Project Communication Management
Essay Preview: Project Communication Management
Report this essay
Project Communication Management
A failure to communicate is often the greatest threat to the success of any project, especially information technology projects. Communications is the lubricant that keeps a project running smoothly.
Project communications management involves communication planning, information distribution, performance reporting, and stakeholder management. Communications planning involves determining the information and communication needs of the stakeholders. For example, who needs what information, when will they need the information, and how will the information be communicated to them. The output of the communications planning process is a communications management plan
Information distribution involves making needed information available to the project stakeholders in a timely manner. The main output of this process is updates to organizational process assets and requested changes.
Performance reporting involves collecting and disseminating performance information that can include status reports, progress measurement, and forecasting. The outputs of this process are performance reports, forecasts, requested changes, recommended corrective actions, and updates to organizational process assets.
Lastly, managing stakeholders involves managing communications to satisfy the needs and expectations of project stakeholders and to resolve any issues that arise. The outputs of this process are resolved issues, approved change requests and corrective actions, and updates to organizational process assets and the project management plan.
The most important part of the communication process is the inclusion of a communications management plan. A communications management plan is a document that guides the project communications. This plan should be part of an overall project management plan. The communications management plan varies with the need of the project, but some type of written plan should always be prepared. For a small program, the communications management plan can be part of the team contract. Regardless, all communication management programs should address the stakeholder communication requirements, the information to be communicated, including format, level of detail, and content, who will receive the information and who will produce it, the frequency of communication, escalation procedures for resolving issues, and a glossary of common terms.
It is very important to know what kinds of information will be distributed, and to which stakeholders. If possible, examination of the stakeholders communications should be accomplished, as this will prevent the wasting of time and money on creating or disseminating unnecessary information. The projects organizational chart is a starting point for identifying the internal stakeholders. Do not forget to include stakeholders outside the project organization such as the customer, the customers top management, and any subcontractors.
Consistent communication helps organizations improve project communications, especially for programs that are compromised of multiple projects. Since it is possible that several of the projects you may work on already have some of the same stakeholders, it is important to develop a coordinated communications management plan. For example, if customers receive status reports from company A that have a different format and the information contained in them has not been coordinated with related projects from within the same company, the customer will question the ability of the company to manage larger programs.
One must also remember that getting the 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. A stakeholder communication analysis serves as a good starting point for information distribution. Project managers and their teams must determine who received what information. Project managers must also decide the best way to distribute the information. Sending the information in written form or as an E-mail, or having meetings, may not be enough or be effective. The answers to these and other questions will help project managers determine the