Download project communicatio..

Presented by Stebby Mutobola
Hon. BSc. Production and Operations Management
(Copperbelt University – Zambia)
Studying towards – MSc. Project Management
(University of Pretoria – Republic of South Africa)
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Introduction
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Learning Outcomes
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Define communication in a project management context
Evaluate the significance of communication
Discuss the various phases and processes of project
communication management
List and explain the typical steps in communication
planning
Describe the importance of proper project documentation
management
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Communication is just as crucial in Projects as
it is in any institution during normal course of
business.
Timely communication when required is
critical
This requires a communication plan
Communication forms the basis for
understanding
This requires efficient and effective
communication
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Communication is a broader discipline and
involves a substantial body of knowledge that is
not unique to the project context.. For example:
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Sender –receiver models ( feedback loops, barriers to
communication etc.)
Choice of media communicating in writing or orally,
formal or informal reports)
Writing style (active versus passive voice, sentence
structure, word choice
Presentation techniques (body language, design of visual
aids etc.)
Management techniques (preparing an agenda, dealing
with conflict, etc. )
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In project management context, communication
focuses on:
How the project team communicates with one
another.
How the project manager communicates with
senior management.
Distribution of information to all types of project
stakeholders (app. media and tech.)
Planning and compilation of the project
communication plan
Project-related documentation ( business plan,
progress reports, etc.)
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Oral
Written
Graphical
Numerical
Electronic
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Before the advent of technology graphics were
produced manually.
With improved data-bases software technology
we can draw and plot graphics of reasonable
quality.
Colour charts can also be produced.
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Basic level (Users happy with basic time schedules,
bar charts and reports).
Can be used to produce diagrams and locate
milestones)
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“Housekeeping’ data is needed to produce calendars,
display options etc.
General level
Project is not complicated, but has quite a few people
Basic resource information and time data
Understanding how to use resources need study to learn
how the software expects to define resources
 E.g.. Cost per unit, if the resource is ‘resource driven’ or
‘duration driven’
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Advanced level
The project at this level is most likely a complex
development
 Most activities are timed in man-hours
 Different shifts for different engineering
specialisations used on tasks
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In all project management software, the
PERT/CPM drives all reports
Factors determining good quality project
management information produced by the
software:
Structure of activity network
 How it has been developed from smaller projects, if it is a
large project
 How much work to be invested in estimating duration or
man-hours
 Level of understanding of project mechanisms and
interrelationships with other projects and external
organisations
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Clear communication protocol is crucial
Clear lines of authority and responsibility
Project team members communicate with the project
Formal lines of communication
Thus projects are managed strategically in agreement
with the project plan.
The project team communicates with project
manager and line managers
Such existing lines of communication should be used
as far as possible.
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Dual purpose of project communication:
To cause action or agreement to take place
 Make a record for future use
 Communication inefficiencies can affect schedule
severely thus reducing chances of success.
 Large project projects generate huge quantities of
information
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Cost estimating and cost control
Scheduling and schedule control
Contract management
Quality assurance
Planning
Documentation management
Communication should carter for expectations
and thus remove surprises ( Proper
communication)
Defining and planning
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A definition of what the project is meant to achieve.
Individual tasks are listed
Which communication tasks and when should
communication take place,
The resources and media required should be
specified.
Implementation
Communication role of each member should be
clarified and the project manager has to ensure each
member has resources
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Evaluation and closure
It is important to evaluate success of the
communication
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Determining information and communication
needs of stakeholders
Who needs what, when and how it will be
given.
Informational needs will lead to identification
of a suitable method for communication
Compiling a communication plan.
What
Who/Target
Purpose
When/ Frequency
Type/Method
Initiation meeting
All stakeholders
Gather information for
initiation
First before project start
date
Meeting
Distribute plan to alert all
stakeholders of project
scope to gain buy-in
Before kick-off meeting.
Before project start date
Distribute
plan
initiation All stakeholders
Status Reports
All stakeholders and
project stakeholders
Update stakeholders on
progress of project
Regularly. Monthly, on
larger projects is
recommended
Team Meetings
Entire project team
To review detailed plans,
tasks assignments and
action items
Regularly scheduled.
Weekly is recommended
Document distributed via
hardcopy or electronically
or may be posted on the
project website.
Document distributed via
hardcopy or electronically
or may be posted on the
project website.
Meeting.
PPM templates.
