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Introduction to Project Management: Team Management and
Communications
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Slide 1
Welcome to Introduction to Project Management: Team Management and
Communications. This is Lecture c.
Slide 2
The Objectives for Team Management and Communications are to:

Identify and describe roles of members on a project team.

Develop the human resources plan.

Acquire, develop, manage, and lead the project team.

Identify project communication responsibilities

Develop a communication plan.
This lecture will focus on the last two objectives.
Slide 3
In their book, Leadership and the One Minute Manager, Hersey and Blanchard
presented 4 leadership styles, defined by task behavior and relationship behavior, as
effective motivational techniques. These leadership styles ran the following spectrum,
from S1 to S4:

S1: Telling or Directing - is characterized by one-way communication in which the
leader defines the roles of the individual or group and provides the what, how,
why, when, and where to do the task.

S2: Selling or Coaching - while the leader is still providing the direction, he or she
is now using two-way communication and providing the socio-emotional support
that will allow the individual or group being influenced to buy into the process.

S3: Participating or Supporting- this is now shared decision making about
aspects of how the task is accomplished and the leader is providing fewer task
behaviors while maintaining high relationship behavior.
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Introduction to Project Management
Version 3.0 / Spring 2012
Team Management and Communications
Lecture c
1
This material (Comp19_Unit8c) was developed by Johns Hopkins University funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000013.

S4: Delegating and Observing - the leader is still involved in decisions; however,
the process and responsibility has been passed to the individual or group. The
leader stays involved to monitor progress.
Hersey and Blanchard go on to state, “of these, no one style is considered optimal for
all leaders to use all the time. Effective leaders need to be flexible, and must adapt
themselves according to the situation.”
Slide 4
In summary, a project manager must focus on both management and leadership in
order to effectively lead a team and manage a project.
As a leader it is important to challenge and refine existing processes. It is important to
establish a vision for the team and project and to communicate this vision clearly so that
it is shared by all team members.
As a leader, the project manager must do his best to empower others. In order to build
the most effective team, individuals on the team must have the trust, ability, and
confidence to perform.
Leaders must model the behaviors appropriate to project and team success. An
effective leader must provide ongoing encouragement both formally and informally to
maximize team morale, trust, and performance.
Slide 5
Project Communications. Project Management is 80% communication, 20% perspiration
which is why the Communication Plan is one of the most important sections of your
project management plan.
Project Communications Management ensures that all team members share the same
project focus. By helping personal relationships and project activities run smoothly,
good communication contributes to a successful outcome or product.
Enabling good communication among the team members requires adequate
forethought. The project manager needs to review all the available information to decide
what stakeholders need to know to achieve their objectives, and then establish how
often and through which channels that information should be disseminated. This
communication system should include multiple media, and must be open and flexible to
allow changes and problem fixes to be implemented quickly. The manager can also
track team performance by comparing status reports against performance predictions.
Project Communications Management requires the following areas of knowledge:

Meeting management skills, including agenda development and conflict
resolutions,
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Introduction to Project Management
Version 3.0 / Spring 2012
Team Management and Communications
Lecture c
2
This material (Comp19_Unit8c) was developed by Johns Hopkins University funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000013.

Communication skills, including an understanding of various audiences,
approaches, and media, and how to apply each appropriately,

Presentation strategies, including effective visual aids and other nonverbal
communication skills, and

