Classic PM: 10 Communications

Communications

Planning communications, but how? Most project managers do not make any communication plans and do not monitor or control them in any way, blindly carrying out communications. But since the methodology is designed for professionals in the field of project management, this approach is not acceptable.

This area of knowledge is quite easy to master, even in PMBok written in a simple and accessible language. It is considered that 90% of the time the Project Manager is communicating, and this is directly related to Communications. PMI distinguishes 5 Communications management processes:

1. 10.1 Identify Stakeholders
2. 10.2 Plan Communications
3. 10.3 Distribute Information
4. 10.4 Manage Stakeholders Expectations
5. 10.5 Report Performance

10.1 Identify Stakeholders

This process can be seen, if not as the most important, as extremely important at least. In large part, the quality and completeness of the definition of Stakeholders will depend on the quality of Collect Requirements results, because the missing from the sight of one or more Stakeholders can be expressed in the lack of several requirements for the Project that consequently will increase the cost of the Project during its Execution.

Before going into the definition of Stakeholders, it is necessary to understand who they will be. Stakeholders of a project are any physical or juridical person who is in some way associated with the Project, can influence it positively or negatively. There is no need to fear that Stakeholders may be a very large number, but it is worth fearing the «sudden» appearance of unaccounted Stakeholders with new Requirements, which will have a critical impact on project Execution. Of course, the words «must be taken into account anyone who is somehow connected with the project» should not be taken as a guide to action. For example, in the construction of a house, drivers who will pass nearby to the building will also be Stakeholders (their requirement may become, for example, accessibility of the road at any time), but to list each of them by name does not make sense. So we can group them as «drivers» and account for them as a single Stakeholders.

Remember that it is desirable to identify each Stakeholder, but the time of their identification is also extremely important. It is best to do this in the early stages of the Project, in the group of processes called Initiation. Key Stakeholders must be identified before Collect Requirements and Define Scope.

Let’s sum up the intermediate result and list all actions that the Project Manager is obliged to perform throughout the whole project:

• identification of all Stakeholders of the Project. Sooner or later, lost Stakeholders will «pop up» and possibly bring a list of additional Requirements to the Project, which may require recycling of work already done, and this will take extra costs. Each Stakeholders should be added to the Stakeholders Register, which, by the way, is one of the outputs of the Process under consideration;
• determination of all requirements of the Stakeholders. All Requirements should be identified regardless of their origin. Requirement definition is the area of responsibility of the Collect Requirements process. Requirements include not only technical needs for the Project, but also communication requirements (how to communicate, questions boundaries, how often to communicate, etc.), management style requirements for the Project, reporting format, etc.;
• definition of all Expectations of Stakeholders. In the example with the house, the expectations on the part of the neighbor can be attributed to, for example, «I hope that you do not plan to exert noisy work this weekend?». Expectations are not Requirements and their compliance is not mandatory, but their compliance entails a lot of advantages, in particular the more favorable relationship with the Stakeholders;
• defining Interest in the Project. In addition to Requirements and Expectations, which are often negative, Stakeholders can assist if there is some personal interest in the Project. For example, when building a house, the neighbor may be interested in running a gas pipeline that he currently does not have, and with your participation, the operation will cost him significantly less; ergo, the possible joint implementation of a gas pipeline, reducing the Cost of the Project - that’s the positive Risk of the Project;
• Defining the degree of Influence. It is very important to focus on some specific Stakeholders. It is necessary to determine the degree of Influence of each Stakeholders and note this in the Stakeholders Register;
• communication conditions. Planning of communications with Stakeholders (especially the key ones) is critical for project Execution;
• implementation of Communications. To be implemented throughout the Project and includes, among other things, the identification of new Requirements, reporting, Problem Solving etc.;
• Requirements management. In addition to the simple enumeration, it is also necessary to monitor the implementation of certain Requirements throughout the Project;
• Influence and Interest management. As well as the management of Requirements, must be carried out throughout the Project.

So, with the term we have worked out, let’s now go back to the Process.

