Chapter 30: Communications Management during Monitoring & Controlling the Project

Aim: To understand the Report Performance process

Communicating How Your Project Is Performing

Communicating with the project team and the outside world is one of the project manager’s primary jobs. As a communicator, the project manager must understand the mechanics involved in sending a message. There has to be an initiator, encoding of the message, sending of the message, and the receiver whom decodes the message, acknowledges the message, and, last but not least, confirms receipt of the message. It is important to maintain open communication with the stakeholders to provide timely and informative updates of the project’s progress. The report performance process addresses issues with communicating with the stakeholders.

The table below shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the report performance process.

Report Performance
Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project management plan Work performance information Work performance measurements Budget forecasts Organizational process assets	Variance analysis Forecasting methods Communication methods Reporting systems	Performance reports Organizational processes assets updates Change requests

In the normal exchange of information with the stakeholders, the project manager will use methods and techniques that help with formal and informal communication. Formal methods include items such as contracts, status reports, public speeches, and performance appraisals. Informal methods are those such as “The Scuttlebutt,” email, and telephone conversations.
One way to determine how complex communication will be in a project is to determine its communication channels by using the formula (n*(n–1))/2, where n represents the number of participants in a project. For example, a project with 10 participants will require 45 communication channels.

With this in mind, it is important to adjust the message and its delivery method based on the audience and the level of impact the project might have on the individuals with whom the project manager is communicating. For example, consider a board member versus the person doing the work. For the worker, getting information about revenue projections and return on investment might be of little or no consequence in her daily duties. However, providing figures on how many additional widgets can be made in an hour would definitely have an impact on her duties and equipment maintenance cycles.

In addition, the project manager must be cognitive that when delivering a message, nonverbal communication and physical appearance have a direct effect on the message been delivered. For example, the project manager delivers a message to a construction team. First, ensure that language and colloquialism used are appropriate to the group. Bear in mind, though, that the same approach might not work when giving a project update to the company senior team. It is important to ensure that the message and intentions are clearly understood by the audience who is the target of the message.

To know more about the Report Performance process Click Here

Prev: Chapter 29

Next: Chapter 31

Chapter 23: Communications Management During Project Execution

Aim: To understand the following two Communication Management related processes
• Distribute information
• Manage stakeholder expectations

Communicating with the project team, and with any other stakeholders, is one of the project manager’s most important tasks. In fact, a project manager spends the majority of his time communicating. Some say as much as 90% of a project manager’s time is spent communicating. Exchanging information is the only way a project manager can know how the project is progressing. The distribute information process keeps stakeholders informed. This includes communication outlined in the communication plan as well as responding to ad-hoc requests. The communication must be both timely and accurate.

The table below shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the distribute information process.

Distribute Information
Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project management plan Performance reports Organizational process assets	Communication methods Information distribution tools	Organizational process assets updates

Communication management is a crucial topic due to both its importance to the smooth operation of the project team and its complexity.

Communication Channels

Based on the number of people in a team, the number of communication channels would vary. The total number of channels increases exponentially as the number of individuals in the team increases. The number of channels can be calculated as:

No. of Channels = N * (N – 1) / 2

Where N is the number of people in the team.

For ex:
For 3 people = 3 * (2) / 2 = 3
For 4 people = 4 * (3) / 2 = 6
For 5 people = 5 * (4) / 2 = 10
For 6 people = 6 * (5) / 2 = 15

As you can see, when the team doubled in size from 3 to 6, the number of channels went up 5 times from 3 to 15.

Exam Watch:

You must be able to calculate the number of communication channels given the number of team members. Don’t be in a hurry to use the formula. Sometimes, the question maybe like: “Team A had 3 members last week and 3 more people joined this week. How many new communication channels were created?”. If you use the formula in a hurry you will end up with 15 as the answer and unfortunately it will be a choice as well. But the question isnt about the total number of channels but the new channels. So, the answer will be 12 (the increased number). Be careful while answering such questions.

