Project Communications

Management
Learning Objectives

 Understand the importance of good communications in

projects
 Discuss the process of identifying stakeholders and how to
create a stakeholder register and stakeholder
management strategy
 Explain the elements of project communications planning
and how to create a communications management plan
 Describe various methods for distributing project
information and the advantages and disadvantages of
each, discuss the importance of addressing individual
communication needs, and calculate the number of
communications channels in a project

2
Learning Objectives
(continued)
 Recognize the importance of managing stakeholder
expectations
 Understand how performance reporting helps
stakeholders stay informed about project resources
 List various methods for improving project
communications, such as managing conflicts, running
effective meetings, using e-mail and other technologies
effectively, and using templates
 Describe how software can enhance project
communications management

3
Importance of Good
Communications
 The greatest threat to many projects is a failure to
communicate
 Our culture does not portray IT professionals as being
good communicators
 Research shows that IT professionals must be able to
communicate effectively to succeed in their positions
 Strong verbal skills are a key factor in career
advancement for IT professionals

4
Project Communications
Management Processes
 Identifying stakeholders: identifying everyone involved in
or affected by the project and determining the best ways to
manage relationships with them
 Planning communications: determining the information
and communications needs of the stakeholders
 Distributing information: making needed information
available to project stakeholders in a timely manner
 Managing stakeholder expectations: managing
communications to satisfy the needs and expectations of
project stakeholders and to resolve issues
 Reporting performance: collecting and disseminating
performance information, including status reports, progress
measurement, and forecasting
5
Identifying Stakeholders

 Recall that the ultimate goal of project management is to meet or

exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project, so you
must first identify who your particular project stakeholders are
 Two key outputs of this process include:
 Stakeholder register: a
public document that includes
details related to the identified project
stakeholders (see Table 3-4 for an example)
 Stakeholder management strategy: an
approach to help increase the support of
stakeholders throughout the project; often
includes sensitive information

6
Sample Stakeholder Analysis
for Project Communications

7
Communications Management
Plan Contents
 Stakeholder communications requirements

 Information to be communicated, including format,

content, and level of detail

 The people who will receive the information and who

will produce it

 Suggested methods or technologies for conveying the

information

8
Communications Management
Plan Contents (continued)
 Frequency of communication

 Escalation procedures for resolving issues

 Revision procedures for updating the communications

management plan

 A glossary of common terminology

9
Distributing Information

 Getting the right information to the right people at the

right time and in a useful format is just as important as
developing the information in the first place
 Important considerations include:
 Using technology to enhance information distribution
 Formal and informal methods for distributing information

10
Distributing Information in an
Effective and Timely Manner
 Don’t bury crucial information

 Don’t be afraid to report bad information

 Oral communication via meetings and informal talks

helps bring important information—good and bad—out
into the open

11
Importance of Face-to-Face
Communication
 Research says that in a face-to-face interaction:
 58 percent of communication is through body language
 35 percent of communication is through how the words are
said
 7 percent of communication is through the content or
words that are spoken
 Pay attention to more than just the actual words
someone is saying
 A person’s tone of voice and body language say a lot
about how he or she really feels

12
Encouraging More Face-to-
Face Interactions
 Short, frequent meetings are often very effective in IT
projects

 Stand-up meetings force people to focus on what they

really need to communicate

 Some companies have policies preventing the use of e-

mail between certain hours or even entire days of the
week

13
Other Communication
Considerations
 Rarely does the receiver interpret a message exactly as
the sender intended
 Geographic location and cultural background affect the
complexity of project communications
 Different working hours
 Language barriers
 Different cultural norms

14
Determining the Number of
Communications Channels
 As the number of people involved increases, the
complexity of communications increases because there
are more communications channels or pathways through
which people can communicate
 Number of communications channels = n(n-1)
2
where n is the number of people involved

15
The Impact of the Number of People
on Communications Channels

16
Managing Stakeholders

 Project managers must understand and work with

various stakeholders

 Need to devise a way to identify and resolve issues

 An expectations management matrix can help clarify

expectations

17
Table 10-3. Expectations
Management Matrix

18
Reporting Performance

Performance reporting keeps stakeholders informed

about how resources are being used to achieve project
objectives:
 Status reports describe where the project stands at a
specific point in time
 Progress reports describe what the project team has
accomplished during a certain period of time
 Forecasts predict future project status and progress based
on past information and trends

19
Suggestions for Improving
Project Communications
 Manage conflicts effectively

 Develop better communication skills

 Run effective meetings

 Use e-mail and other technologies effectively

 Use templates for project communications

20
Conflict Handling Modes

1. Confrontation: directly face a conflict using a

problem-solving approach
2. Compromise: use a give-and-take approach
3. Smoothing: de-emphasize areas of difference and
emphasize areas of agreement
4. Forcing: the win-lose approach
5. Withdrawal: retreat or withdraw from an actual or
potential disagreement
6. Collaborating: decision makers incorporate different
viewpoints and insights to develop consensus and
commitment
21
Conflict Can Be Good

 Conflict often produces important results, such as new

ideas, better alternatives, and motivation to work
harder and more collaboratively
 Groupthink: conformance to the values or ethical
standards of a group; groupthink can develop if there
are no conflicting viewpoints
 Research suggests that task-related conflict often
improves team performance, but emotional conflict
often depresses team performance

22
Using E-Mail, Instant Messaging,
and Collaborative Tools
Effectively
 Make sure that e-mail, instant messaging, or
collaborative tools are an appropriate medium for what
you want to communicate

 Be sure to send information to the right people

 Use meaningful subject lines, limit the content of e-

mails to one main subject, and be as clear and concise
as possible

 Be sure to authorize the right people to share and edit

your collaborative documents
23
Sample Collaborative Tools

 A SharePoint portal allows users to create custom Web

sites to access documents and applications stored on
shared devices
 Google Docs allow users to create, share, and edit
documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online
 A wiki is a Web site designed to enable anyone who
accesses it to contribute or modify Web page content

24
Using Templates for Project
Communications
 Many technical people are afraid to ask for help
 Providing examples and templates for project
communications saves time and money
 Organizations can develop their own templates, use
some provided by outside organizations, or use samples
from textbooks
 Recall that research shows that companies that excel in
project management make effective use of templates

25
Sample Template for a Project
Description

26
Sample Template for a Monthly
Progress Report

27
Final Project Documentation
Items

28
Lessons-Learned Reports

 The project manager and project team members should

each prepare a lessons-learned report
 A reflective statement that documents important things an
individual learned from working on the project

 The project manager often combines information from

all of the lessons-learned reports into a project
summary report

29
Project Archives

 It is also important to organize and prepare project

archives
 Project archives are a complete set of organized
project records that provide an accurate history of the
project
 These archives can provide valuable information for
future projects as well

30
Project Web Sites

 Many project teams create a project Web site to store

important product documents and other information

 Can create the site using various types of software, such

as enterprise project management software

31
Microsoft Office Enterprise
Project Management (EPM)
Solution

32
Using Software to Assist in
Project Communications
 There are many software tools to aid in project
communications
 Today many people telecommute or work remotely at
least part-time
 Project management software includes new capabilities
to enhance virtual communications
 New tools, such as instant messaging and blogs, can
enhance project communications

33
Chapter Summary

 The goal of project communications management is to

ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection,
dissemination, storage, and disposition of project
information
 Main processes include:
 Identify stakeholders
 Plan communications
 Distribute information
 Manage stakeholder expectations
 Report performance

34