Identify Stakeholders

Identify Stakeholders can be done in different ways - by a simple survey, in dialogue with the management, by project analysis, etc. How you will identify them depends only on your preferences. In parallel with the identification, it is necessary to carry out an evaluation of their Interest, Influence degree and Requirements for communications. All the information obtained must be entered in the Stakeholders Register, which may looks like this:

This document can be distributed freely within the Project.

Influence/Interest Matrix

Very useful tool that helps to build a strategy of interaction with Stakeholders. Can be distributed only to trusted persons, or should not be distributed at all. Looks as follows:

Stakeholder Management Strategy

The principle is that we should use and multiply everything that can be useful to the Project and smooth out and reduce all negative impacts that the Stakeholders may have on the Project. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? But the implementation of this principle often causes problems.

It is desirable to write a document describing the principles of interaction with Stakeholders. It is enough to list some characteristics Stakeholders, character traits, and possible positive and negative factors Influence to the Project. Of course, it is strictly a closed document and should not be distributed even within the Project Team. The content may be as follows:

10.2 Plan Communications

Regardless of whether you do this process or not, for any of your projects, you plan communication. For example, when you have defined an Activity to execute and request a report on its execution, you plan communication. Or, for example, when you provide a Team Member with contact information Stakeholder, which is outside the Project Team, you also plan communication. The Plan Communications process is an integral part of any project, but they are often planned «on the fly», which is bad practice in terms of project management methodology.

Well, I decided to Plan Communications, and what does it take? To design a Communications Management Plan, which is the main output of this process, at least the following actions must be carried out:

• plan communications with each Stakeholder based on their preferences and interests (when, how, what issues to address and other similar questions);
• optimize the list of Communications channels that are present in the Project;
• compile a list of information provided for each Stakeholder;
• define the formats of information provided.

Of course, this is the minimum list of questions to be answered when planning communications. You can add any questions that you think are useful for communication management.

Since the Project is not carried out in a vacuum, it is assumed that each project has both vertical and horizontal communications. Interaction of the Project with the environment can be described as:

Provided information

The information to be provided will, of course, depend on the conditions under which the Project is carried out. The most common list of information provided is as follows:

• Project Charter;
• Project Management Plans (general Project Management Plan may be provided, or a plan for each individual area of knowledge);
• WBS;
• Project Schedule;
• List of upcoming meetings;
• List of topics for discussion at meetings;
• Resource requirements;
• Scheduled meetings with management;
• Information on project status;
• Problems;
• Project successes and failures;
• Change Requests;
• Change request fulfillment reports;
• Reporting delays;
• Contact details of various Stakeholders;
• Templates for project performance reports;
• Project performance reports;

Communication Types

When developing a plan of interaction with the Stakeholder, it is necessary to choose the method(s) of communication. There are 4 types:

Type	Examples
Formal | Written	Discussion of complex issues, project management plan, charter and other important documents
Formal | Verbal	Presentations, speeches
Informal | Written	E-mail, text messages (skype, icq, etc.), sms messages, etc.
Informal | Verbal	Negotiations, meetings

Effective Communications

The effectiveness of communications is determined by the quality of information exchanged between the parties to communications - the sender and the receiver. Two conditions must be met to ensure effective communications: efficient communication transportation and efficient communication reception.

Effective communication is not possible without the sender’s understanding of the subject matter. In addition, most senders forget about the need to use facial expressions and gestures, although it is believed that 50-55% of the transported information is delivered using facial expressions and gestures. It is also important to change the tone and timbre of your voice - this also contributes to an improved perception of information. In addition, both of these aspects indicate your interest in communication.

In order to receive a communication effectively, it is necessary to analyze the information received and respond that the message has been received and understood successfully. Effective receipt of information is not possible without confirmation that the information is fully understood - it is necessary to make clear to the sender that there is a lack of understanding on a particular issue. It is not necessary to interrupt the speaker. Despite this, you can express misunderstanding with facial expressions and gestures to make it clear that the information is not understood properly. Most likely, he will not refuse you and will more carefully present information.

Communication Methods

There are three methods:

• Interactive Communications - simply speaking, dialogue. Both sides communicate in a rather free style. For example, it is negotiation, discussion, etc.;
• Push Communications - this method assumes communication in one direction. The sender of a message does not expect to receive a reply. For example, sending information by e-mail, informing about the status of the Project, etc.;
• Pull Communications - information is provided in a shared repository, and anyone (who has access to it) can get it at any time. For example, corporate websites, information booths, etc.

