Communicating Effectively (2021 Update)

Project management success entails effective project communications management. Whether

with team members or other stakeholders, PMs must monitor the flow of information
following a detailed communications management plan, and overcoming communication
barriers as they arise.
In this course, you will learn about communication methods, models, channels, and
technologies that facilitate effective and efficient communication management. These include
push and pull communication, the sender-receiver model, and other information management
systems. Finally, you'll explore how to mold a communication requirements analysis.
Table of Contents
1. Communicating Effectively (2021 Update)
2. Project Communications Approach
3. Analysis of Communication Requirements
4. Communication Channels Calculation
5. Elements of Communication Models
6. Communication Technologies
7. Tools and Techniques for Managing Communications
8. Tools and Techniques for Monitoring Communications
Communicating Effectively (2021 Update)
[Video description begins] Topic title: Communicating Effectively (2021 Update).
Your host for the session is Barbara Waters. [Video description ends]

When planning and managing project communications, you'll need to make

decisions about how you will communicate with your stakeholders. In this course,
you'll learn how to analyze your communications requirements, the elements of a
communication model, and the tools, techniques, and available technology that
you can use in order to communicate effectively.
Project Communications Approach
[Topic title: Project Communications Approach. Your host for the session is
Barbara Waters.] Effective project communications is all about meeting the
information needs of your stakeholders. So each project requires an approach that's
targeted to those needs. Planning an appropriate project communications approach
is necessary to avoid potential disasters that could derail your project. In this topic,
you're going to learn about five guidelines that can help you plan an effective
approach to project communications. And avoid the negative results of poor
communication.
The first guideline is to target communications properly. Because the information
needs of stakeholders differ, it's important to target communications so that they're
delivered in the right format at the right time to the right audience and have the
intended impact. This helps stakeholders make informed decisions in a timely
manner.
Providing more information than is necessary can cause confusion, lead to
unproductive actions, and be a waste of time. Instead, focus on providing only the
information stakeholders will need to make informed decisions about the project.
For instance, the time it takes stakeholders to discern important from unimportant
information is a waste of time. And this can lead to frustration and doubt, which in
turn can lead to a loss of project support. Also, if left to interpret information
beyond their expertise, stakeholders can make poor decisions based on
misunderstandings or misplaced emphasis.
It's important to allocate sufficient resources to communication activities. Because
without them, you may not be able to satisfy the communication requirements of
the project and its stakeholders. Every project is different, so you'll have to
carefully consider the resource needs every time you undertake a project. For
example, suppose you're working on two projects. The first project involves
changing a procedure used by one very close knit team. The second project
involves creating a company-wide policy on harassment. Chances are that
communicating information about changing a procedure used by one team will
require fewer resources than for a team who will create, implement, and enforce a
legally compliant company-wide harassment policy. Failing to consider the
specific information needs of stakeholders and the project can limit the
effectiveness and efficiency of project communications.
When planning your approach to project communications, consider who needs
what information. Who is authorized to access what information? When
stakeholders will need information, and how information will be formatted, stored,
and retrieved. Other factors, such as time zones, languages and cross cultural
factors may also exist and need to be accounted for in the communications
management plan. For example, suppose an external stakeholder is the design
expert for a new product design. He's to be informed of progress and any
anticipated or occurring issues with the implementation of the design. He's
authorized to receive all status reports and issue logs pertaining to this design.
Each week, as the project work progresses, all work performance data on the
design implementation is to be delivered to him. Making sure this stakeholder's
information needs are met is in the best interest of the project because his expertise
is crucial to the project's success. All the information needed to meet this
stakeholder's information requirements will be documented in the communications
management plan. Changes to the project environment and the outcome of project
activities may require you to revise your approach to make sure it still meets
project communications requirements.
Also, because project communications requirements are different at different stages
throughout the project life cycle, it's important to review the communications
approach throughout the project. For example, consider how communications
requirements might differ between planning and executing project work. During
planning you may need to communicate frequently with functional managers to
gain their support and get their commitment to provide resources for the project
work to be done. However, as project work progresses, it may take less work to
maintain the support of functional managers.
Following several best practice guidelines can help project managers create an
appropriate approach for any project. Target communications properly, provide
only the information needed, allocate sufficient resources, consider stakeholders'
information needs, and review the communications approach regularly. Effective
communications are a vital component of any project's success. But if your
managing a project in an agile environment or adapting elements of the agile
project management methodology, careful consideration needs to be made for
project communications. Since agile projects generally have a lot of ambiguity and
change, you may want to tailor your project communication so that you
communicate relevant project information more frequently and quickly. Agile
project methodology depends heavily on excellent team collaboration. So co-
locating the team not only encourages collaboration but increases the likelihood
that the team communicates with each other, with you, and receives
communications they depend on effectively.
Analysis of Communication Requirements
[Video description begins] Topic title: Analysis of Communication Requirements.
Your host for the session is Barbara Waters. [Video description ends] There are
many different tools and techniques you can use to plan your project
communications. Expert judgment, communications requirements analysis,
communication technology, communication models, communication methods.
Interpersonal and team skills, which includes communication styles assessment,
political awareness, and cultural awareness. Data representation, which includes
stakeholder engagement, assessment matrix, and meetings. In this topic, we're
going to focus on a key technique, communications requirements analysis. We use
it to determine the information needs of a project's stakeholders.
Determining the information needs of project stakeholders will help you achieve
effective communications by helping you determine and limit communications, use
project resources wisely, and choose appropriate technologies, models, and
methods. One source of information that is likely to be used during a
communication requirements analysis is your company's organizational chart.

