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