Meetings

For meetings to be successful, the following conditions must be met:

• determine meeting topics;
• inform participants about the topic (so that they can prepare for the meeting);
• determine meeting objectives;
• set meeting dates (start and end dates);
• plan meeting;
• ensure that only the really right people participate;
• only one person should manage the meeting;
• make the meeting minutes available to all participants.

Communication Channels

How many communication channels do you think there are for two people? Right, 1. And for three? 3. And for 10? 40?

To ensure the effectiveness of communications, it is necessary to design communication channels in order to be able to optimize them. For calculation, the following formula is used:

$$''CC''=\frac{''N\; *\; (N\; -\; 1)''}{''2''}$$

, where CC - Communication Channels; N - the number of Stakeholders.

Using this formula, you can calculate the number of communications for any number of people involved; for example, for 40: 40*(40-1)/2 = 780.

The Project Manager’s task is to optimize Communication Channels, i.e., leave only those that will be needed.

Communications Management Plan

It is a result of the Plan Communications process and, at the same time, an analysis of the aspects of communication described above. It can have any format; below is just one example:

10.3 Distribute Information

This process is performed in the Execution process group and performs only one function - to disseminate information that has been defined for dissemination in the Plan Communications process. The format of the information to be disseminated should also be specified in the Communications Management Plan.

Moreover, the direct Distribute Information does not necessarily have to be carried out by the Project Manager, but his task is to manage this process. Remember that the Project Manager is always responsible for the correctness of the information provided, directly or indirectly.

10.4 Manage Stakeholders Expectations

The task of this process is to track Stakeholders expectations and predict the future. What are Stakeholder Expectations? This assumption Stakeholders about a possible event in the future, of course, in most cases, is that his Expectations are extremely positive towards him. The Expectations list must be drawn up during the Plan Communications process, when looking into the future and designing a strategy for how to manage the assumptions of Stakeholders about their future (regarding to the Project).

For example, our neighbor expects that when performing the work, you will not make noise on weekends. One of the tasks of this process will be to control work with respect to noise level. The tasks of the process will also include, for example, the identification of new emerging expectations of different Stakeholders.

The result of the process should be Change Requests. If you go deeper into the typification of Change Requests, then this process, in a greater mass, should generate Corrective or Preventive changes. They are the main output of the process. In addition, the outputs will be updates of various Project Documents and, as a consequence of change requests, changes in different Project Management Plans.

10.5 Report Performance

It is the preparation of reports, not their publication, that is the purpose of this process. The Distribute Information process is responsible for publication and distribution.

The format of each report should be drawn up in the Plan Communications process and depend on the needs of the Project. Here, let’s consider the basic rules of reporting according to the PMI methodology:

• Reports must provide the information that will be requested by the recipient (Stakeholder);
• Reports must be prepared in accordance with the Requirements of the Plan Communications process;
• Reporting, in a way, is looking back. The task of the Project Manager, to a large extent, is to look into the future - reports should be designed so that they respond to this task. In particular, the reports should provide an overview of the problems encountered on the Project and suggest ways to solve them;
• Reports should contain indicators that measure the performance of the Project. PMI’s main tools for assessing effectiveness is Earned Value Analysis;
  Reports must contain trustworthy information, i.e., what is actually happening;
• The reaction to the report is very important. If the reactions to the report did not follow, then either the Stakeholder is provided with uninteresting data, or he has completely lost interest in the Project;
• Without considering each case, reports can be divided into the following types:
  • Status Report. Overview of the report based on some key indicators;
  • Progress Report. Describes what has been achieved so far;
  • Trend Report. Based on historical information accumulated during project Execution, identifies any trends in project Execution;
  • Forecasting Report. Forecasts on the future progress of the Project;
  • Variance Report. An overview of deviations of the core indicators designed during the Planning against the real existing ones;
  • Earned Value Report. Should contain all the indicators of the analysis of the volume approved (for illustration), accompanied by the dynamics of changes in the volume approved;
  • Lessons Learned Documentation. Contains accumulated information about project successes and failures.