Sensitivity to communication roadblocks.
There are also several key components in project communication management which
should be considered. Encoding, also known as translation, ensures that all participants
comprehend the message of the communication. Interference with the message is
called noise and finally, the message must be decoded to have meaning for all involved.
Slide 6
During project planning the project team develops a communications management plan
which contains a description of the identified project stakeholder information needs and
defines approaches for communicating during the project.
A communication requirements analysis is performed to determine the stakeholder
information needs.
Project team must determine what project information will be shared, who it will be
shared with, when the information will be shared, and how the information will be
shared.
Information in the communication management plan may include organization charts,
responsibility assignment matrix (RAM), name and contact info of change control board
members, meeting times and locations, locations of team members, plus more as
determined by the project management team.
Communication with Healthcare staff members is very important and complex.
Remember that most institutions are 24X7X365. The staff members that you will be
communicating with work on schedules that range from days (7 AM to 3:30 PM),
evenings (3 PM to 11:30 PM), nights or third shift (11 PM to 7:30 AM), on the weekends
and on holidays. Unlike in the business world, the healthcare staff has work that cannot
be put on hold for an hour to attend a meeting. We as the project managers must be
mindful of the time commitment that we are asking of our group members. They will
have days off when the meetings are scheduled. They will have crises arise that will not
allow them to leave their units. Your communication plan and communications must fill
this gap. The communications must be concise.
Slide 7
In most projects, communications should take place in the context of an overall
communications strategy and plan to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Introduction to Project Management
Version 3.0 / Spring 2012
Team Management and Communications
Lecture c
3
This material (Comp19_Unit8c) was developed by Johns Hopkins University funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000013.
project. Status meetings and status reporting should be required. In addition, you should
consider using other types of proactive communication. You can create a proactive and
effective communication plan using the following processes.

Identify all project stakeholders. In some cases groupings of stakeholders may
have similar communications needs; for instance, a Project Steering Committee.
In other cases, you may need to consider a single person, such as a sponsor,
and communicate with them in a unique way.

Determine the communication needs of each stakeholder. Each stakeholder
group may have some similar and some unique communication needs. The
Communication Plan helps you get the right information to the right people.

Brainstorm about how to meet those needs. For each stakeholder, brainstorm
how to fulfill their communication need. Determine what they need to know, how
often they need to be updated, and the delivery method that is most appropriate.

Implement mandatory communications. Put in place communication options that
are mandatory for the project or for the environment. These options should
include project status reports. In some cases there may also be governmentrequired reports, legal reports, or otherwise. It is essential to be aware of and on
top of these.

Prioritize the remaining communication options. Determine how much effort is
required to create and distribute each of the communication options identified in
step 3. Determine the potential benefit of the communication to the recipient and
the project team. Once you have completed these actions, prioritize the
communication options that you have identified. Implement the communication
options that provide high value and require low effort from the project team.
Discard options that are high effort and yield little benefit. Also discard the
options that provide little benefit even if they require very little effort from the
project team.

And finally, create a schedule of communication activities from the prioritized list
you created in step 5. If you do not add the communication work to your
schedule, the chance of it getting done is greatly decreased. Your schedule
should assign frequencies, due dates, time required and responsibility
assignment for each communication option you decide to implement.
Be sure to include in your communications, action items that need to be done, who is
responsible for the items and a time frame that they should be done. These are some of
the requirements that overseeing and regulatory bodies look for when they review the
project documentation. These action items should be reviewed at every appropriate
meeting until they have been resolved. Adding a line item to every communication
template with the necessary items will insure that these action items will not be
forgotten.
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Introduction to Project Management
Version 3.0 / Spring 2012
Team Management and Communications
Lecture c
4
This material (Comp19_Unit8c) was developed by Johns Hopkins University funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000013.
Slide 8
During project planning the project team conducts a communication requirements
analysis. This analysis should determine the type and format of information needed to
develop the communications management plan and identify the stakeholder information
needs.
An earlier project planning step in either the project charter or the initial project plan
should include a stakeholder register. This register will be a great benefit in your
communications requirements analysis.
Everyone has a preferred way of giving and receiving information. For some emails are
best, others like oral presentations. The style and method will depend on the person. All
communication styles and methods should be represented in the communication plan.
It is always best to present the information in a variety of styles and methods. Many
times the receiver of the information will not grasp a point in one communication style
but will understand it in another style.
Slide 9
If you have not already produced a Stakeholder List and Stakeholder Analysis, your first
step on Communication Planning should be to identify stakeholders and create a
register. Your first priority in creating a Stakeholder Analysis as part of the
Communication Plan is the identification and listing of all project stakeholders. What is a
stakeholder? A stakeholder is defined as anyone who stands to be impacted by the
operations and deliverables of your project.
The Identify Stakeholders process pinpoints anyone or any institution with a potential
effect on the project. These stakeholders may consist of clients, project staff, or
consultants. Stakeholder analysis graphs stakeholder Interest along the X axis and
stakeholder Power along the Y axis. The following steps can be used to create your
Project Stakeholder Registry.