The org chart, as is often called, can help you quickly determine your stakeholders'
positions within the organization and their reporting relationships. [An
organizational chart displays. On the top of the chart is the CEO, who has the
information manager Jess Day and the Custom solutions manager Bill Graham
under him. Jess Day has network administration Todd Black. Bill Graham has QA
team Jill Wright and design team Conrad Phinney under him.]
Let's consider this example. Catherine, a project manager, is just beginning a
communications requirements analysis for a project she's planning. Her
environmental engineering firm has been hired to help restore contaminated land to
a healthy, productive state.
She's consulting her company's org chart to help her determine the communication
needs of the project's stakeholders. [An organizational chart displays. At the
Executive level is the President. At the Functional Unit is Bill Hendricks who is an
Environmental assessment. At the Supervisor level is Ted Briggs who is a Sr.
Environmental Technician. And the team member is Jared Steeves who is an
Environmental Technician.]

Stakeholders at the executive level, typically want summarized information about

overall project status and performance. Catherine might send the president of her
company a report on a weekly basis. Functional managers typically want
information that directly impacts them and the operations within their own
departments. For example, Bill Hendricks might want reports on cost performance,
since that impacts his budget. And to be informed of any resourcing issues, since
he would be responsible for HR management within his department. Team
supervisors tend to be in charge of scheduling within a team, and for personnel
training and development. Catherine would keep Ted Briggs informed about the
duration of time she will need Jared on her team. And provide a report about his
overall performance as he carries out his responsibilities. Ted will also inform
Catherine about dates when Jared will not be available to work on her team. As a
project team member, Jared Steeves will need information about the project goal
and objectives that define project success. He'll also need to be informed of any
performance or progress information that will impact the cleanup. Jared will share
data from the cleanup efforts, and will be responsible for communicating it to
Catherine.
Another source of information for the communication requirements analysis is the
stakeholder register. When examining a stakeholder register for communications'
requirements, you're looking for details related to the assessment that was carried
out on the stakeholders.

Assessment information includes, major requirements and expectations or product

features most important to the stakeholder. [A stakeholder register displays. It
depicts information about the org position, role in project, contact information,
major requirements, main expectations, potential influence, phase to engage, and
classification.]