Detailed plans
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The PM should analyse stakeholders in terms
of influence and power
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Defined as any system of information which is
used by project managers and participants in
planning and execution of projects.
Thus the PMIS must be defined in terms of
content and what it does. It should contain
information on:
INFORMATION
CONTAINED
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Activities
Procedures
Data
technology
PURPOSE OF
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Collection of relevant
data
Storage until it is
required Processing to
provide answers to
specific questions
Communication of
resulting information
to decision makers
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Cost estimating and cost control
Schedule and schedule control
Contract management
Purchasing
Quality assurance
Planning Documentation management
Project business plan submission and approval is
usually compulsory before resources are made
available.
The project manager should:
clearly define the target population
Determine the plan’s requirements
Decide on likely length of plan
Identify all main issues to be addressed
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A brief introduction- background and structure
A summary of few pages
A main body containing chapter broken into
numbered sections and sub sections
Appendices containing tables, detailed
information and exhibits referred to in the
document.
PROGRESS /STATUS
REPORTS
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Items in a progress report:
Accomplishments
Current status of project
performance
Progress toward resolution
of previous problems
Problems or potential
problems since last report
Planned corrective actions
Milestones expected to be
reached during next
reporting period
FINAL REPORTS
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This is a summary of the
project and includes:
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Customers; original need
Original project objective
Customer’s original
requirements
Actual versus anticipated
benefits to customers
Degree to which original
objective was met
Brief description of project
Future considerations
A list of all deliverables
USEFUL REPORTS
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Make them concise
Write as you speak
Most important points
first
Use graphs where
possible ( A picture is
worth a thousand
words)
Pay equal attention to
content and format
TYPES OF PROJECT
MEETINGS
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Status review meetings
Problem solving
meetings
Technical design review
meetings
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Status Review
Meeting
Primary Purpose is to:
Inform
Identify problems
Identify action
Possible content
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Accomplishments since the last
meeting
Cost, schedule, and work scope
(status)
Cost, schedule and work scope
(trends)
Cost, schedule and work scope (
forecast)
Cost, schedule and work scope (
variances)
Risk assessment update
Corrective action
Opportunities for improvement
Action item assignment
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Problem solving
meeting
The purpose is to:
Identify and resolve problems as
far as possible for a project to be
successful
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Problem solving approach:
Develop a problem statement
Identify potential causes of
the problem
Gather data and verify the
most likely causes
Identify possible solutions
Determine the best solution
Revise the project plan
Implement the solution
Determine whether the
problem has been solved
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Technical design
review meetings
Projects that involve design phase
like information system project or
development of a new marketing
brochure may require one or more
technical design review meetings
so that the customer can agree with
or approve the design approach
developed by the contractor
Two types of design review
meetings are:
A preliminary design
review meeting
A final design review
meeting
Steps to effective meetings
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Start the meeting on time
Designate a note taker
Review the purpose of the
meeting and the agenda
Facilitate, do not dominate
the meeting
Summarise the meeting
results
Do not overrun the scheduled
meeting time
Evaluate the meeting process
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Start the meeting on time
Designate a note taker
Review the purpose of the meeting and agenda
Facilitate, do not dominate the meeting
Summarise the meeting results
Do not overrun the scheduled meeting time
Evaluate the meeting process
PREPARATION
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Purpose
Understand audience
Make outline of
presentation
Practice, and have some
hand outs
Get feel of venue before
hand
Monitor time
Develop a strong
conclusion
DELIVERY
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Expect a bit of nervousness; all
speakers experience it
Know your opening lines
Use the 3- t approach
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Tell your audience what you are going
to tell them
Tell them
Tell them what you told them
Talk to the audience
Speak clearly and confidently
Use appropriate animation to help make
a point
Do not stand in front of your visual aids
Keep to the key points in your
presentation
Sum up your points
Know your closing lines
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The project manager has been often described as a
conflict manager
Conflicts are a way of life in projects
This results from conflicting objectives
To handle conflicts, it is important to understand
why they occur.
Each identified project must have at least one
objective.
The objectives must be made known to all project
personnel and all managers.
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Most common types of conflicts involve:
Manpower resources
 Equipment and facilities
 Capital expenditures
 Costs
 Technical opinions and trade-offs
 Priorities
 Administrative procedures
 Scheduling responsibilities
 Personality clashes
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Problem solving
Withdrawal
Smoothing
Compromise
Forcing
Confrontation
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Problem Solving: Involves the use of logical
thinking to understand the problem. In this
conflict resolution technique, you will need to
understand the view point of all conflicting
parties. The problem-solving technique is the
best for conflict resolution. It also helps in
developing trust in the team, since each party
collaboratively tries to explore possible
solutions. By using the problem-solving
technique, you can achieve a win-win
situation for all conflicting parties.
