PMI RMP – PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT part 2

6. PROCESS 2: MANAGE COMMUNICATIONS

Hi and we’ll come back again to the second process of the communications management knowledge area. Managed Communications as a part of the Executing process group. It’s the process of ensuring timely and appropriate collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, monitoring and the ultimate disposition of the project information. The key benefit of this process managed communications is that it enables an efficient and effective information flow between the project team members and the project key stakeholders. And this process is usually performed throughout the project.

And this process identifies all aspects of effective communication including choice of appropriate technologies, methods and techniques. This process seeks that the information being communicated to project stakeholders has been appropriately generated and formatted, also received by the intended audience. So this is the purpose of managing the project communications. We want to make sure that the information being communicated is appropriately generated, formatted and received by the target audience or the intended audience.

Now, techniques and considerations in managed communications for the purpose of making sure of an effective communications management includes first of all the sender receiver models incorporating feedback loops to provide opportunities for interaction and to remove barriers between the sender and the receiver.The choice of media decisions such as when to communicate in writing versus orderly, when to prepare an informal memo versus a formal report the writing style appropriate use of active versus passive voice sentence structure and the word choice.

Meeting Management meeting management means preparing an agenda for the meeting, inviting the essential participants, ensuring they all attend and making sure the meeting will progress as per the meeting agenda. Presentations awareness of the impact of body language and visual AIDS facilitation, overcoming obstacles and maintaining interest. The active listening that includes acknowledging, confirming and understanding. These are the techniques and considerations for an efficient and effective communications management. The inputs to this process are five inputs.

We have seven tools and techniques and four outputs. So first of all, what you are going to need as an inputs to manage communications process first of all, the project management plan with the subsidiary plans. Resources Management plan that describes the communications that are needed for the management of the team or physician resources communications management plan that describes how communications will be planned, structured, monitored and controlled. Stakeholder Engagement Plan that describes how stakeholders will be engaged through appropriate communication strategies. We will need few project documents.

First of all, the change log to communicate changes and approved, deferred and rejected change requests. Issue Log information about issues is communicated to impacted stakeholders. The lessons learned registered can be useful regarding communications if there are any lessons learned. Documented quality report that includes the quality issues, project and product improvements. Risk reports that includes information about the overall project risk exposure the stakeholder register that identifies the individuals, groups or organizations that will need various type of information. The third input will be the work performance reports.

They are circulated to the project stakeholders through this process as defined in the communications management plan which was produced in the previous process. We will need also the enterprise environmental factors and the organizational process assets. These are the five inputs of the managed communications process. The tools and techniques of managed communications communication technologies the methods used to transfer information and between the stakeholders explained in the previous lecture. The communication methods. The choice of the appropriate communication method should allow the flexibility in communications.

As mentioned in the previous lecture, communication methods can be interactive, push and pull communication skills that will be effective and will be used in the managed communications process. First of all, the communication completeness clarity and purpose and leadership behaviors. The feedback information about reactions the communications nonverbal that includes appropriate body language presentations, formal delivery of information and or documentation. Number four, we have the PMIs or the project management information system tool can easily retrieve the information they need in a timely way.

The PMIs regarding the managed communications process can include, first of all, the electronic project management tools like the project management software, meetings and virtual management software. The electronic communications management like the email, fax, audio and web conferencing the social media management like the websites, web, publishing and applications. The fifth and the most important tool and technique of this process will be the project reporting, the act of collecting and distribution project information. The format can range from simple information to custom reports and presentations.

There are different reporting types that can be used in project management. First of all, we have the status reports that describes where project currently stands in relation to the performance measurement baseline. It’s the most commonly used reporting format. The project status report is just that. It’s the project status report which describes the current status of the project. The current status for Project it’s an important communication tool used by producers and project managers to inform a client’s, team members and stakeholders what’s up. A project status report includes all the business critical efforts, progress and risk associated with a single project.

A snapshot of where things are at and the project status reports are created after your project plan is in place and things are in motion. To be more precise, usually it’s created during the monitoring and controlling phase of the project and they are sent on weekly or monthly basis. Sometimes it’s shared on daily basis. If the project is a mega project and there is a change in the status on daily basis. The second type will be the progress reports, which describes what has been accomplished. It is an essential activity of project management. The project manager issues regular reports on progress against budget, schedule and scope.