Tools and Techniques for Distributing Information

Did you see “Communication Methods” and “Information Distribution Tools” in the Tools & Techniques section of the previous table? If not, I suggest you go back and scan through the table before proceeding further.

Both Communication Method and Information distribution tools are used in the Distribute Information process.

Communication Methods

Communication methods are a part of general management skills. Communication is comprised of a sender, a receiver, and the communication channel. The sender is responsible for making the message clear and accurate. The receiver is responsible for understanding the message. Communication can include the following:

• Written and oral
• Listening and speaking
• Internal and external
• Formal and informal
• Vertical and horizontal

Issues can result if communications are not managed effectively on the project. For example, because email cannot easily convey emotions, an email could be sent with a comment meant to be sarcastic, but the receiver doesn’t understand that and is upset based on the content of the email. The project manager should plan out communications to avoid these types of issues, including the best method for delivering messages based on the audience and content.

Information Distribution Tools

The project manager must ensure that information is effectively collected and distributed to project stakeholders. There are a number of tools to accomplish this:

• Face-to-face project meetings
• Virtual meetings using conference bridges, web conferencing, or video conferencing
• Distribution and filing of printed documents
• Shared access to electronically filed documents and document repository tools
• Email and fax
• Telephone and voice mail
• Access to project scheduling and other project management tools

To know more about the Distribute Information process Click Here

Manage Stakeholder Expectations

A good project manager must do more than just send out timely status updates. In addition to keeping the team informed and ensuring all stakeholders have the necessary information, the project manager must also manage the impact of the information. It is important that the stakeholders remain committed to the project. One of the project manager’s jobs is to recognize and shift in stakeholder commitment and react in an effective manner. The manage stakeholder expectations process addresses exactly that.

The table below shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the manage stakeholder expectations process.

Manage Stakeholder Expectations
Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Stakeholder register Stakeholder management strategy Project management plan Issue log Change log Organizational process assets updates	Communication methods Interpersonal skills Management skills	Organizational process updates Change requests Project management plan updates Project document updates

Notice that the tools and techniques exclusively address the issues of interacting with other people. That’s what managing stakeholders is all about. It is the job of the project manager to ensure all of the stakeholders continue to contribute in a material manner to the success of the project.

To know more about the Manage Stakeholder Expectations process Click Here

Prev: Chapter 22

Next: Chapter 24

Points to Remember: Project Communication Management

90% of a project manager’s job is communication

Communications Management makes sure everybody gets the right message at the right time.

Stakeholder Analysis is a critical tool in Project Communication Management process. You need to interview all of the stakeholders you can find for your project and find out the value the project has for them. As you sit with stakeholders, you’ll identify more people to interview. During Stakeholder Analysis you can divide your stakeholders into groups based on their level of involvement and need for communication. When you understand what motivates all of your stakeholders, you can come up with a strategy to make sure that they’re told about the things that they find important, and that they’re not bored with extraneous details.

It’s not enough to know who your stakeholders are – you need to understand what motivates them, and what it will take it to make the project a success for each of them. That’s where the Stakeholder Management Strategy comes in.

Be careful about when you use different kinds of communication. Any time you need to get a message to a client or sponsor, you use formal communication. Meetings are always informal verbal, even if the meeting is to say something really important. And any project document—like a project management plan, a requirements specification, or especially a contract—is always formal written.

You do most of the project communication when you’re performing the Distribute Information process

It’s important to write down the good things you learned on the project, too. That way, you can be sure to repeat your successes next time. Another important aspect of this action is the fact that, other projects can learn about the best practicies from your experience and implement them.

There are only four communication types; formal written, informal written, formal verbal, and informal verbal. For the test, you need to be able to tell which is which.

Report Performance takes the outputs from the Executing process in Distribute Information and turns them into Performance Reports and Forecasts.

Performance reports and forecasts are a lot easier than they look—because you already know all about them! In the chapter on Project Cost Management, you learned how to use CPI and SPI to measure your project’s performance, and you used EAC and ETC to forecast when the project would be complete. Now you’re just taking that information and communicating it!