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Compromise: This technique involves reaching an
agreement by each of the conflicting parties giving
something. Therefore, both parties don’t get
exactly what they want. Hence, compromise is
sometimes also known as a lose-lose solution.
However, in some cultures compromise is
perceived as a win-win solution. These cultures,
such as Asian and African, value the relationship
between the parties more than the outcome.
Compromise is very useful when you have not
succeeded with the problem-solving conflict
resolution technique. Note that humans do not
compromise on values and basic needs.
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Forcing: Forcing, a win-lose situation, involves
using your authority or power to decide on the
outcome of a conflict regardless of the opinion
of the participants. In project management,
forcing can lead to low morale and low
ownership. However, forcing is very useful
when you need to resolve a conflict in the
shortest possible time. If you use forcing, make
sure you discuss the reasoning with the team at
a later team meeting, such as in the Daily
Team Meeting. You can also use the Daily
Team Meeting to gauge the morale of the team.
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Smoothing: This conflict resolution technique
involves playing down the issue. The key focus
is simply on the positive aspects. By using the
Smoothing technique, a party would not
confront the issue; rather the party will treat
the problem like it never exists. Avoid using
this conflict resolution technique.
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Withdrawal: This technique is actually not a
conflict resolution technique. Withdrawal
simply means to avoid the problem altogether.
It is an escapist’s approach to conflicts. Though
it doesn’t solve the problem, Withdrawal is
useful when there is a heated conflict
resolution session on and all parties need
some time out to gather their senses.
Conflicts are one of the reasons that lead
to project management failure.
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A confrontation is the direct expression of one's
view (thoughts and feelings) of the conflict
situation and an invitation for the other party to
express her or his views of the conflict.
Confrontations involve:
Describing behaviour and one's reactions to that
behaviour.
Clarifying and exploring issues in the conflict
(substantive, relational, procedural).
The nature and strength of the parties' interests,
needs, and concerns.
Disclosure of relevant feelings
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Introduction
Learning outcomes
Understand project risk management
 Identify risks associated with your project
 Assess the identified risks
 Identify risk trigger events
 Do effective planning
 Develop a project risk management plan
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Definitions
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Risk management - Includes processes concerned
with identifying, analysing and responding to
project risks.
Impact events are minimised
Likely positive outcomes are maximised
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The expected loss ( economic, time
infrastructure or resources) that a particular
phenomenon might cause
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Can be defined as the extent to which the risk
event is likely to occur ( chance of occurrence)
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Number of times a particular risk can impact
on a project e.g. interruption of a building
project by rain
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The impact of a risk on a project. Mostly
quantified in monetary terms, although other
measuring tools can be used
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Market / price risk
Interest risk
Country risk
Liquidity
Legal
Reputational risk
Operational risk
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Identification, Quantification, Evaluation of
risk events and impact of the risk events on a
project and developing responses (risk
treatment)
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Questions: What can go wrong, how likely is this to
happen, if it dies not happen what are the
consequences etc.
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A rare or extreme event, or possibility of an
occurrence in the natural or human-made
environment, that adversely affect successful
completion of the project to the extent that it
may cause economic, time, time infrastructure
or resource loss.
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This is the degree of loss to a given element (
economic, time infrastructure or resource) that
is a possible risk from the impact of a hazard of
a given severity.
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The process involve:
Risk management planning
Identification of risks
Performing Qualitative Risk Analysis
Performing Quantitative Risk analysis
Planning Risk responses
L
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Risk Assessment
Very Low Low
Medium High
Very Low
Low
Medium
High
Very high
Impact
Very High
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Eliminate the risk – avoid risk completely
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Mitigate the risk – Minimise or reduce risk
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Deflect the risk – Transfer risk to third party
e.g. contract, client retention, performance
bond through the bank and or insurance
Accept the risk – accept and mage a
contingency plan.
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Continuous monitoring
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Ten Golden Rules
Make risk management part of your project
Identify risks early in your project
Communicate about risks
Consider both threats and opportunities
Clarify Ownership issues
Prioritise risks
Analyse risks
Plan and implement risk responses
Register project risk
Track risks and associated Tasks
NOTE that disaster recovery is managed as a project
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Questions?