It includes these people in your circulation list. Usually the project sponsor, the budget holder, the senior users and the team members are all circulated in the loop of the progress report. We have the trend reports that examines the project results over time. To see if performance is improving or deteriorating the forecasting report, which predicts future project status the variance report that compares actual results to baselines and the earned value report that integrates scope, cost and schedule measures to assess project. Performance. These are the six major types, the six reporting formats used in project management.

We have the interpersonal team skills as part of the tools and techniques used in this process. Active listening techniques include acknowledging, clarifying and confirming. Understanding and removing barriers between the sender and the siever. The conflict management techniques, the cultural awareness, the meeting management. Taking steps to ensure meetings meet their intelligence objectives effectively and efficient. Then it’s working, which is interacting with others. To exchange information and develop context and the political awareness. These are the interpersonal and team skills used in managed communications process and we have also the meetings in order to manage the project communications.

What are the outputs of this process? First of all, the primary output is the project communications that may include performance reports, deliverable status, scheduled progress and presentations. Few project Management plan components might be updated like the Stakeholder Engagement Plan, the Stakeholder communication requirements are updated as a result of this process communications Management Plan when changes occur to the project communications, these changes are reflected to the project communication management organizational process. Assets Updates assets which may be updated are the ad hoc project reports and presentations.

The project documents that might be updated will be the issue locked updated to reflect any communication issues. The listens length adjusted the project schedule updated to reflect the status of communication activities. The Risk Register updated to capture risks associated with communications. The Stakeholder Register updated to include information regarding communication activities with the project stakeholders. This is all for the project managed communications process. The reporting formats are very important for the exam. Thank you so much, I’m looking forward to see you at the next lecture.

7. PROCESS 3: MONITOR COMMUNICATIONS

Hi and welcome back again to the last communications management process to monitor communications as a part of the Monitoring and Controlling Processing Group. So it’s the process of ensuring communication needs of the project and its stakeholders are met. This is what we are going to focus on while monitoring the project communications with the key benefits of the optimal information as defined in the Communication Management Plan and the Stakeholder Engagement Plan. This process is performed throughout the project as part of the Monitoring and Controlling Processing Group and usually determines if the plant communications activities have had the desired effect of increasing or maintaining stakeholder support for the project deliverables and the expected outcomes.

This is why the stakeholder management and the communications management are strongly linked. Our aim of managing and monitoring the project communications is to make sure and to maintain the stakeholder support for the project. This process usually triggers an iteration of the plan communications management process or and the managed communications process in order to improve the effectiveness of the communication. We had a lot of change requests. Most of the stakeholders are not satisfied with the performance of the communications activities. You need to repeat the plan communications management process or the managed communications.

This is why it’s written in this paragraph that the monitor communications process might or can trigger an iteration of the previous communications management processes. We have five simple inputs, five simple tools and techniques and four ordinary outputs. The inputs we are going to need for the monitor communications process are the project management plan with the subsidiary plan Resources Management, which were used to understand the actual project organization. Communications management plan that describes how communications will be planned, structured, monitored and controlled.

Stakeholder Engagement Plan that identifies the communication strategies that are planned to engage the stakeholders. Few project documents might be a useful input to this process. The issue log will provide you with a record of all the stakeholder communications issues. Listens learn to register the project communications that provides information about communications that has been distributed throughout the project. Like the project, communications are outputs of the previous process managed communications work performance data as it contains data on the type and quantities of communications that have actually been distributed on the project so far.

Few enterprise environmental factors and few organizational process assets. The tools and techniques of the monitor communications process the expert judgment the PMIs or the project management information System that provides a set of standard tools for the project manager to capture, store and distribute information data presentation techniques. Mainly we will use the stakeholder engagement assessment matrix. It can be further analyzed in this process to define additional communication requirements. Using the Stakeholder Assessment Matrix in this process will give you an opportunity to compare between the desired Engagement Level and the actual or the current Engagement level to further analyze this matrix to define your communication requirements.

Interpersonal and team skills like the Observation and the conversation. Discussion with the project team members determine the most appropriate way to update and communicate the project performance and holding some meetings will allow you monitor the project communications. The outputs of this process are the work performance information that includes information on how the project communication is performing by comparing the actual to the planned change request. This process often results in the need to adjust communication activities.

Project Management Plan updates stakeholder Engagement Plan updated to reflect the actual situation of the stakeholders and their needs communications Management Plan updated with new information to make communications more effective few project documents updates the issue log updated to reflect any communication issues. Lessons Learned register must be updated with useful lessons about monitoring the project communications. Stakeholders holder register updates the revised stakeholders communication requirements. This is all for the monitor communications process. A very simple one. Thank you so much. I will see you at the next lecture.