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Chpt 10 - Project Communications Management

Terms in this set (30)

Project Communications Management
Processes that are required to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring, and the ultimate disposition of project information

Effective communication creates a bridge between diverse stakeholders which impact or influence the project outcome
Plan Communications Management process
The process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for project communications based on stakeholder's information needs and requirements, and available organizational assets
Key benefit of plan Communications Management process
Identifies and documents the approach to communicate most effectively and efficiently with stakeholders
Manage Communications process
The process of creating, collecting, distributing, storing, retrieving, and the ultimate disposition of project information in accordance to the communications management plan
Key benefit of the Manage Communications process
Enables an efficient and effective communication flow between project stakeholders
Control Communications process
The process of monitoring and controlling communications throughout the entire project life cycle to ensure the information needs of the project stakeholders are met
Key benefit of the Control Communications process
Ensures an optimal information flow among all communication participants, at any moment in time
Potential Dimensions to consider in communications
* Internal or external
* Formal (reports, minutes, briefings) and informal (emails, memos, ad-hoc discussions)
* Vertical (up and down the organization) and horizontal (with peers)
* Official (newsletters, annual report) and unofficial (off the record communications)
* Written and oral, and verbal (voice inflections) and nonverbal (body language)
Communication Skills
* Listening actively and effectively
* Questioning and probing ideas and situations to ensure better understanding
* Educating to increase team's knowledge so that they can be more effective
* Fact-finding to identify or confirm information
* Setting and managing expectations
* Persuading a person, a team, or an organization to perform an action
* Motivating to provide encouragement or reassurance
* Coaching to improve performance and achieve desired results
* Negotiating to achieve mutually acceptable agreements between parties
* Resolving conflict to prevent disruptive impacts
* Summarizing, recapping, and identifying the next steps
Inputs to the Plan Communications Management process
Project management plan
Stakeholder register
EEF
OPA
Tools and Techniques for the Plan Communications Management process
Communication requirements analysis
Communication technology
Communication models
Communication methods
Meetings
Outputs from the Plan Communications Management process
Communications management plan
Project documents updates
Inadequate communications planning may lead to...
Problems such as delay in message delivery, communication of information to the wrong audience, or insufficient communication to stakeholders and misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the message communicated
Effective communication means...
The information is provided in the right format, at the right time, to the right audience, and with the right impact

Providing only the information that is needed
Important considerations that may need to be taken into account for communications include, but are not limited to:
* Who needs what information and who is authorized to access that information
* When they will need the information
* Where the information should be stored
* What format the information should be stored in
* How the information can be retrieved
* Whether time zone, language barriers, and cross-cultural considerations need to be taken into account
Communication Requirements Analysis
* Determines the information needs of the project stakeholders
* Defined by combining the type and format of information needed with an analysis of the value of that information
* Project resources should be expended only on communicating information that contributes to the success of the project or where a lack of communication can lead to failure
Number of potential communication channels or paths
Indicator of the complexity of a project's communications

n(n-1)/2

n=number of stakeholders
Key component of planning the project's actual communications
is to determine and limit who will communicate with whom and who will receive what information
Sources of information for project communication requirements
* Organizational charts
* Project organization and stakeholder responsibility relationships
* Disciplines, departments, and specialties involved in the project
* Logistics of how many persons will be involved with the project and at which locations
* Internal information needs (e.g., when communicating within organizations)
* External information needs (e.g., when communicating with the media, public, or contractors)
* Stakeholder information and communication requirements from within the stakeholder register
Communication Technology - Factors that can affect the choice of communication technology include
* Urgency of the need of information
- Urgency, frequency, format

* Availability of technology - Technology to facilitate communication is compatible, available, and accessible

* Ease of Use - Suitable for project participants and training is available were appropriate

* Project environment -

* Sensitivity and confidentiality of the information
Communication Models
Basic model has two parties, defines as the sender and receiver
Medium
Technology medium and includes the mode of communication
Noise
Any interference or barriers that might compromise the delivery of the message

(e.g., distance, unfamiliar technology, inadequate infrastructure, cultural difference, and lack of background information).
Sequence of steps in basic communication model
* Encode - Thoughts or ideas are translated (encoded) into language by the sender

* Transmit Message - Sent by the sender using communication channel (medium)

* Decode - The message is translated by the receiver back into meaningful thoughts or ideas.

* Acknowledge - Receiver may signal (acknowledge) receipt of the message but this does not necessarily mean agreement with or comprehension of the message.

* Feedback/Response - Receiver encodes thoughts and ideas into a message and then transmits this message to the original sender.
Sender responsibility
Transmission of the message, ensuring the information being communicated is clear and complete, and confirming the communication is correctly understood
Receiver responsibility
Ensuring that the information is received in its entirety, understood correctly, and acknowledged or responded to appropriately
Name the communication methods
Interactive communication
Push communication
Pull communication
Interactive communication
two or more parties performing a multidirectional exchange of information

most efficient way to ensure a common understanding by all participants

Ex: Meetings, phone calls, IM, video conferencing
Push communication
Sent to specific recipients who need to receive the information

Ensures that the information is distributed but does not ensure that it actually reached or was understood by the intended audience

Ex: Letters, memos, reports, emails, faxes, voice mails, blogs, press releases
Pull communication
Requires the recipients to access the communication content at their own discretion

Used for very large volumes of information, or for very large audiences

Ex: intranet sites, e-learning, lessons learned databases, knowledge repositories
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