Gokhan Gureser
PMP, LSS MBB, ASQ CSSBB
Continuous Improvement Expert
Why Communication ?
For a PM communication is key to transfer his/her orders and management skills and to secure project success.
How communication realizes?
Communication realizes with a sent message from a source throughout a communcation environment to a receiver. Basci business practices define communication like this.
The sender might receive a feedback during this communication.
the environment might be real or virtual. there migth be voices in environment that cut or manipulate the quality or quantity of message.
In an effective communication, there are different factors:
words
words are important communication factor that might lead to a clear message or inconsistent message. That's why PM should always be careful and consistent using rigth words and terms to imply what he/she means.
Paralingual factors
if communication is verbal, the voice tone and fluctuations on the pitch of the voice might give important message.
Nonverbal (body) language
physical state is the most important factors in a communication according to studies. On the other hand it is not proved yet, whether that conclusion is universal or not.
Communication Types
We classify communication to be able to understand at which occasion we use which type of communicaition.
Formal Written Communication
long distance, geographycally seperate teams (uncollocated), complex problems.
Formal unwritten Communication
presentations , prepared speeches
Informal written communciation
e-mail, SMS,
Informal unwritten communication
conversations, meeting speeches
Communication manners
The communication might be interactive, pushed or pulled communication. Fundemantally, interactive communication realizes if both parts appears and give and take the message. Push communication is one party is speaking and the others listening "Obama's speech to nation" is a nice example. Pull communciation is making information available on a database and let people pull the ones they needed.
Meeting management
Are your meetings efficient in the organization?
Do you achieve start on time?
Do everybody is ready in the meeting room on time?
Do you have an agenda?
Do you accomplish all agenda successfully?
Do you keep focus on the agenda?
Do people come prepared?
In most organizations meetings are inefficient. You already know the reasons. To avoid those please keep loyalty to some meeting rules and state these rules before you start the project and inform team members prior to your first meeting and invite to respect them.
- declare time started and end
- prepare an agenda, send to all participants and some stakeholders (that appears on Communication Man. Plan)
- divide agenda topics to time limit
- write the goal of the meeting
- ask team members to prepare tools regarding their expertise and department
- if there are deliverables of meeting like meeting notes some diagrams assign the best motivated and skilled guy
- publish and distribute deliverables taking care of confidentiality and Com Man. Plan
Communication Management Plan
It is the main communcation tool in Project management. Even thou, needs little attaention and time to preapre it, it is your most helpful document to document right tool to right person. Moreover, it is an evidence for knowledge distribution and facilitate stakeholder communciation very much.
In the following days, I will put one example here to the website. Verbally explaining, it clarifies what to be communicated, why, to whom, communication environment, responsible and when to send.
Write down each deliverables, project reports etc. to each row and fill the rest. Hang that to the meeting room or porject room if you do have. It will be a good example for other projects in the organization.
Project Reports
In communication plan reports will help you top manage stakeholders, team and built trust on management.
some reports you might place on your schedule or gannt chart routine and some as a result of any action or end of a process. For 6-sigma practicioners the reporting might be at the end of each DMAIC processes.
Actually in PM theory the reports are output of Monitor and control but a execution tool because you will manage communications using these reports.
Essential reporting inputs are project data and Project management plan. thus, you can compare them and show the project current state comparing to plans.
If this comparison is regarding scope, that is called progress report. Progress reports need to disclose SPI of the project.
If report consists of future predictions, then that is called forecast report.
Variance reports is the comparison of baseline with current results. therefore, detects variance.
EVR Earned value report is related to the cost and indexes CPI and other CPI calculations we learnt in cost management.
Status reports are a comprehensive reporting tool that you can bring all together.
Communications Management