For example, record the type of report or information that corresponds to each
requirement, such as schedule status reports for stakeholders, who require the
product finish on time. Or earned value reports for the CFO, who expects a certain
margin of profitability. Record the person's potential influence over the project. For
stakeholders with moderate to high levels of influence, record communications that
will promote a high level of satisfaction, such as regular phone calls or meetings in
person. Finally, record the phase in the life cycle during which the person will be
most interested. Cross-reference the project cycle and your own to-do list so that
you are sure to communicate with stakeholders at the right times in the project life
cycle, such as sending a heads-up to the manager of the laboratory a week before
soil testing begins.
Going back to our example, Catherine notes that for the client Ian Betts, the most
important requirement is that the project meet minimum government standards,
while not exceeding the budget of $250,000. Catherine records in the
communications management plan that she will report any changes in legislation to
Ian immediately, and also send him weekly cost performance reports.
In summary, any information that's relevant to project communications can be used
to help determine communications requirements. Reporting relationships, titles,
and positions of the internal stakeholders, the location of stakeholders, whether
stakeholders are internal or external. And information requirements and
preferences for your stakeholders are key types of information you use in a
communications requirements analysis to plan your project communications
management.
Communication Channels Calculation
[Video description begins] Topic title: Communication Channels Calculation.
Your host for the session is Barbara Waters. [Video description ends] There are
many different tools and techniques you can use to plan your project
communications. Expert judgement, communications requirements analysis,
communication technology, communication models, communication methods.
Interpersonal and team skills, which includes communication styles assessment,
political awareness, and cultural awareness. Data representation, which includes
stakeholder engagement assessment matrix and meetings. This topic is about a sub-
tool of a communication requirements analysis technique.
Once the stakeholders and their requirements are known, a project manager may
want to determine how complex project communications will be. Communications
in a project can arguably be one of the main reasons for its success or failure. As
such, having a really good understanding of how complex communications will be
is vital. So that adequate time, energy, and resources can be dedicated to planning
communications management for the project.
Determining the number of communications channels or potential paths
communications can take between stakeholders that exist for a project, can help
project managers understand the complexity of project communications. It can also
help you to assess whether what you've planned is appropriate. For example,
suppose you're working on a relatively simple project with few tasks to be done,
and you do this calculation and your number of channels seems very high. This
may indicate that your communications management plan is too complex or
detailed for the project. Perhaps you've identified too many stakeholders or plan to
communicate too much information. Alternatively, if you're working on a complex
project, perhaps with many phases and requirements, and your number of channels
seems very low. It can indicate that your plan is too simple, and you need reassess
your draft communications management plan, and perhaps expand it. Perhaps you
have not accounted for a stakeholder group or individuals that really need to be
included in the communications management plan.
The number of communications channels is calculated using the formula N(N-1)/2,
where N is the number of stakeholders. You always include yourself in the total.
So if you're a project manager working on a team with 6 other team members, N
would equal 7. According to the formula, this project has 21 communications
channels. If you're wondering why we multiply N, the number of people on the
team by N-1 or 1 less than the number of people on the team, the answer is pretty
simple. It's because we don't talk to ourselves, or if we do, maybe we don't like to
admit it. We assume that a communication channel will run from everyone on the
team to everyone else on the team. Now, if you're wondering why we divide by 2,
it's because the flow of communication is bidirectional. When you and another
team member or stakeholder communicate with one another, you share one
communication channel. 7 is a relatively small number of stakeholders. Knowing
that even with such a small number, there are 21 potential communication
channels, can help you understand how much information may be flowing between
stakeholders at any given time. Again, this calculation is useful only in terms of
giving you an idea of how complex your project is. The more complex your
project's communications, the more you need to determine and limit who will
communicate with whom, and who will receive what information.
How do you calculate the difference in communication channels if your group size
changes? For example, let's say there are six people on the team, three more people
are added. How many more communication channels are there? This requires two
calculations to solve the problem. You cannot just subtract N=6 from N=9, that
would give you the wrong answer. So the first step is to calculate for N=9, that will
tell us how many communication channels there are now. You would multiply the
9 team members by the 8 other team members, that gives you 72. Then you divide
72/2, resulting in 36 communication channels. The next step is to calculate for
N=6, to figure out how many communication channels there were before. You
would multiply the 6 team members by the 5 other team members which equals 30.
You would then divide by 2, resulting in 15 communication channels. Now, the
final step is to subtract the previous number of communication channels from the
number of current communication channels. To answer the question, how many
more communication channels are there? 36-15=21, there are 21 more
communication channels now. This same logic can be used whether your team
gains or loses members.
In summary, calculating communication channels will help you to determine how
complex your communication network is. And then tailor your communication
methods to enhance communication on your project team and among stakeholders.
As members are added, the number of communication channels grows
exponentially. The project manager must keep this in mind when planning an
effective communication strategy.
Elements of Communication Models
[Video description begins] Topic title: Elements of Communication Models. Your
host for the session is Barbara Waters. [Video description ends] There are many
different tools and techniques you can use to plan your project communications.
Expert judgment, communications requirements analysis, communication
technology, communication models, communication methods. Interpersonal and
team skills, which includes communication styles assessment, political awareness,
and cultural awareness. Data representation, which includes stakeholder
engagement assessment matrix, and meetings. In this topic, we're going to focus on
communication models.
Understanding how people share information and how communications pass
