Project Communications Management

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 calculate the number of communications channels in a

project.

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.

Many experts agree that the greatest threat to the success of

any project, especially IT projects, is a failure to communicate.

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.

The goal of Project Communications management is to

ensure timely and appropriate generations, collection,

dissemination, storage, and disposition of project information.

1. Identifying stakeholders: identifying everyone involved in or

affected by the project and determining the best ways to manage

relationships with them.

2. Planning communications: determining the information and

communications needs of the stakeholders.

3. Distributing information: making needed information available

to project stakeholders in a timely manner.

4. Managing stakeholder expectations: managing communications

to satisfy the needs and expectations of project stakeholders and to

resolve issues.

5. Reporting performance: collecting and disseminating

performance information, including status reports, progress

measurement, and forecasting.

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 are your particular project

stakeholders ?

Two key outputs of this process include:

◦ Stakeholder register: a public document that includes

details related to the identified project stakeholders. These

details include the stakeholder’s name, position, internal or

external, and contact information.

◦ Stakeholder management strategy: an approach to help

increase the support of stakeholders throughout the project;

often includes the basic and sensitive informations.

Every project should include some type of communications

management plan, a document that guides project

communications.

It is important to know what kinds of information will be

distributed to which stakeholders, by analyzing stakeholder

communications needs.

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.

The Stakeholder Communications Analysis serves as a good

starting point for information distribution.

The project managers and their teams must decide the best

way to distribute the information.

Effective distribution of information depends on project

managers and project team members having good

communication skills.

Important considerations for information distribution

include:

Using technology to enhance information distribution.

Formal and informal methods for distributing information.

Oral communication via meetings and informal talks helps bring

important information-positive or negative-out into the open.

Oral communication also helps build stronger relationship

among project personnel and project stakeholders.

Face-to-Face meetings are often more effective than electronic

communications, particularly for sensitive information.

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.

Short, frequent meetings are often very effective in IT

projects.

Stand-up meetings every week or every morning force people

to focus on what they really need to communicate.

To encourage face-to-face informal communications:

Some companies have policies preventing the use of e-mail

between certain hours or even entire days of the week.

Project managers must assess the needs of the organization, the

project, and individuals in determining which communication

medium to use, and when.

They must also be aware of new technologies that can enhance

communications and collaboration.

Some types of communication media: hard copy, phone calls,

voice mail, e-mail, meetings, and web sites

Geographic location and cultural background affect the

complexity of project communications.

◦ If project stakeholders are in different countries, it is difficult

or impossible to schedule times for two-way communication

during working hours.

◦ Language barriers can also cause communication problems.

◦ People from some cultures also prefer to communicate in

ways that may be uncomfortable to others.

The number of people involved in a project is an important aspect of

information distribution.

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.

To calculate the number of communications channels use this simple

formula:

Number of communications channels = n ( n – 1 ) / 2

where n is the number of people involved.

For two people :

Number of communications channels = 2 ( 2 – 1 ) / 2 = 1 channel

For three people :

Number of communications channels = 3 (3– 1 ) / 2 = 3 channels

For four people :

Number of communications channels = 4 (4– 1 ) / 2 = 6 channels

For five people :

Number of communications channels = 5 (5– 1 ) / 2 = 10 channels

Good communicators consider many factors before deciding

how to distribute information, including:

The size of the group.

The type of information.

The appropriate communication medium.

Project managers must understand and work with various

stakeholders.

They should address how they can use various communications

methods as well as their interpersonal and management skills to

satisfy the needs and expectations of project stakeholders

Need to devise a way to identify and resolve issues.

Project sponsors can usually rank scope, time, and cost goals in

order of importance and provide guidelines on how to balance the

triple constraint.

This ranking is shown in an Expectations Management Matrix

which can help clarify expectations.

Expectations Management Matrix may includes a list of measures

of success, priorities, expectations, and a guidelines related to each

measure.

Performance reporting keeps stakeholders informed about how resources

are being used to achieve project objectives.

Tow key outputs of performance reporting are:

Performance report:

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.

There are some areas that all project managers and project

team members should consider in their quests to improve

project communications:

Using communication skills to manage conflicts.

Developing better communication skills.

Running effective meetings.

Using e-mail, instant messaging, and collaborative tools

effectively.

Using templates for project communications.

1. Confrontation: project manager directly face a conflict

using a problem-solving approach.

2. Compromise: project manager use a give-and-take approach

to resolving conflicts.

3. Smoothing: project manager de-emphasize or avoids areas

of difference and emphasize areas of agreement.

4. Forcing: the win-lose approach to conflict resolution.

5. Withdrawal: project manager retreat or withdraw from an

actual or potential disagreement.

6. Collaborating: decision makers incorporate different

viewpoints and insights to develop consensus and

commitment

Conflict often produces important results, such as new ideas,

better alternatives, and motivation to work harder and more

collaboratively.

Research suggests that task-related conflict often improves

team performance, but emotional conflict often depresses team

performance.

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.

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.

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.

Many project teams create a Project Web Site to store all or

part of their project information, including various templates

and lessons-learned reports.

Project Web Site provide a centralized way of delivering

project documents and other communications.

Project team can create the site using various types of

software, such as enterprise project management software.

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.