Project Communications Management

• Project Communications Management includes the processes necessary to ensure that the project information needs, and stakeholder needs, are met through development and activities, designed for effective information exchange.
• This management consist of two parts:
  • Development of strategy
  • Carrying out activities for communication
• The Goal is to ensure generation, collection, dissementation, storage, and disposition of project information is timely and appropriate
• There are three main processes for communication management

Planning Communications Management

• Determine information and communications needs of stakeholders
• Development of communication activities based on needs, organizational assets, and project needs
• Benefit is effectively and efficiently engaging stakeholders
• Outputs: management plan, project management plan updates, and project document updates.

Managing Communications

• Ensuring timely and appropriate collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, monitoring, and disposition of project information
• Key benefit: efficient and effective information flow between project teams and stakeholders
• Outputs: project communications, project management plan updates, project documents updates, and organizational process assets updates.

Monitoring Communications

• Ensuring information needs of the project and the stakeholders are met
• Determines if planned communications artifacts and activities have desired effect of increasing or maintaining stakeholder support
• The main goal is an optimal information flow throughout the entire project life cycle
• Outputs: work performance information, change requests, project management plan updates, and project document updates.

Enhancing Team Communication

• Methods for improving projects:

Developing Better Communication Skills

• Some have natural skills, others learn technical skills
• Communication skills can be developed through training and role-playing
• Sessions focus on presentation skills, and use video to record and improve skills
• Small investments leads to paybacks for individuals, projects, and organizations

Running Effective Meetings

• Fosters team building, reinforcing expectations, roles, relationships, and commitment
• Consider the following tips to improve time spent at meetings:
  • Determine if meetings can be avoided. Use other methods more effectively
    • Email or phone call describing the situation
  • Define:
    • the purpose and what should happen
  • Decide who should attend
    • Effective with minimum attendee's if decisions must be made
  • Important that attendee's should be determined based on meeting purpose and intended outcome
  • Provide agenda ahead of time to come prepared.
  • Prepare visual aid ahead of time
    • Organizes thoughts and ideas which is effective
  • State how to run the meeting as well as ground rules
    • Introduces people, reiterate purpose, watch the time, summarize key issues, and action items
  • Don't assume meetings are run the same
  • Making meetings fun depending on the organization and project culture to build relationships

Using Various Technologies Effectively

• Technologies and guidelines can allow you to communicate more effectively using email:
  • Send email to the right people
    • Do not reply to all if not necessary
  • Subject lines should be meaningful
    • To ensure readers quickly see the information being communicated
  • Body of email should be clear and concise
    • Use as few words while maintaining tone
    • Number questions if necessary and isolate each on a separate line
  • Reduce size of attachments or include a link
  • Delete unneeded emails
    • Use the software's blocking feature if available
  • Use virus protection and keep it up to date
    • Never open attachments if the source is untrusted
  • Respond to email quickly while making it clear if no response is necessary
  • Files of email should be created into folders with meaningful names
    • File as soon as possible

Using Templates for Project Communications

• Makes communications easier to prepare by providing examples such as:
  • Project descriptions
  • Project charters
  • Performance reports
  • Issue logs
• Documentation from past projects can be sources
• Includes sample templates for project descriptions

Using Software to Enhance Project Communications

• Projects need to provide:
  • Fast
  • Convenient
  • Consistent
  • Up-to-date information
• Organizations use:
  • Sharepoint for document management
  • Skype for video
  • Zoom for screen sharing
  • Webcasts for video, graphics, sound, and feedback over the Web
  • Podcasts and Youtube videos
• These technologies enhance project communications
• Software includes:
  • Portfolio Management
    • Evaluates and prioritizes activities by providing views of programs and projects
    • Balances implementation of change initiatives for investment
    • Maximizes productivity, minimizes cost, and aligns with strategic objectives
  • Resource Management
    • Maximizes human resources for reducing cost
    • Acquiring, allocating, and managing resources for a project
    • Ensures use is effective on time and budget
    • Maximizes resource use to plan effectively
  • Project Collaboration
    • Sharing to improve communications and decision making to eliminate redundancies, and take advantage of best practices
    • Planning, coordinating, controlling, and monitoring progress across boundaries