HOW A PROJECT COMMUNICATION CAN BE MANAGED EFFECTIVELY AND WHY PROJECT COMMUNICATION IS IMPORTANT IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT??
PROJECT COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT:
Excellent communication is a critical component of project success. In fact, according to the Project Management Institute (PMI), most project failures are due to communication issues. Project communication management ensures that does not happen. It consists of three processes that help make sure the right messages are sent, received, and understood by the right people. Project communication management is one of the ten key knowledge areas in the PMBOK (Project Management Book of Knowledge). The processes included in this area have changed over the years, but in the current version, there are three primary project communication management processes.
These are :
- Plan communications management
- Manage communications
- Monitor communications
- PLAN PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT
The first step is to plan how you will manage communications on your project and across all of your stakeholders. This is done by creating a project communications management plan.
It’s important to ensure all of these factors are addressed in your plan:
AUDIENCE – this is a list of all stakeholders affected by the project. It should include team members, sponsors, customers, and other interested parties. Consider anyone impacted by the project or who influences its success.
OBJECTIVE – What will be the purpose of your communications? You may use some communications for awareness, like a status report, and others that require action, such as requiring a sponsor to authorize spending, or a customer to approve project testing.
MESSAGE – What will the message be for each type of communication? This is the actual content that will be shared. Key components to be communicated include scope, schedule, budget, objectives, risks, and deliverables.
CHANNEL – How the message will be delivered” Will it be a formal report emailed out? An informal verbal debrief during a team meeting?
Your communication plan should be detailed enough to lay out exactly what will be sent, to whom, how, when, and who is responsible.
Involving your stakeholders in the creation of this plan is important. You need to understand their communication preferences and expectations. If you over-communicate, they may stop paying attention. But, if you under-communicate, it can lead to misunderstandings and issues.
- MANAGE PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS
Once the plan has been created and approved, it’s the project manager’s job to ensure it’s managed. This means that the plan needs to be reviewed and updated on a regular basis to reflect any changes to the project or its stakeholders. The project manager also has to manage the execution of the communications management plan.
This includes:
- Collection and analysis of data.
- Creation of messages for communication.
- Transmission or distribution of communications.
- Storage of any communication reports, files or documents.
- Retrieval of any stored communications.
- Disposal of any old communications upon project closure or a set date.
MONITOR PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS
This process used to be called ‘control communications,’ but was updated in the 6th edition of the PMBOK. Despite the title change, the process is the same. It involves monitoring and controlling project communications throughout its entire lifecycle.
This may include:
- Confirming communications went out as planned.
- Confirming they were received by the proper stakeholders.
- Confirming messages were understood.
- Confirming any relevant feedback was provided to the appropriate project members.
- The actual type of monitoring, including method and frequency, should be a part of the communication management plan.
IMPORTANCE Of PROJECT COMMUNICATION IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Whether you’re talking about the personal or the professional, communication is the foundation of healthy relationships. When it comes to project management, this is a maxim to take to heart, since 80% of project management is communication. In fact, according to the Project Management Institute’s Pulse of the Profession™ In-Depth Report, highly effective communicators are more likely to deliver projects on time and within budget.
At Diagram, we understand the importance of maintaining communication between everyone involved in a project. Here are some of the lessons we’ve learned in our years of project management:
LISTENING CAN BE MORE HELPFUL THAN SPEAKING
Are you really listening when your team is speaking, or are you only hearing the words being said while formulating in your head what you are going to say when there is an open space to speak? It is easy to fall into the latter of these two scenarios especially when you, as the PM, are responsible for holding the team to the agenda and time constraints of a meeting. Most people think they are better listeners than they really are, and I find that it takes a conscious effort to really focus on and absorb the message.
Everyone involved in a project is going to have their own opinion about what is most important, what should be prioritized, and when something needs to be done. It’s a project manager’s job to listen to all of these opinions, provide space for everyone to be heard, and keep project objectives in order.
MAGIC HAPPENS IN THE SILENT MOMENTS
Don’t feel the need to fill every pause or silent moment with words. It is in these spaces that you get the real dirt. I’ve had experiences where not immediately moving to the next agenda item has created space and opportunities for less vocal teammates to speak, or for someone to add important detail to a conversation that would have been omitted if we just moved on.
GET EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE
One way a project manager can facilitate communication is by making sure everyone is speaking the same language. This goes beyond dialect and applies to any industry or technical jargon as well. There should be a high level overview so everyone can understand the purpose of what is being done and how their work fits into the overall project. In addition, project managers should be ready to provide a communication management plan, because this helps to ensure that everyone involved understands each project participant’s role.
BLACK AND WHITE TEXT HAS NO INFLECTION
Written text often can be misinterpreted, because words on paper or a computer screen don’t have the tone or inflection that verbal communication does. Holding regular meetings, whether they are done in person, over the phone, or via video chat, can help a project’s participants fully understand each other. If holding these regular meetings isn’t possible, some initial face-to-face meetings can help, since they will allow people to associate a face with a message. Since a project’s success can be tied to individuals’ willingness to work together, facilitating this type of interpersonal communication can make a real difference in how well they do so.
PICK UP THE PHONE
Lately, I have been reverting to my old sales habits of just picking up the phone and calling people. Especially if I need an answer that a single person can provide. I feel it has saved me time and helped to strengthen working relationships. In 2018, it’s acceptable to just send an email or instant message when information needs to be shared, but this process often takes more time compared to a phone call. Consider the time it takes to compose a message, then revise it to make sure you’ve written the perfect correspondence, and wait to hear back. In most cases, you could’ve had a conversation and concluded with a decision in half that time. Regular conversations connect you to people, and it’s the people who get projects done.
UNDERSTAND TIMING AND PRIORITIZATION
The timing of communication can be a critical part of a project’s success. Since project work is often tied to dependent or concurrent tasks, project managers will need to make sure that team members are sharing important information that allows team members to know what has been done and what needs to be done next. It’s also necessary to prioritize communication and convey the right amount of information. Too much communication can be overwhelming, leading to important information getting lost. On the other hand, too little communication might not provide a clear enough picture to allow team members to complete the work that needs to be done. Project managers who understand how to send the right amount of information to the right people at the right time will be able to keep things moving smoothly, resulting in a successful project.
