Category: Communications Management

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5 Strategies to Manage Project Communication  

Small team sitting in a conference room managing project communications.

How you manage project communication is one of, if not the most important aspects of project management. Poor communication has been cited as the biggest problem impacting projects. A great deal of a project manager’s time is spent communicating with management, the team, the customer, and other stakeholders. Proper project management requires a process to define, plan, manage, and control communication which makes it a top skill needed by everyone on projects. 

The project manager is key in establishing and maintaining an environment that allows the project team to communicate, according the PMBOK Guide, Seventh Edition,   Project managers set the tone for success by modeling behaviors such as transparency, respect, and positive disclosure and following a process to manage communications on their projects.  Following are 5 strategies you can use today to manage your project communications. management.

 

Strategies to Manage Project Communication

  1. Identify & Analyze Stakeholders  
  2. Plan Project Communications  
  3. Send & Receive Information to Manage Project Communication 
  4. Manage Stakeholder Engagement 
  5. Monitor & Control Communication 

Strategy 1: Identify and Analyze Stakeholders  

Start by identifying the people and organizations involved in or impacted by the project or the product being developed.  These individuals or entities can positively or negatively impact outcomes over the course of the project. This step is important to help manage project communication. You can read more about stakeholder identification here.  

Project managers must also understand all their stakeholders’ requirements and expectations their level of influence, extent, and length of their involvement, as well communication needs and preferences.  

Managing stakeholder expectations — the belief or mental image of the future — can differ by stakeholder.  That’s why project managers need to talk through all expectations, to make sure that everyone shares the same desired outcomes. This sets the stage for communication planning.  

Strategy 2: Plan Project Communications  

Armed with the information from our stakeholders, it’s time to start planning project communications. Planning is about considering the project’s overall communications approach. It begins by defining what actions deliver the desired outcomes such as: 

  • The right information gets to the appropriate stakeholder, is clear and understandable, and arrives in the appropriate format at the right time. 
  • Communications are measured and analyzed on a regular basis and changed as needed. 
  • Stakeholders understand what communication is expected of them and the communication they receive meets their needs on the project.

There are several benefits to having a communication plan in place including improved stakeholder engagement and a decrease in communication problems, conflict, and rework.  

As a result of planning communications, the project manager should have a document description of the communication needs of the stakeholders and a strategy to meet them. Plan components may include: 

  • What needs to be communicated, why and between whom?
  • What is the preferred method of communication?
  • Who is going to provide what information, the level of frequency and detail?
  • Who has access to what communications, who can impart information, and who can edit?
  • How to tailor communication based upon language and culture?

Once the plan is in place, we can determine how to send and receive information.  

Strategy 3: Send & Receive Information to Manage Project Communication 

The most basic communications only ensure the message has been delivered.  Excellent project communications require a more comprehensive approach that includes the sender, the receiver, and confirmation that the message is correctly understood.  Both the sender and the receiver are responsible for ensuring the message has been properly interpreted and understood.  

Reports, information radiators, and individual communications are the artifacts of project communications.  While these artifacts are updated on a regular basis, it is important to look at how each of these documents are part of and are influencing the project communication plan.  In addition to communication plan updates on project status, issues and issue resolutions, here are some other communication plan artifacts: 

  • Issue status or log
  • Project reports and presentations
  • Updated project records
  • Lessons learned documentation
  • Project document updates
  • Risk and stakeholder registers 

Strategy 4: Manage Stakeholder Engagement 

At this point, stakeholders have been identified and analyzed. You have planned and are using key artifacts that help you communicate with your stakeholders at the right time with the right information. Another strategy to manage project communications has to do with stakeholder engagement.  

The key is to establish and maintain a common understanding of the project, its objectives, constraints and how they all interact to deliver the desired value throughout the project. Each stakeholder’s needs have been planned so when changes are needed, the project manager is able to adjust and maintain high levels of engagement with each stakeholder.  

Strategy 5: Monitor & Control Communication 

While the project manager is effectively communicating on the project, they are at the same time monitoring communication to ensure information is getting to where it is needed, is clear and allows stakeholders to act as necessary. The key to monitoring and controlling our communication is to make sure that that the information being communicated is being understood, and that it’s being understood in the intended way. 

