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Many of the technical staff on the project comes in from 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. while the business users always come in before 9:00 a.m. The business users have been making comments. The project manager wants to have the technical people come in by 9:00, although many of them leave late.

 

Communication is one of the key elements, which has to be applied effectively throughout the project’s life cycle from the beginning till the end. Effective communications is very important for project to succeed where as ineffective communication sabotages it. Of the two in five projects that fail to meet original goals is due to ineffective communication.

 

In this case the project manager is trying to make the team committed to the project until the end by making them recognize the project’s various benefits, to identify the purpose of and hopes for the project. At the same time, it is also important to deliver a general agreement to the group in which the items accessing commitment and building consensus would be suitable to transmit the idea of starting and ending working hours.

 

Just a phone call is not enough to show how important what the person wants to express. So, it’s always better to schedule a meeting to determine the strategy of how often to meet in person or through technology, where the group will meet, communicating including email and phone information and how to distribute minutes and updates. It is important for project manager to understand the dynamics of conflict before being able to resolve it.

 

If the project managers listens and understand each person’s position on a particular task or upcoming decision then it is easier to avoid any bumps, large or small along the way. Except meeting, other types of media would be inappropriate, as they wouldn’t show strong communication for this matter. 

You need to make a general announcement regarding the direction of your project to a large group of people and want to make sure they get the information.

 

When a person needs to address some information to a large number of people and ensure they all get the message, the best way is e-mail. It is the most appropriate media to use by publishing information on a website or send emails, Internet postings. The advantage of using a website as a means of communication is that the information can be updated at any time, and can be accessed, linked to other subjects to create new opportunities and transmit different ideas at the same time.

 

You have received an email from one of the executive sponsors indicating that they are very upset to find out that the project you are working on is behind schedule. He wants to know why you have not communicated this to him earlier. As the project manager you have been providing regular status reports that provide this information, and he is on the distribution list.

 

As a project manager, you’ve been providing update on project to everyone who all involved. It is now executive sponsor responsibility to check emails and involve in regular project reporting. It’s the job of the sponsor to make sure they hear about problems early so they can help right the ship before things get out of control. Executives often complain that they do not have visibility in to all current enterprise projects. They often do not have access to the project schedules in real-time. Sometimes the project manners present the plan at the outset of the project, and then become gatekeepers of the schedule, claiming to executives that the schedule has not been updated recently and is not ready to be shared. The sponsors of the project and executives do not have access to a schedule or reports until it is too late to either re-direct the effort or cancel the project

 

In this case, reports are prepared regularly and emailed to all members and executive management. The project is behind schedule for many reasons. It is important to explain the executive management that when a project runs behind schedule, not everything is lost. There are many steps can be taken to fix things. It is important to identify various reasons for it and fixing them by various possible options like-

 

·         Don’t panic

·         Get the team together

·         Look at the big picture

·         Doing overtime

·         Extending the deadline

·         Changing the scope

·         Including more resources

 

Trust is the basis for this working relationship between the project manager and sponsor. Communication needs to be open and transparent between them. If there are issues in the project, do not hide from the sponsor- report Red as Red. The project manager must agree with the sponsor how uncertainty should be reported especially in the early stages of the project is quite common. 

 

The sponsor’s exposure of the project is usually not on a continuous basis- usually monthly in large programs. It is a good practice to have informal meeting with sponsor in between status meetings. This ensures your sponsor is kept abreast of developments. Any issues from the project shouldn’t get through the sponsor from other channels than the project manager, which will serve to undermine the trust between the two. The project manager must also ensure what is submitted in written status reports correlate to what is being communicated informally in between the formal reports. 

 

One of the critical forms of communication on a project is providing regular status reports. Status reports are often difficult to communicate because some people like to have all the details while some prefer just the high level information. As a project manager, explain the type of communication you would use to provide status information to the project team members, the project sponsor, and the project stakeholders. Would it be the same or different?

 

A status report is a simple document that exists between the project managers, the client and the internal team to periodically update everyone as to where the project is in relation to and where it should be at that point in time. It can help project managers gauge completion of project goals, keep deadlines in check and ensure all stakeholders are aware of project information. I believe that the project plan is the most meaningful communication vehicle in the entire arsenal. By building “regular, or ongoing communication” include those opportunities needed to communicate the project to team members, sponsors, steering committee members and other key stakeholders on a regular basis. This type of communication includes regular status reports, scheduled project team meetings, monthly updates with the steering committee and regular updates of enterprise on a project. It is good to use stakeholder analysis to develop these routine and ongoing communications for the project. Review this plan at regular intervals to ensure that we are adequately communicating to those stakeholders who are closest to the project. 

 

Regular or ongoing communications:

 

Communication	Purpose	Audience	Author	Communication vehicle	Frequency
Monthly status report	To keep informed the project progress and key upcoming activities	Executive sponsors, Steering committee, Executive committee,	Project Manager	Email to list, Posting on project website	Monthly
Weekly Schedule	Monitor and report on scheduled tasks.	Project management team, Steering committee	Project Manager	Email to list, Posting on website, Steering committee meetings	Weekly
Project team calendar	Keep project participants aware of key project dates and help them to manage their schedules Maintain training calendars	All project participants	Project coordinator	Post in project folders	Updated as needed

 

 

References:

 

1.      PM Hut. June 28, 2013. The importance of effective communication in project management. Retrieved from,

http://www.pmhut.com/the-importance-of-effective-communication-in-project-management

 

2.      Rick Freedman. September 25, 2000. Communication plans are key to project success. Retrieved from,

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/communication-plans-are-key-to-project-success/

 

3.      Bud Bilanich. 2014. Status Reports: An Often Overlooked, but Key Career Success Tool. Retrieved from,

http://www.budbilanich.com/status-reports-an-often-overlooked-but-key-career-success-tool/

 

4.      Haley Montgomery. July 6, 2011. Effective Project Status Reports. Retrieved from,

http://www.brighthubpm.com/project-planning/32882-effective-project-status-reports/

 

5.      Mei Yuen Foong. April 9, 2014. Effective Communication: A Challenge To Project Managers. Retrieved from,

http://www.projecttimes.com/articles/effective-communication-a-challenge-to-project-managers.html

 

6.      Kathy Schwalbe. 2010. Information Technology Project Management. (6th Ed). Boston, MA: Course Technology