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CHAPTER 10: PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT - Coggle Diagram
CHAPTER 10: PROJECT
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT
IMPORTANCE OF FACE TO FACE
COMMUNICATION
-Research says that in a face-to-face interaction: 58 percent of communication is through body language 35 percent of communication is through how the words are said 7 percent of communication is through the content or words that are spoken
-Pay attention to more than just the actual words someone is saying
-A person’s tone of voice and body language say a lot about how he or she really feels
RUNNING EFFECTIVE MEETING
-Determine if a meeting can be avoided
-Define the purpose and intended outcome of the meeting
-Determine who should attend the meeting
-Provide an agenda to participants before the meeting
-Prepare handouts and visual aids, and make logistical arrangements ahead of time
-Run the meeting professionally Set the ground rules for the meeting
-Build relationships
USING EMAIL, INSTANT MESSAGING, TEXTING
& COLLABORATIVE TOOLS EFFECTIVELY
Make sure that e-mail, instant messaging, texting, or collaborative tools are an appropriate medium for what you want to communicate
-Be sure to send information to the right people
-Use meaningful subject lines and limit the content of emails to one main subject, and be as clear and concise as possible
-Be sure to authorize the right people to share and edit your collaborative documents
SAMPLE COLLABORATIVE TOOLS
A SharePoint portal allows users to create custom
Web sites to access documents and applications stored on shared devices
Google Docs allows users to create, share, and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online
A wiki is a Web site designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify Web page content
DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF
COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS
-As the number of people involved increases, the complexity of communications increases because there are more communications channels or pathways through which people can communicate.
-Number of communications channels = n(n-1)/2 when n is the number of people involved
CONTROLLING COMMUNICATION
-The main goal of controlling communications is to ensure the optimal flow of information throughout the entire project life cycle
-The project manager and project team should use their various reporting systems, expert judgment and meetings to assess how well communications are working. If problems exist, the project manager and team need to take action, which often requires changes to the earlier processes of planning and managing project communications
-It is often beneficial to have a facilitator from outside the project team assess how well communications are working
KEYS TO GOOD COMMUNICATIONS
-Project managers say they spend as much as 90 percent of their time communicating
-Need to focus on group and individual communication needs
-Use formal and informal methods for communicating
-Distribute important information in an effective and timely manner
-Set the stage for communicating bad news
-Determine the number of communication
channels
REPORTING PERFORMANCE
Performance reporting keeps stakeholders informed about how resources are being used to achieve project objectives:
-Status reports describe where the project stands at a specific point in time
-Progress reports describe what the project team has accomplished during a certain period of time
-Forecasts predict future project status and progress based on past information and trends
PLANNING COMMUNICATIONS MGT
-Every project should include some type of communications management plan, a document that guides project communications
-The communications management plan varies with the needs of the project, but some type of written plan should always be prepared
-For small projects, the communications management plan can be part of the team contract
-For large projects, it should be a separate document
COMMUNICATIONS MGT PLAN CONTENTS
1.Stakeholder communications requirements
2.Information to be communicated, including format, content, and level of detail
3.Who will receive the information and who will produce it
4.Suggested methods or technologies for conveying the information
5.Frequency of communication
6.Escalation procedures for resolving issues
7.Revision procedures for updating the communications management plan
8.A glossary of common terminology
USING TEMPLATES FOR PROJECT
COMMUNICATIONS
Many technical people are afraid to ask for help
Providing examples and templates for project communications saves time and money
Organizations can develop their own templates, use some provided by outside organizations, or use samples from textbooks
Recall that research shows that companies that excel in project management make effective use of templates