialogue with the project team to determine the most appropriate
way to Update and communicate project information and to
respond to request from various stakeholders for that information.
These discussions and dialogue are commonly facilitated through
meetings, which may be conducted face to face or online and in
different locations, such as the project site or customer’s site.
Plan Communications Management - Outputs
Stakeholder communication requirements
Information to be communicated including language , format ,
content and level of detail;
Reason for distribution of that information
Time frame and frequency for the distribution of required information
and receipt of acknowledgement or response , if applicable
Person responsible for communicating the information
Person responsible for authorizing release of confidential information
Person or groups who will receive the information
Person or groups who will receive the information
Methods or technologies used to convey the information, such as
memos, e-mail, and /or press releases;
Plan Communications Management - Outputs
Communication Management Plan contains the following
information
Glossary of common terminology
Flow charts of the information flow in the project, workflows with
possible sequence of authorization , list of report, and meeting
plans etc and
Communication constraints usually derived from a specific
legislation or regulation , technology , and organization policies etc
The communications management plan can also include guidelines
and
templates for project status meetings , project team meetings , e-
meetings and e-mail messages.
Communication Plan
Distribution Frequency Format Communication
Team and stakeholders Daily at 9:00 Restricted Intranet Team Briefing
with access to secure
project info area
Team, sponsor, senior Weekly Internal Intranet Weekly Web Bulletin
management
Webmaster, IT Immediately Email Technical Incident
Department after Incident Report
Sponsor, Senior Bi-Weekly Spreadsheets and Budget and Schedule
Management Detailed Gantt Chart Detail
All internal stakeholders Weekly Email and Intranet Accomplishments
and Setbacks
All internal stakeholders Weekly Email and Intranet Schedule Milestones
All internal stakeholders Weekly Email and Intranet Cost-to-Date
Milestones
All internal stakeholders Weekly Email and Intranet Current Top 5 Risks
Manage Communications
• This process updates stakeholders on the progress of the project as per
the communications management plan. The information that gets
distributed includes status reports, review meetings etc
Outputs Tools and Techniques Inputs
Project Communication technology Communication management
communications Communication models plan
Project Communications method Work performance reports
management plan Information management Enterprise environmental
updates system factors
Project document Performance reporting Organizational process assets
updates
Organizational
Process assets
updates
Control Communications Process
This process tracks how the project is progressing against the
plan and provide report to stakeholders on status, progress
metrics (Schedule and Cost variance) and forecasts
Outputs Tools and Techniques Inputs
Work performance Information management Project management plan
information system Project communications
Change requests Expert Judgment Issue log
Project management plan Meetings Work performance data
updates Organizational Process
Project document assets
updates
Organizational Process
assets updates
Project Communication Management
Communication Channels
Channels = n(n-1)/2 Where n is the number of people on the
project
If there are five people on the project, then we have 10
communication channels.
This is calculated as follows:
5*(5-1) /2 = 10
Communication Filtering
When a portion of the message is lost in communication.
Common reasons of filtering:
Ambiguous language
Predefined mindset
Hidden agenda in message content
Senders reputation
Senders status in the organization
Dysfunctional emotional behavior
Environmental Background