Step 1: Identify all potential stakeholders and relevant information. Add them to
the left- most column on your stakeholder registry.

Step 2: Identify and record their department or company, the role they will likely
play in your project, what their expectations from the project may be, a
description of their type and their level of influence, a measure of their power or
impact, and what stakeholder category they fall into.

Step 3: Assess how the stakeholders are likely to react or respond in various
situations to help plan influencing them to enhance support or mitigate negative
impacts. Sounds like risk management? It’s a lot like risk management.
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Introduction to Project Management
Version 3.0 / Spring 2012
Team Management and Communications
Lecture c
5
This material (Comp19_Unit8c) was developed by Johns Hopkins University funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000013.
Slide 10
Develop a stakeholder registry for the CRMS scenario based on your analysis of the
staffing needs. Include the expected project stakeholders.
Based on the stakeholder analysis, develop a stakeholder registry grid for the CRMS
scenario from slide four.
Slide 11
In order to be effective in project communication it is essential to consider the following
items:

What types of communications will you use? Are there barriers to communication
and elements that will enhance communication? You can greatly improve
communications by identifying these and addressing them.

How many lines of communications exist between all project stakeholders? The
larger your project team and stakeholder group is the more complex
communications become and the greater number of lines exist. This makes it
essential to distinguish formal project communications from informal or nonproject communications. Have you established forms and defined what is
appropriate? This can help avoid problematic and unintended communications.
What media and distribution methods will you use? Is your team open to
electronic communications or do they prefer paper, face-to-face or telephone. If
you are working on international and virtual teams, this will impact how you must
communicate. Have you implemented an effective meeting practice? No one
likes having their time wasted with unfocused, rambling meetings. Be sure that
you have a meeting protocol that maximizes efficiency. How often do you
communicate? This is important especially in the electronic age when many
people expect instant communications and response. Be sure that these
expectations are set clearly.