between stakeholders can help you communicate more effectively. Communication
models are used to facilitate communication. Two common models are basic
sender/receiver and interactive. Communication models can be used to describe
how communication should flow between project stakeholders. All models consist
of at least two parties, the sender and receiver. There are five other elements in
models. In basic communication models, you encode, transmit message, and
decode. In an interactive communication model, there are two additional elements,
acknowledge and feedback response. Encoding involves the sender of the message
transferring thoughts or ideas into language. You need to be careful to encode the
message so it clearly communicates what you actually mean to say. Once encoded,
the message is transmitted, or sent, using communication technology.
In human communications, there is often noise that distorts the message. Factors
such as distance, unfamiliar technology, culture differences, and lack of
background information are considered noise. You should identify and reduce
noise because it can present challenges to effective communication by
compromising the original meaning of the message. This can lead to the message
being misunderstood or misinterpreted. Upon successful transmission of a
message, the receiver of the message needs to decode it. Decoding a message
means the receiver translates the information or message back into meaningful
thoughts or ideas. The receiver of a message may acknowledge receipt of the
message. This acknowledgement doesn't necessarily mean the receiver agrees with
or understands the message. Receivers may choose to provide feedback or send a
response to the original message. The receiver now becomes the sender, and
encodes a message and then transmits it, after reducing noise, to the original
sender.
In addition to noise, other barriers to communication may exist. These include
language differences, jargon, perceptions, technology problems, misinformation,
and misunderstanding. A good project manager will work to eliminate the barriers
to communication to ensure that messages are sent and received as intended.
Communication Technologies
[Video description begins] Topic title: Communication Technologies. Your host for
the session is Barbara Waters. [Video description ends] Once you've identified the
information needs of project stakeholders, you can choose the best ways to
communicate with them. This topic is about three tools and techniques of the Plan
Communications Management Process that you will use when making decisions
about how to share information with stakeholders. Communication methods,
communication technology and meetings.
Communication methods are the ways in which information is shared among
project's stakeholders. There are basically three classifications of communication
methods, interactive, push, and pull.
Interactive communication involves an exchange of information between two or
more people. This multidirectional method of communication is considered to be
the most efficient way to make sure all parties achieve a common understanding of
what's communicated. Interactive methods of communication include meetings,
telephone calls and video conferencing.
In push communications, information is sent to specific recipients who need it.
This method ensures the information is distributed but doesn't guarantee that it was
received or understood by recipients. Push methods include letters, memos,
reports, emails, faxes, voice mails and press releases.
The pull communication method is used for large volumes of information or for
very large audiences. Recipients access the communication content at their own
discretion. As such, you won't know if the information has been accessed or if it's
being understood. Methods of pull communication include intranet sites, e-learning
resources, project websites and knowledge bases.
Catherine the project manager working to perform an environmental cleanup of
contaminated land is planning which methods will be used to share information on
the project. First, she considers the communications needs of Jared, the
environmental technician. He'll need interactive communication with herself and
with regulatory enforcement agents, she plans for them to be able to communicate
in person and via telephone. Next, she defines how members of the executive
management team will receive status reports. According to the communications
requirements analysis, weekly reports are necessary. She plans to have the weekly
reports emailed to the specific stakeholders, this will be efficient and stake holders
can choose when to review it. This is an example of push communication.
Catherine also sees in the communication's requirements analysis that Jared will
require access to high definition photos of the cleanup site. Since the file size of the
images will be large, she plans to store the images using a file transfer protocol or
FTP site, so Jared can access them as he needs to. This is an example of pull
communication.
When deciding how to deliver communications there are dimensions of
communication to be considered. These dimensions are, formal versus informal,
internal versus external, vertical versus horizontal, which refers to relative
positions in an organizational chart. Official versus unofficial, written versus oral,
and verbal versus non-verbal. Understanding these dimensions will help you as a
project manager when deciding how to best format your message.
Another tool is communication technology. Your choice of technologies will
depend on stakeholder communication's requirements. There are other factors as
well. [Urgency of the need for the information] When messages are urgent, it's
best to use a telephone, text messaging or a face-to-face meeting if the person is
close by. [Availability of technology] Ensure the technology required to facilitate
communication is compatible, available, and accessible for all stakeholders
throughout the project lifecycle. Ease of use of the technology is an important
consideration. Make sure the communication technologies are suitable for
participants, and that proper training is provided where necessary. [Project
environment] Ask questions to explore the communication needs presented by the
project environment, like where will the team operate? Are team members located
in different time zones? Will team members be outside cellphone range at
times? [Sensitivity and confidentiality of the information] If you determine that the
information is sensitive or confidential, you will need to take additional security
measures and place tighter restrictions on who can receive the information.
Another useful tool for planning communications management is meetings. As a
project manager, you will take information from team members and other
stakeholders about the best way to distribute information and fulfill request for
information from stakeholders. Meetings can take many forms, from informal face-
to-face conversations all the way to formal planned meetings that have an agenda
and facilitator.
In summary, choosing appropriate methods of communication and communication
technologies is part of effective communication management planning. Both
choices depend on communication requirements and what will best suit the
information to be communicated throughout the lifecycle of the project.
Tools and Techniques for Managing Communications
[Video description begins] Topic title: Tools and Techniques for Managing
Communications. Your host for the session is Barbara Waters. [Video description
ends]

