Communications Management

1. Communications Management

2. Communications Planning • Involves identifying the information and communications needs of the stakeholders • This includes determining what needs to be communicated, to whom, when, with what method and how frequently • Very proactive approach

3. STAKEHOLDERS • Identify All of them • Determine all of their requirements • Determine their expectations • Determine their interests • Determine their level of influence • Plan how you will communicate with them • Manage their expectation and influence

4. Stakeholder Register

5. Whom do we communicate with? • The information needs to be distributed to the following: • Internal to the project • External to the project • Sponsor • Management • Project Manager • Team • Team member’s managers • Other project managers • Other stakeholders

6. Communications Model • It looks like a circle with three parts: • The sender • The message • The receiver • Each message is encoded by the sender and decoded by the receiver based on the receiver’s education, experience, language and culture

7. Effective Communication • The sender should encode a message carefully, determine the communications method used to send it, and confirm that the message is understood • Nonverbal : About 55% of all communication • Paralingual: Pitch and tone of voice • Feedback: “do u understand what I said?”

8. Effective Listening • The receiver should decode the message carefully and confirm the message is understood • This includes • Feedback • Active Listening • Paralingual

9. Communications Methods • Interactive Communication • Conversation, meetings & conference call • Push Communication (One way stream; no feedback is expected) • Email updates, Company memos etc • Pull Communication (info is placed at central location; recipients retrieve )

10. Communications Methods • Decision regarding whether the communication needs to be formal or informal, written or verbal, needs to be made for each instance of communication

13. Communication Channels • Adding one more person to the team, communications grow exponentially • Channel calculation formula: • [N (N-1)/2] where N = number of people

14. Information Distribution • It involves implementing the communications management plan • Since not everything can be planned, information distribution also involves creating reports providing information that was not planned

15. Performance Reporting • It collects performance data and sends it to stakeholders • Reports should provide the kind of information and the level of detail required by stakeholders and may include: • Status Report • Progress Report • Trend Report • Forecasting Report • Variance Report • Earned Value • Lessons Learned

16. Communication Blockers • The following might get in the way of communications: • Noise • Distance • Improper encoding of messages • Saying “That is a bad idea” • Hostility • Language • Culture

17. Project Communications Management • Project Communications Management includes 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. • Project Managers spend upto 90% of their time communicating with • Team members • Internal Stakeholders • External Stakeholders • Communication-related issues are one of the most frequent problems • Project Managers must have a structured approach to managing communications, including a pro-actively identifying stakeholders’ communications requirements, in order to reduce potential communication problems. [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

18. Types of Communications • Types of Communications • Internal, External • Formal, Informal • Vertical, Horizontal • Written, Oral / Verbal, Non-Verbal • Communication Skills • Active and effective listening • Clarification (Probing for better understanding) • Fact-finding • Setting and Managing Expectations • Persuading • Motivating • Coaching • Negotiating • Resolving Conflicts • Summarizing, and Identifying Next Steps [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

19. Project Communications Management Processes • Plan Communications Management • Manage Communications • Control Communications [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

20. Project Communications Management Processes (Cont’d…) • Plan Communications Management • Process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for project communications based on stakeholders’ information needs and requirements, and available organizational assets • Manage Communications • Control Communications [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

21. Project Communications Management Processes (Cont’d…) • Plan Communications Management • Manage Communications • The process of creating, collecting, distributing, storing, retrieving and the ultimate disposition of project information in accordance with the communications management plan • Control Communications [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

22. Project Communications Management Processes (Cont’d…) • Plan Communications Management • Manage Communications • Control Communications • The process of monitoring and controlling communications throughout the entire project life cycle to ensure the information needs of the project stakeholders are met [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

23. [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

24. Plan Communications Management • Planning Communications is important to the success of any project • Inadequate planning may lead to various problems, e.g. • Delay in message delivery • Communication of information to the wrong audience • Insufficient communication to stakeholders • Misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the message • Effective Communication = Providing information in the right format, at the right time, to the right audience, and with the right impact • Efficient Communication = Providing only the information that is needed [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

25. Plan Communications Management (Cont’d…) • Information needs and distribution methods vary for each project • Important Considerations For Communicating • What information is required • Who requires that information (and who is authorized to have access) • When the information is required • Where the information is to be stored • Format information is to be stored in • How to retrieve that information • Other Considerations (e.g. Time-zones, language barriers, cultural differences, etc) [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

