Project Planning
Read this chapter, which discusses the planning phase of the project lifecycle. What are some of the pain points in this part of the project management process? What tools do project management professionals typically use to plan projects?
Communication planning
Communications management is about keeping everybody in the loop.
Have you ever tried talking to someone in a really loud, crowded room?
That's what running a project is like if you don't get a handle on
communications. The communications planning process concerns defining
the types of information you're going to deliver, to whom, the format for
communicating the information and when. It turns out that 90% of a project
manager's job is spent on communication so it's important to make sure
everybody gets the right message at the right time.
The first step in defining your communication plan is figuring out what
kind of communication your stakeholders need from the project so that they
can make good decisions. This is called the communications requirements
analysis. Your project will produce a lot of information; you don't want to
overwhelm your stakeholders with all of it. Your job here is to figure out
what they feel is valuable. Communicating valuable information doesn't
mean you always paint a rosy picture. Communications to stakeholders may
consist of either good news or bad news- the point is that you don't want to
bury stakeholders in too much information but give them enough so that
they're informed and can make appropriate decisions.
Communications technology has a major impact on how you can keep
people in the loop. This examines the methods (or technology) used to
communicate the information to, from and among the stakeholders.
Methods of communicating can take many forms, such as written, spoken,
e-mail, formal status reports, meetings, online databases, online schedules,
project websites and so forth. You should consider several factors before
deciding what methods you'll choose to transfer information. The timing of
the information exchange or need for updates is the first factor. It's a lot
easier for people to get information on their projects if it's accessible
through a web site, than if all your information is passed around by paper
memos. Do you need to procure new technology or systems, or are there
systems already in place that will work? The technologies available to you
will definitely figure into your plan of how you will keep everyone notified
of project status and issues. Staff experience with the technology is another
factor. Are there project team members and stakeholders experienced at
using this technology, or will you need to train them? Finally, consider the
duration of the project and the project environment. Will the technology
you're choosing work throughout the life of the project or will it have to be
upgraded or updated at some point? And how does the project team
function? Are they located together or spread out across several campuses
or locations? The answers to these questions should be documented in the
communication plan.
All projects require sound communication plans, but not all projects will
have the same types of communication or the same methods for distributing
the information. The communication plan documents the types of
information needs the stakeholders have, when the information should be
distributed and how the information will be delivered.
The type of information you will typically communicate includes project
status, project scope statements, and scope statement updates, project
baseline information, risks, action items, performance measures, project
acceptance and so on. What's important to know now is that the information
needs of the stakeholders should be determined as early in the planning
phase of the project management lifecycle as possible so that as you and
your team develop project planning documents, you already know who
should receive copies of them and how they should be delivered.