As project manager, you can use the tools and techniques to prepare and distribute
project communications to stakeholders. The tools and techniques you can use
include communication technology, communication methods, communication
skills, a project management information system, project reporting, and
interpersonal and team skills.
The communications technology used to gather and communicate information
must be appropriate for the type of information. The communications management
plan defines what technology is appropriate for various types of project
communications.
Whatever communication method you use, push, pull, or interactive, make sure
you provide a way to check that the information has been received and understood.
You also need to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to respond and offer
feedback, if they want to.
Communication skills you use for managing communications include
communication competence, feedback, and non-verbal, such as gestures and body
language, and presentations.
The project management information system, or PMIS, includes electronic
management tools, electronic communications management features, and social
media management.
Project reporting includes collecting and distributing relevant project information.
Project reporting is a key technique in managing communications, because it helps
get relevant information about the project to the stakeholders. Project reports offer
a way to express project communications in a clear and succinct way that
stakeholders can understand, and allow them to make good, informed decisions.
Project reports can vary from simple one page status bulletins to elaborate
performance reports. Make sure you use the format that best meets the needs of
your stakeholders. Use simple reports for stakeholders who want snapshot
summaries of project status, or variances in scope, schedule, cost, or quality. Use
complex reports for stakeholders who want detailed information, such as analysis
of current and past performance, forecasts, and the status of risks and issues.
Interpersonal and team skills are essential techniques you'll use to manage project
communications. Some methods include active listening, conflict management,
cultural awareness, meeting management, networking, and political awareness.
And meetings are the last technique you'll use for managing project
communications. While this is a technique used in many project management
processes, it's especially useful as a method for managing communications and
following the defined communications strategy and communications plan.
Tools and Techniques for Monitoring Communications
[Video description begins] Topic title : Tools and Techniques for Monitoring
Communications. Your host for the session is Barbara Waters. [Video description
ends]