Special attention needs to be paid to communications sent to the provider group.
This group includes doctors, physician’s assistants, and nurse practitioners. Most
other groups, such as nursing, pharmacy, radiology, etc. in the healthcare
organization have developed a strong communication methodology. The provider
group has a looser connection to the institution. They pose a challenge because
they are not employed by the institution but only interact with the institution when
they have a patient in the hospital.
Slide 12
The communication management plan defines the project’s communication
requirements, tools, and strategies, such as necessary communication devices or
methods, such as text-enabled mobile telephones, or expected communication media or
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Introduction to Project Management
Version 3.0 / Spring 2012
Team Management and Communications
Lecture c
6
This material (Comp19_Unit8c) was developed by Johns Hopkins University funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000013.
formats, such as regular meetings via the Internet. The plan also identifies the
personnel in charge of each type of communication. Communication management plans
can vary in the presentation, format, level of detail and instruction, and breadth of
scope.
An effective project management plan should at a minimum describe communication
needs of project stakeholders via a stakeholder registry. Describe how communications
will be managed on the project including the type and format for communicating
information. It will also describe when and how communications will be shared via a
communications schedule. It also identifies who is responsible for providing information
via a responsibility assignment matrix and project reporting schedule. It describes the
escalation process for urgent communications on the project as well.
Slide 13
A project communication plan must define effective communication methods and
determine which ones are most effective for specific components of the project. There
are several categories of communication methods. Interactive communication typically
consists of real time meetings, phone calls, video, or web conferences. This is the most
engaging form of communication and allows the communicator to immediately judge the
response to a message. It also allows for immediate dialogue and decision making.
Push communications consist of memos, reports, faxes, emails and other onedirectional pushed methods. This type of communication allows the sender to broadcast
a message widely with little effort. This type of communication is efficient but much less
engaging and personal.
Pull communication relies on the information consumer to actively pursue the
information they need. This is a popular and effective tool for many geographically
distributed project teams who may not be able to effectively interact in real time. Tools
for pull communications include internet sites, wikis, knowledge bases and web-based
project management tools such as Basecamp and JIRA.
In large and small healthcare organizations, multiple, frequent communications are best.
Use every communication that the organization has to get your message out.
Sometimes the low tech processes are not used because we have so many high tech
communication methods. A sandwich board outside of the staff lounge or cafeteria can
work wonders where an email will get ignored.
Slide 14
This slide is intended to illustrate how complexity of communications grows with the size
of the project team. The number of communications channels grows by a factor of n (n1)/2 based on the number n being the number of stakeholders. So if you have 5
stakeholders, you have 10 possible communication channels. If you have 9
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Introduction to Project Management
Version 3.0 / Spring 2012
Team Management and Communications
Lecture c
7
This material (Comp19_Unit8c) was developed by Johns Hopkins University funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000013.
stakeholders, you have 36 possible communication channels. Growing project teams
and project stakeholder lists can significantly impact the complexity of communications
and greatly increase the necessity for a formalized communication plan to order and
control the communications.
Slide 15
The primary purpose of this process is to make sure that you meet stakeholder needs
and resolve any issues they may have. Several tools play a key role in managing
stakeholder expectations. First, the stakeholder register provides information on each
stakeholder. This will greatly assist in working effectively with each stakeholder. The
project management plan which contains the communications management plan is a
required guide for communicating with individual stakeholders. It is important to keep an
issue log and change log in order to track stakeholder concerns and changes that may
need to be made to the project based on their concerns. Communicating with upset
stakeholders often requires finesse and tact. It is important to understand the intangible
tools required for managing stakeholder expectations. These are communication
methods, interpersonal skills and management skills. It is important to note that this
process often results in project change requests. When change requests are made,
updates to project documents and the project plan are also made.
Slide 16
One of the most essential elements of the effective coordination of the project is the
dissemination of communication regarding the current performance to all relevant
stakeholders. This reporting coordination is accomplished via an established
performance reporting plan. Performance reporting refers to the process of collecting
and disseminating performance information to all relevant parties. Typical information
that is provided via reports includes the following:

The overall health of the project – is the project on time, on budget, and meeting
quality or feature requirements?

Activities which will be undertaken soon – has the schedule shifted or changed?
Are there key activities coming up that various parties should be aware of?

Any risks or critical issues - if problems have arisen or new information has
exposed unanticipated risks, these are essential items to be communicated
effectively in a project report.

Financial status and forecast – what is the overall financial state of the project? Is
it coming in on budget? What are the projections regarding budget and project
cost?
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Introduction to Project Management
Version 3.0 / Spring 2012
Team Management and Communications
Lecture c
8
This material (Comp19_Unit8c) was developed by Johns Hopkins University funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000013.

And finally, action plans or next steps – this can include adjustments or changes
to the plan.
Slide 17
This concludes Lecture c of Team Management and Communications. In summary, this
lecture has covered project human resource management and project communications
management.
Key points to highlight in project human resources are the steps to build an effective
team, from planning to acquisition to development and management. The development
of an HR plan will provide the backbone and set the stage for a successful team and
project.
Project communications planning is essential for creating an effective team and
communicating the success of the team to all stakeholders. It is essential to have a plan
that includes protocols, standards, and expectations for communication, both within and
beyond the immediate project team.
Existing organizational standards will play a big role in the development and use of both
Human Resources and communication plans. Each of these plans will be informed by,
and inform revisions to the project charter and project plan.
Slide 18
No audio.
Slide 19
No audio.
End.
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Introduction to Project Management
Version 3.0 / Spring 2012
Team Management and Communications
Lecture c
9
This material (Comp19_Unit8c) was developed by Johns Hopkins University funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000013.