A kickoff meeting is a great way to get your project team and stakeholders on the same page.

You should add all of your performance reports to the Organizational Process Assets so that project managers on future projects can use them as historical information.


Points to Remember - Other Topics:

Introduction to Projects & Project Management
Relationship Between Knowledge Areas & Process Groups
Project Integration Management
Project Scope Management
Project Time Management
Project Cost Management
Project Quality Management
Human Resource Management
Project Risk Management
Project Procurement Management
Ethics & Professional Responsibility

Chapter 39: Project Communication

Now that the project schedule is ready, the next step is to manage project communication. Every stakeholder of the project needs to be aware of what is happening in the project on a regular basis. As the project manager, it is our responsibility to do that. This is exactly what we are going to learn in this chapter.

So, lets get started!!!

Project Communication:

There is a common thread that runs through almost all activities and processes in project management, and that is communication. The project and its activities will fail without effective communication. Communication is an exchange of information among persons and groups by using an effectively common system of signs, symbols, and behavior. I used the term “effectively common” to take into account the fact that even if two communicating entities are using two different systems, the “translators” between the communicating entities produce the results as if the two entities were using a common system. For example, I might be using a Windows computer and you might be using a Macintosh, but we can exchange e-mails without having to deal with the differences between the two machines.

Trivia:
Communication is a common thread that runs through almost all activities and processes in project management. At no stage in the project life cycle should we stop communicating.

The importance of communication in project management cannot be overemphasized. Even a well-scheduled and well-funded project can fail in the hands of a hardworking team of experts due to the lack of proper communication. As a project manager, you may be dealing with a wide functional variety of individuals, ranging from executives, to marketing personnel, to sales folks, to technologists. You should be able to wear different communication hats depending upon who you are communicating with. For example, you will not be talking in terms of technical jargon with executives or marketing folks, and you will not speak marketing lingo to software developers. You will be speaking to different stakeholders in their language, while filling the language gap between different functional groups and eliminating misunderstandings due to miscommunication. (Remember the term Translator in the previous paragraph? You will be the Translator for the project)

The key point is that you put on the appropriate communication hat depending on which individual you are communicating with. Be able to switch communication hats quickly and avoid technical jargon and acronyms that are not understood by the person or the group you are communicating with. The goal is the clarity of the language to convey the message accurately.

In a project, you will be communicating with project stakeholders. The different components of project communication management are shown below in the image:

The major goal of communication management is to deliver the right information to the right stakeholders at the right time by using the right communication means to produce the desired impact. You, the project manager are responsible for doing that. You are in the middle of all the activities taken up by your project and you must ensure that everyone knows what he/she needs to know about the project.

Prev: Developing the Project Schedule

Next: Planning Project Communication

Chapter 7: Project Management Knowledge Areas

In the previous chapter, we saw the project lifecycle in detail. In this chapter, we are going to take a look at the Project Management Knowledge Areas.

So, lets get started!!!

Project Management Knowledge Areas

Managing projects requires applying knowledge, skills, and tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet the project objectives. You do this by performing some processes at various stages of the project, as discussed in the previous chapter. That means processes are part of the knowledge required to manage projects. Each aspect of a project is managed by using the corresponding knowledge area. For example, each project has a scope that needs to be managed, and the knowledge required to manage scope is in the knowledge area called project scope management. To perform the project work within the project scope, you need human resources, which need to be managed; the knowledge used to manage human resources is called human resource management.

I guess, by now you have a fair idea of where we are getting to.

Each process belongs to one of the nine knowledge areas:

1. Scope Management
2. Time Management
3. Cost Management
4. Human Resource Management
5. Procurement Management
6. Risk Management
7. Quality Management
8. Integration Management
9. Communications Management
10. Stakeholder Management (This Knowledge Area was introduced in PMBOK 5th Edition)

Each knowledge area has its own place in the project lifecycle and they are all equally important from a project managers point of view. In practical experience you might fine one or more areas to have a greater impact on the outcome of the project, but nonetheless they are all important and play a vital role in the success or failure of a project.

