CHAPTER TEN

PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT

• Many experts agree that the greatest threat to the success of any project, especially IT
projects, is a failure to communicate.
• many educational systems for IT graduates promote strong technical skills over strong
communication and social skills.
• Many studies have shown that IT professionals need these soft skills just as much or even
more than other skills.
• The goal of project communications management is to ensure timely and appropriate
generation, collection, dissemination, storage, and disposition of project information.
• There are three main processes in project communications management:
1. Planning communications management involves determining the information and
communications needs of the stakeholders. Who needs what information? When will
they need it? How will the information be given to them?
2. Managing communications involves creating, distributing, storing, retrieving, and
disposing of project communications based on the communications management plan.
3. Monitoring communications involves ensuring that stakeholder communication needs
are met.
KEYS TO GOOD COMMUNICATIONS

Focusing On Group And Individual Communication Needs

• People are not interchangeable parts.
• You cannot assume that a task scheduled to take two months of one person’s time can be
done in one month by two people. A popular analogy is that you cannot take nine women
and produce a baby in one month!.
• It is important to understand individual and group preferences for communications,
people have different personality traits that often affect their communication preferences
Formal And Informal Methods For Communicating
• It is not enough for project team members to submit reports to their project managers and
other stakeholders and then assume that everyone who needs to know the information will
read the reports.
• Occasionally, that approach might work, but many people prefer informal
communications.
• About half the general population are extroverts, so they enjoy talking to other people.
Distributing Important Information In An Effective And Timely Manner
• It is important to include detailed technical information that affects critical performance
features of products or services developed in a project.
• It is even more important to document any changes in technical specifications that might
affect product performance.
• Determining The Number Of Communication Channels
• Another important aspect of communications is the number of people involved in a
project.
• As the number increases, the complexity of communication increases because there are
more channels or pathways through which people can communicate.

where n is the number of people involved.

• For example, two people have one communication channel: (2 (2 - 1)) /2 = 1. Three
people have three channels: (3 (3 - 1)) /2 = 3
 PLANNING COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT
• Because communication is so important on projects, every project should include a
communications management plan—a document that guides project communications.
• For small projects, the communications management plan can be part of the team charter.
For large projects, it should be a separate document
• The communications management plan should address the following items:
1. Stakeholder communications requirements
2. Information to be communicated, including format, content, and level of detail
3. Who will receive the information and who will produce it
4. Suggested methods or technologies for conveying the information
5. Frequency of communication
6. Escalation procedures for resolving issues
7. Revision procedures for updating the communications management plan
8. A glossary of common terminology
MANAGING COMMUNICATIONS

• Getting project 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.
• Is it sufficient to send written reports for project information? Is text appropriate, or
would visuals or even videos communicate the information better? Are meetings alone
effective in distributing some project information?...
Selecting The Appropriate Communication Methods And Media

• There are three broad classifications for communication methods:

1. Interactive communication: two or more people interact to exchange information via
meetings, phone calls, or video conferencing.
2. Push communication: Information is sent or pushed to recipients without their request
via reports, e-mails, faxes, voice mails, and other means
3. Pull communication: Information is sent to recipients at their request via websites,
bulletin boards, e-learning, knowledge repositories like blogs and wikis, and other
means.
MONITORING COMMUNICATIONS

• The main goal of monitoring communications is to ensure the optimal flow of information
throughout the entire project life cycle.
• The project manager and project team should use expert judgment, project management
information systems, data representation, interpersonal and team skills, and meetings to
assess how well communications are working
SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS

• Developing better communication skills

• Running effective meetings
• Using e-mail, instant messaging, texting, Kanban boards, and collaborative tools
effectively
Answers(1. b; 2. c; 3. d; 4. d; 5. d; 6. a; 7. b;
8. c; 9. b; 10. b)
1. What do many experts agree is the greatest threat to the success of any project?
a. Lack of proper funding
b. A failure to communicate
c. Poor listening skills
d. Inadequate staffing
2.In face-to-face interactions, how is most information conveyed?
a. By the tone of voice
b. By the words spoken
c. By body language
d. By the location
3.Which of the following is not a process in project communications management?
a. Planning communications management
b. Controlling communications
c. Managing communications
d. Managing stakeholders
4. What strategy can a project manager use to deliver bad news?
a. Tell a joke first.
b. Tell senior management as soon as possible so they can develop alternatives and
recommendations.
c. Ask the project champion to deliver the news.
d. Set the stage by putting the news into context, emphasizing the impact on the bottom line
5. If you add three more people to a project team of five, how many more communication
channels will you add?
a. 2
b. 12
c. 15
d. 18
6. A(n) ____________ report describes where a project stands at a specific point in time.
a. status
b. performance
c. version
d. earned value
7. What term describes information that is sent to recipients at their request via websites,
bulletin boards, e-learning, knowledge repositories like blogs, and other means?
a. Push communications
b. Pull communications
c. Interactive communications
d. Customer communications
8.Which of the following is not a recommendation for improving project communications?
a. You cannot overcommunicate.
b. Project managers and their teams should take time to develop their communications skills.
c. Do not use facilitators or experts outside of the project team to communicate important
information.
d. Use templates to help prepare project documents.
9.Which of the following is not a guideline to help improve time spent at meetings?
a. Determine if a meeting can be avoided.
b. Invite extra people who support your project to make the meeting run more smoothly.
c. Define the purpose and intended outcome of the meeting.
d. Build relationships.
10.A ____________ report is a reflective statement that documents important information
learned from working on the project.
a. kanban
b. lessons-learned
c. project archive
d. progress
END
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