Chapter: 11Project

Communication Management
Course Instructor
Er. ANUJ GHIMIRE
Project Communication Management
It includes the 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 have an influence upon the
project execution or outcome.
Time to communicate is to be invested in the project.
Everyone must understand how communications affect the
project as a whole.
Project Communications Management
Processes
Communications Planning:
Determining the information and communications needs of
the stakeholders.
Information Distribution:
Making needed information available in a timely manner
Performance Reporting:
Collecting and disseminating performance information
Administrative Closure:
Generating, gathering, and disseminating information to
formalize phase or project completion
Project Quality Management
Project Quality Management is all about the synergy of
continuous improvement of the project and the principal
of project delivery.
Using a Quality Management approach play a key role in
assuring the project meets the customer requirements.
The three processes associated with Project Quality
Management are:
Quality Planning
Perform Quality Assurance
Perform Quality Control
Dimensions of Communication Activities
Internal (within the project) and external (customer,
vendors, other projects, organizations, the public);
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); and
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;
Communication Skills
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; and
Summarizing, recapping, and identifying the next steps.
Importance of Communication Management
The greatest threat to many projects is a failure to
communicate properly.
Research Showing that IT Professionals must be able to
effectively communicate to succeed in their positions.
Strong verbal skills being a key factor in career advancement
for IT Professionals.
The reasons that justify the importance of communication in
project management are:
Relaying information
Receiving information
Change in situation
Discussing problems
Bridging the language gap
Plan Communication Management
It is the process of developing an appropriate approach and
plan for project communications based on stakeholder’s
information needs and requirements, and available
organizational assets.
The key benefit of this process is that it identifies and
documents the approach to communicate most effectively
and efficiently with stakeholders
Creating a stakeholder analysis also aids in
communications planning.
Important Considerations
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; and
Whether time zone, language barriers, and cross-cultural
considerations need to be taken into account.
Plan Communication Management
Plan Communication Management:Tools and Techniques
Communication Requirements Analysis:
Determines the information needs of the project
stakeholders
The total number of potential communication
channels is n(n –1)/2, where n represents the number
of stakeholders
The project manager should also consider the number
of potential communication channels or paths as an
indicator of the complexity of a project’s
communications.
Plan Communication Management:Tools and Techniques
Communication Technology:
The methods used to transfer information among project
stakeholders may vary significantly
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 Communication Management:Tools and Techniques
Communication Technology:
The methods used to transfer information among project
stakeholders may vary significantly
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
Organizing and Conducting Effective Meetings
Sender-Receiver Models:
Incorporating feedback loops to provide opportunities for
interaction/participation and remove barriers to
communication.
Choice of Media:
Situation specifics as to when to communicate in writing
versus orally, when to prepare an informal memo versus a
formal report, and when to communicate face to face versus
by e-mail.
Writing Style:
Appropriate use of active versus passive voice, sentence
structure, and word choice.
Organizing and Conducting Effective Meetings
Meeting Management Techniques:
Preparing an agenda and dealing with conflicts.
Presentation Techniques:
Awareness of the impact of body language and design of
visual aids.
Facilitation Techniques:
Building consensus and overcoming obstacles.
Listening Techniques:
Listening actively (acknowledging, clarifying, and confirming
understanding) and removal of barriers that adversely affect
comprehension.
Information Distribution Process
It is the process of making information available to project
stakeholders in a timely manner.
It includes communication management plan and responds
to unexpected information requests.
Information Distribution Process: Tools and Techniques
Communication Skills
It ensures that right person gets right information at right time.
It emphasizes on sender to make information clear and
complete so that the receiver can obtain the correct
information.
Performance Reporting
It involves collecting and disseminating project information,
communicating project progress, utilization of resources, and
forecasting future progress and status to various stakeholders,
as decided in the communication management plan.
During the process of performance reporting, the work results
of other processes are also analyzed and combined into
performance reports.
They are typically done in tabular or graphical formats that
may be text-based, visual-based (such as charts, graphs, or
tables), or most often a combination of both.
Performance Reporting
Performance Reporting
Overall, the elaborate reports may include:
Analysis of past performance.
Summary of changes approved in the reporting period.
Current status of risks and issues.
Results of variance analysis.
Work completed during the reporting period.
Work to be completed during the next reporting period.
Forecasted project completion.
Other relevant information to be reviewed and asked by
stakeholders.
Integrated reporting system
An integrated report is a concise communication about
how an organization's strategy, governance, performance
and prospects lead to the creation of value over the short,
medium and long term.“
 It is as much about how companies do business and how
they create value over the short, medium and long term as
it is about how this value story is reported.
Integrated reporting system
There are a multitude of benefits associated with Integrated
Reporting - both within an organisation and from an external
perspective.
Encouraging your organisation to think in an integrated way
Clearer articulation of strategy and business model
A single report that is easy to access, clear and concise
Creating value for stakeholders through identification and
measurement of non-financial factors
Linking of non-financial performance more directly to the business
Better identification of risk and opportunities
Improved internal processes leading to a better understanding of
the business and improved decision making process.