Let us now look at each of these knowledge areas in detail…

Project scope management

The primary purpose of project scope management is to ensure that all the required work and only the required work is performed to complete the project successfully. This is accomplished by defining and controlling what is included in the project and what is not.

Obviously, these activities are performed by using the corresponding processes. So, project scope management, in part, defines the work required to complete the project. It’s a finite amount of work and will require a finite amount of time and resources. These need to be managed as well. The other knowledge areas cover them.

Project time management

The primary purpose of project time management is to develop and control the project schedule. Any project has a timeline by which it is expected to be completed and a well managed project is expected to complete by the set timelines.

Trivia:
Even though project time management takes care of all requisite parameters to manage the timelines of a project effectively, in reality you might find that the project managers are running around like headless chickens trying to get the project completed on time. This usually happens almost always. As an efficient manager, we should ensure that we don't become one of those headless chickens.

Project cost management

The primary goal of project cost management is to estimate the cost and to complete the project within the approved budget. This is one of the important activities because our bosses wouldn't approve if we exceed our approved budgets and it might have severe repercussions. Not to mention, finishing a project within budget with money to spare will always help you during your own appraisal!


The resources needed to complete the project activities include human resources, which need to be managed as well.

Project human resource management

The primary purpose of project human resource management is to obtain, develop, and manage the project team that will perform the actual project work.


There will be situations in which your organization does not have the expertise to perform certain schedule activities in-house. For this or for several other reasons, you might want to acquire some items or services from a vendor Ex: Servers from IBM. This kind of acquisition is called procurement, which also needs to be managed.

Project procurement management

The primary purpose of procurement management is to manage acquiring products (that is, products, services, or results) from outside the project team in order to complete the project. The external vendor who offers the service is called the seller.

Project Risk Management:

Any work, that is done will always have some uncertainties that give rise to project risks, which need to be managed. A project risk is an event that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on meeting the project objectives. The primary purpose of project risk management is to identify the risks and respond to them should they occur.

The goal of risk management is to help meet the project objectives and to help avoid/handle situations that might compromise the project schedule or outcome.

Project quality management

Project quality is defined as the degree to which a project satisfies its objectives and requirements. For example, a high-quality project is a project that is completed on time and with all the work in the project scope completed within the planned budget.

Project integration management

The project is initiated, planned, and executed in pieces, and all those pieces are related to each other and need to come together. That is where integration management comes in. For example, integrating different subsidiary plans into the project management plan needs to be managed. Project integration management includes developing the project charter, developing the project management plan, directing and managing project execution, monitoring and controlling project work, performing integrated change control, and closing the project or a phase of a project.

While managing all the aspects of the project, you as the project manager, will need to coordinate different activities and groups, and for that you need to communicate.

Project communication management

It is absolutely mandatory for the success of the project that the project information is generated and distributed in a timely fashion and to all the stakeholders involved. Experienced managers would say communication is the most important aspect of a project and the most important skill a project manager must have. Without any doubt, communication management is certainly a critical component of project management and a common thread that runs through the project lifecycle.

Project Stakeholders Management

As of the PMBOK 4th Edition there was no such knowledge area. In fact, processes related to stakeholders were actually part of Communications Management. Considering how critical managing stakeholders is, to the success of a project, PMBOK 5th edition included a separate knowledge area for the same. Anyone who is involved with or impacted by a project is a stakeholder and this knowledge area deals with how the project manager is supposed to manage them.

As you can see, managing a project involves performing a set of processes at the various stages of the project. Accordingly, processes are grouped corresponding to these stages and the groups are called process groups.

Processes are part of the knowledge required to manage projects. Each of these processes belongs to one of the nine knowledge areas identified in the PMBOK Guide. So a process has a dual membership—one in a process group, indicating at what stage of the project the process is performed, and the other in a knowledge area, indicating what aspect of the project is managed by using the process.

Below is a table that relates these two aspects:

Now that we know all the processes involved in project management, we will next take a look at the Project Stakeholders.

Previous: Project Lifecycle

Next: Project Stakeholders