IT Project Management Individual Assignment
IT Project Management
version 1.0
Diploma in Information Technology
Copyright © 2020 by Singapore Institute of Management Pte Ltd. All rights reserved.
Lesson 17: Project Communication Plan
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Learning objectives
Understand the importance of good communications on IT projects
Discuss the process of identifying stakeholders and how to create a stakeholder register and stakeholder management strategy
Explain the elements of project communications planning and how to create a communications management plan
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Learning objectives
Describe various methods for distributing project information and the advantages and disadvantages of each
Recognise the importance of managing stakeholder expectations
Understand how reporting performance helps stakeholders stay informed about project progress
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Learning objectives
List various methods for improving project communications, such as managing conflicts, running effective meetings, using e-mail and other technologies effectively
Describe how software can enhance project communications management
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17.1 Importance of Good Communication
The importance of communication in project management can’t be stressed enough, because it’s critical to project success.
Good communication keeps conflict and confusion from bogging the project down by ensuring key players are aligned on project goals and know exactly what’s expected of them.
It also helps build team-wide trust so everyone works better together from project start to finish.
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Many experts agree that the greatest threat to the success of any project is a failure to communicate.
Many project managers say that 90% of their job is communicating, yet many project managers fail to take the time to plan for project communications.
17.1 Importance of Good Communication
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The goal of project communications management is to ensure timely and appropriate:
Generation,
Collection,
Dissemination,
Storage, and
Disposition of project information.
17.1 Importance of Good Communication
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High-performing businesses communicate more frequently, while low-performing companies usually have poor records of communication.
Poor communication contributes to project failure, which could spell massive financial loss to the company.
17.1 Importance of Good Communication
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17.2 Processes in Project Communications Management
There are five (5) main processes:
Identifying stakeholders
Planning communications
Distributing information
Managing stakeholders
Reporting performance
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17.2.1 Identifying Stakeholders
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17.2.1.1 Process of Stakeholder Identification
It should be done in a methodical and logical way to ensure that stakeholders are not easily omitted.
Not all stakeholders have the same influence or effect on a project, nor will they be affected in the same manner.
Can look for stakeholders organisationally, geographically, or by involvement with various project phases or outcomes.
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17.2.1.1 Process of Stakeholder Identification
Another way is to identify those who are directly impacted (e.g. project team members, customer etc.) by the project and those who may be indirectly affected (e.g. adjacent organisation, members of the local community).
Directly affected stakeholders will usually have greater influence and impact of a project than those indirectly affected.
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17.2.1.2 How to Create the Stakeholder Register?
A stakeholder register is created in 3 steps:
1. Identifying the Stakeholders
2. Creating the register
3. Analysing stakeholders
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17.3 Plan Communication
A PM communication plan identifies how important information will be communicated to stakeholders throughout the project.
It also determines who will be receiving the communication,
How those people will receive it,
When they’ll receive it, and
How often they should expect to receive that information.
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What must the communication plan include:
The purpose or goals of the communication plan
Information about stakeholders and their roles
The types of information that needed to be shared with stakeholders
The methods used to communicate
The frequency that each stakeholder would like to receive information
17.3 Plan Communication
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17.3 Plan Communication
An illustration of the Communication Plan
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A PM communication plan will help because it:
Creates written documentation as a reference.
Sets expectations on when stakeholders will receive updates.
Increases stakeholders’ visibility into the project and its status.
Provides opportunity for stakeholders’ feedback; detect issues early & decrease wasted work.
Increases productivity during meetings.
17.3 Plan Communication
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17.4 Distributing Information
After answering key questions related to project communications, project managers and their teams must decide the best way to distribute the information.
Important considerations for information distribution include the use of technology, formal and informal communications, and the complexity of communications.
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17.4 Distributing Information
Methods of distribution information:
Face to Face communication (e.g. meeting, 1-to-1 conversation)
Digital Communications (e.g. internet, mobile devices, email)
Hard Copy communications (e.g. memo, reports, letters)
Conferencing (e.g. online calls and videos, Skype, Zoom, Teams)
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17.4 Distributing Information
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Suitable for group or individual meetings. Can be either formal or informal. Allows for instant feedback. | Can be costly if participants have to be brought in from overseas or other places. Need time & resources to facilitate such meetings. Need a staff to ensure minutes are taken & distributed to all participants. |
1. Face-to-Face Communications
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17.4 Distributing Information
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Paper-less. Easy access to the Internet, computers & mobile devices. Communication via the Internet is faster, cheaper & easier to retain for record purposes. Can also maintain a project portal or intranet site to share project data. | Risk of data loss or unauthorised access to confidential project information by hackers. |
2. Digital Communications
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17.4 Distributing Information
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| They are visual & textual, can be edited & revised several times to shape them for maximum effect before being distributed. Provide a permanent record of the communication which can be archived for later retrieval. | Need storage space. Need paper, which can be cumbersome to file and store in large quantities. Aging documents are susceptible to loss or damage can lead to difficulties in managing project records. |
3. Hard Copy Communications
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17.4 Distributing Information
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Can be used to pull a large group together. Allow for real-time video collaboration. Most video conferencing tools provide white boards & other options for document sharing and editing. | Time zones - can be difficult to get everyone scheduled in a session depending on where they are in the world. Personal aspect of a conversation is taken away. Conferencing etiquette may not be observed by some users (e.g. late, not paying attention. |
4. Conferencing
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17.4 Distributing Information
Distribute information through meetings:
Set the agenda and distribute it among team members before the start of the meeting so that everyone is aware of it.