26. Detailed Discussion:Plan Communications Management • “Process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for project communications based on stakeholders’ information needs and requirements, and available organizational assets” • Key Benefit: Identifies and documents the approach to communicate most effectively and efficiently with stakeholders. [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

27. [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

28. Detailed Discussion: Plan Communications Management – ITTOs • Inputs • Project Management Plan • Stakeholder Register • EEF’s and OPA’s • Tools & Techniques • Communication Requirements Analysis • Communication Technology • Communication Models • Communication Methods • Meetings • Outputs • Communications Management Plan • Project Documents Updates [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

29. Detailed Discussion: Plan Communications Management – Inputs • Project Management Plan • Provides information on how the project will be executed, monitored, controlled, and closed. • Stakeholder Register • Provides information needed to plan the communications with stakeholders • EEFs and OPAs [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition by PMI, USA]

30. Detailed Discussion: Plan Communications Management – Tools & Techniques • Communication Requirements Analysis • Determining information needs of stakeholders • Needs: Type and format of information, combined with analysis of value of that information • No. of communication channels: n(n-1)/2 • Key components of communication planning • Limiting the communication channels, and • Who will receive what information [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition (C) Project Management Institute, USA]

31. Detailed Discussion: Plan Communications Management – Tools & Techniques (Cont’d…) • Communication Technology • The method/medium to transfer information among project stakeholders • Communication technology may vary from project to project. • Factors affecting choice of communication technology: • Urgency, frequency, format of information • Availability, compatibility, and accessibility of technology • Ease of use • Project Environment (colocated, virtual, time-zones, language and cultural differences etc) • Sensitivity and confidentiality of information [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition (C) Project Management Institute, USA]

32. Detailed Discussion: Plan Communications Management – Tools & Techniques (Cont’d…) • Communication Models • The format/sequence in which communication takes place between the parties [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition (C) Project Management Institute, USA]

33. Detailed Discussion: Plan Communications Management – Tools & Techniques (Cont’d…) • Communication Models (Cont’d…) • Components of a communication model: • Sender • Medium • Receiver • Noise: Interference (present in the communication medium) which may compromise delivery of message • Sequence of steps in a basic communication model: • Encode • Transmit • Decode • Acknowledge • Feedback [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition (C) Project Management Institute, USA]

34. Detailed Discussion: Plan Communications Management – Tools & Techniques (Cont’d…) • Communication Methods • The method in which communications take place • Broadly classified as • Interactive Communication • E.g. Meetings, Phone Calls • Push Communication • E.g. Emails, Letters, Reports, Memos • Pull Communication • E.g. Websites, Blogs, E-Learning, Knowledge Repositories, Lessons Learned • Choice of Communication Method • Communication Requirements • Cost/time constraints • Familiarity/availability of tools and resources [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition (C) Project Management Institute, USA]

35. Detailed Discussion: Plan Communications Management – Tools & Techniques (Cont’d…) • Meetings • Conducted to gather the team to determine the most appropriate way of how information will be communicated throughout the project • Few considerations for making meetings useful: • Time limit, and adherence to schedule • Scheduling recurring meetings in advance • ‘Just Enough’ frequency of meetings • Clear agenda, purpose • Team’s input in creating the agenda, and distribution of agenda in advance • Sticking to the agenda • The right audience • Ground rules for meetings • Action items and time-limits for each • Collection and distribution of minutes of meeting [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition (C) Project Management Institute, USA]

36. Detailed Discussion: Plan Communications Management – Outputs • Communications Management Plan • Component of project management plan that describes how project communications will be planned, structured, monitored and controlled. • Project Documents Updates • E.g. Stakeholder Register [Ref: PMBoK 5th Edition (C) Project Management Institute, USA]

37. Communications Management Plan • Its the output of communications planning • It documents how you will manage and control communications • Many people do not realize the extent of the information that must be distributed

38. Lessons Learned • This document includes what was done right, wrong, and what would be done differently if the project could be redone • To be as valuable as possible, lessons learned should cover these areas: • Technical aspects of project • Project management • Management

39. Thank You!