When monitoring and controlling communications, there are several ways to identify and measure compliance to the communication plan.  For example, you can review the data of the project’s status, known as work performance information. Work performance data includes: 

  • Performance
  • Metrics captured in various control processes
  • Changes, risks, and issues
  • Forecasts

Reviewing this information allows you to validate that the team is being productive and achieving the project goals.  Work performance information can be organized into project management plan updates or project document updates, each of which allow you to identify and communicate information that stakeholders need.   

Learn More About How to Manage Project Communication 

If you’re interested in learning how to manage project communications, check out RMC’s eLearning course, Project Communications and Stakeholder Engagement shows you how to manage project communications and engage your stakeholders. You may also be interested in our Leading with Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Awareness eLearning course to elevate your leadership skills.  

Sources: 

https://rmcls.com/communications-management-plan-in-project-management/

https://www.teamgantt.com/blog/why-communication-is-important-in-project-management [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

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Communications Management Plan in Project Management

Communication in business and in project management can be difficult, especially when you’re collaborating with virtual teams or working on global projects, but clear communication is a critical component to a project’s success.

Did you know that a project manager spends 90% of his or her time communicating? Indeed, most problems on projects relate, to some degree, to issues surrounding communications. Yet, our studies show that communication issues are the most preventable problems on projects.

What’s the secret to good communication? Communications must be planned, managed, and continuously monitored throughout the life of a project. This requires the development of a project management communication plan.

Project Management Communications Plan

  1. What is a Project Management Communications Plan?
  2. Create a Project Management Communications Plan
  3. Ideas to Consider in Your Communications Plan
  4. Set Your Plan In Motion

What Is a Project Management Communications Plan?

The Communications Plan is an easy tool to create that you can use to improve communications with everyone on your team, as well as with clients and stakeholders. It outlines the methods used to deliver important information relating to you’re working your project, from start to finish.

  • The goal of a project management communication plan is to establish guidelines that everyone who’s involved in the project will follow to share information with others.
  • A communication plan defines how often information will be shared, who will be responsible for sharing it and details on how information is to be delivered.
  • It’s best to create a new project management communications plan for each project you start. That’s because every project is unique, with its own timeline, deliverables, team, and budget, so the same communication plan won’t work on all projects.

Create a Project Management Communications Plan

A good project management communication plan, starts with stakeholder management. This includes the identification of stakeholders, their requirements and expectations.

You’ll also use the project management scope statement and the WBS (work breakdown structure) that have been created as part of the project. As you create your plan, ask questions like the following so you can move in the right direction:

  • Would it be better to communicate the information more formally in an email or a phone call?
  • Is this an issue that is best discussed in person or virtually?
  • Is the communication important enough to call a meeting, or is it fine to simply create a report?
  • How quickly and how often does the information need to be communicated?

A key aspect of planning communications is determining the optimal technology for communicating information. Agile emphasizes more face-to-face communication while more formal written communications are necessary when utilizing a predictive approach.

Ideas to Consider in Your Communication Plan

Communications should be efficient (providing only the information needed), effective (providing information in the right format at the right time) and add value to the project. When creating a project management communications plan, here are some questions to consider:

  • What needs to be communicated, and why?
  • What information do stakeholders need and when?
  • What is the best method for communicating: What reporting format does the sponsor require? What reporting format do you want from the project team? Who is responsible for sending information? You’ll also want to consider when and how often should information be sent?
  • How will you clearly delineate project roles and responsibilities?
  • What methods should the team use to bring problems or issues to your attention?
  • Where does the project fit into the organizational initiatives, portfolio, and programs?
  • How to communicate changes
  • How will factors such as location, culture, security, privacy, and language impact project communications?

Consider project risks, status, the project charter, stakeholder expectations, the project management plan, and WBS. And don’t forget to also consider problems, changes, and updates to components of the project management plan, as well as upcoming work and delays.

Set Your Plan in Motion

Remember that, in project management, good communication must be planned into the project and managed throughout. The methods and frequency of communication must meet the needs of your stakeholders.

In the end, what your plan looks like will depend on the needs of the project itself, as well as the people involved. Writing down your project management communications plan is wise, it can serve as a valuable reference throughout your project. The best part is that it doesn’t need to be too formal either, yet it will certainly help you and your team succeed.

All of these elements can be found in much more detail in Rita Mulcahy’s PMP® Exam Prep book, so definitely check it out if you want to learn more.

Sources:
A white paper by RMC Learning Solutions, “6 Essential Elements to Effective Project Management.”
https://www.teamgantt.com/blog/project-management-communication-plan