Appoint someone to take meeting minutes. Minutes are important documents for referring to project updates & status reports at any time during the course of the project.
Distribute project reports so that all team members are informed on the project status.
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17.4 Distributing Information
Barriers for distributing project Information through meetings:
Late start of meetings
Dominating speakers
Deviating from agenda
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17.4.1 Number of Communications Channels
There is a simple formula for determining the number of communications channels as the number of people involved in a project increases.
We can calculate the number of communications channels as follows:
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17.4.1 Number of Communications Channels
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17.5 Managing Stakeholders
Project sponsors can usually rank scope, time, and cost goals in order of importance and provide guidelines on how to balance the triple constraint.
This ranking is shown in an Expectation Management Matrix, which can help clarify expectations
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17.5 Managing Stakeholders
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17.5 Managing Stakeholders
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17.5.1 Importance of Managing Stakeholder Expectations
Managing stakeholders is communicating with stakeholders & managing their expectations & concerns for the purpose of meeting the stakeholder needs, addressing issues, resolving conflict situations, & achieving the project goals.
The process is based on holding communications & taking change requests to gather feedback & make updates to project documentation.
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17.5.1 Importance of Managing Stakeholder Expectations
When expectations of the stakeholders are actively managed, the project gets a higher likelihood for success.
The project manager should continuously negotiate & influence desires of the stakeholders to achieve strict conformity of project goals & expectations & maintain the project management effort.
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17.6 Reporting Performance
Performance reporting keeps stakeholders informed about how resources are being used to achieve project objectives.
Work performance information and measurements, forecasted completion dates, quality control measurements, the project management plan, approved change requests, and deliverables are all important inputs to performance reporting.
Two key outputs of performance reporting are performance reports and forecasts. Performance reports are normally provided as status reports or progress reports.
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17.7 Improving Project Communication
The following are some ways:
Managing Conflicts
Running Effective Meetings
Use Online Communication Tools when Necessary
Use a RACI Chart
Pay attention to non-verbal communication
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Conflicts can negatively affect the productivity of the group.
The PM should :
Listen for the underlying messages during the conversations. Personal agendas will create conflict if not carefully managed.
Seek to understand where each person is coming from, and encourage participants to expand on their view so others can understand.
Encourage all to listen and respect to the ideas or opinions of each person without passing judgment.
17.7.1 Managing Conflicts
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17.7.1 Managing Conflicts
Blake and Mouton (1964) delineated five (5) basic modes for handling conflicts: Each mode can be rated as high, medium, or low on two dimensions: importance of Task (T), and importance of Relationship (R) between the people having the conflict.
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Confrontation or problem‐solving: Directly face a conflict (High T/High R)
Compromise: Use a give‐and‐take approach (Medium T/Medium R)
Smoothing: De‐emphasise areas of differences and emphasise areas of agreement (Low T/High R)
Forcing: The win‐lose approach (High T/Low R)
Withdrawal: Retreat or withdraw from an actual/potential disagreement (Low T/Low R)
17.7.1 Managing Conflicts
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Confrontation or problem‐solving
Compromise
Smoothing
Forcing
Withdrawal
17.7.1 Managing Conflicts
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Sadly, not many people know how to run meetings effectively and end up wasting time and not achieving much.
If done properly, meetings can yield great results keeping everyone informed about progress and bottlenecks in a project.
To conduct productive meetings, include an agenda, updated status reports, and the next course of action followed by a quick summary.
Encourage others to voice their ideas and opinions in meetings to have a two-way dialogue and effective communication.
17.7.2 Running Effective Meetings
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Face-to-face communication is nice, but not always possible, especially in the case of distributed teams (e.g. work from home)
Online communication tools like Skype and Zoom give you the opportunity to bring a group of people together for a discussion in a more personalised way than that which is allowed by e-mail.
17.7.3 Use Online Communication Tools
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RACI (“Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed.”) chart helps to determine who needs to be involved in which lines of communication. It helps to cut out unnecessary communication that may be inhibiting workflow.
17.7.4 Use a RACI Chart
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17.7.4 Use a RACI Chart
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17.7.4 Use a RACI Chart
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17.7.5 Non Verbal Communication
Pay attention to non-verbal communication.
Effective communication isn’t just verbal but also non-verbal.
In fact, more than half of the communication happens through our body language, actions, and gestures.
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A big part of the PM role is making sure that everyone is aware of their personal responsibilities.
It would be impossible to always check in with every team member to make sure their tasks are progressing as planned, & then to share that progress with the rest of the team.
Project management software keeps the entire team on the same page throughout a project & streamline communication for a more efficient workflow.
17.8 Use Software to Enhance Project Communication Management
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Questions?
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