There are many tools and techniques you can use to monitor communications to
make sure you continue to meet stakeholder information requirements. They are
expert judgment, data representation such as a stakeholder engagement
assessment matrix, interpersonal and team skills like observation and
conversation, meetings, and project management information systems. Expert
judgment is used to make informed decisions about how to monitor
communications. Meetings are used to gather experts together and discuss what
to do to correct communications issues. Or you may use your own judgment to
reach a decision and then hold a meeting to let others know what needs to be
done and any responsibilities they have.

Expert judgment refers to the opinions and recommendations of any group or

individual with specialized knowledge, skills or training related to the issue at
hand. You could consult with people outside the project or within your own team
while monitoring communications. Expert judgment can be used to decide how
best to monitor project communications where there is a gap, issue or problem
with communications. Expert judgment can also be used to monitor whether
communications are happening as directed in the communications management
plan and in accordance with organizational process assets.

Most importantly, the judgment of these individuals is used to assess and

evaluate the potential impact of the communication problem and then decide on
the best course of action. This involves determining what corrective action should
be taken, who needs to take the action and when the action needs to be taken.
Suppose you identify a problem with the level of detail being provided to the
leader of an engineering team. Right now, the reports are providing raw data
only. After looking at the communications management plan, you realize reports
to this stakeholder are supposed to provide an analysis of the raw data gathered.
You meet with the person who prepared the report and the engineer who needs
the information. Together, the three of you decide what needs to be done to
meet the engineer's information needs.

Meetings facilitate the discussions that allow decisions to be made about how to
monitor project communications. Here's an example of expert judgment and
meetings being used to monitor communications. Suppose you learn from a
procurement officer that orders from a supplier aren't being delivered routinely.
In fact, the officer says she's had to call the company to find out where orders are,
only to find the supplier has no record of the original request. This is delaying
project work and needs to be resolved. So you and the project's procurement
officer meet via video conference with individuals from the supplier's
organization. You begin by explaining that orders aren't being received in a timely
manner.

After some discussion, you all agree that the problem lies with the supplier's
online order system. It seems orders aren't being captured. You also all agree that
until the issue is resolved, a workaround must be found. In the meantime, a
decision is made collectively that the supplier will provide an email template to be
used to submit orders instead of the online system. This way, the orders can be
verified by the supplier's order fulfillment team upon receipt of the email,
ensuring the orders are received - barring any unpredictable complications - and
delivered on time.
Besides meetings and expert judgment, the other tools and techniques you can
use for monitoring communications include project management information
systems or PMIS, data representation and interpersonal and team skills. A PMIS is
a useful tool for compiling data, verifying communications are following the
communications plan and formatting project communications in various ways.
Data representation can be used for analyzing changes. For example, you can use
a stakeholder engagement assessment matrix to analyze whether actual
stakeholder engagement aligns with what was planned. And interpersonal and
team skills are useful for monitoring communications. Observation and
conversation are useful methods for identifying issues and conflict by engaging in
dialog and discussion.