Chapter 12 Project Communication and Documentation

Personal Communication

      Verbal Communication

Written Communication

 Effective Listening

【•Effective and frequent personal communication is crucial to keep the project moving, identify potential problems, solicit suggestions for improving project performance, keep abreast of whether the customer is satisfied, and avoid surprises.

•Personal communication can occur a number of different ways:

•Through nonverbal behavior, such as body language

•Face-to-face or through some medium like telephone, voice mail, e-mail, texting, letters, memos, videoconferencing, or groupware

•It can be verbal or written

When verbal, it requires effective listening skills in order to interpret the message properly】

Verbal Communication

How it takes place

Face-to-face（best way）, via telephone（second way）, voicemail, videoconferencing

What provides

Discussion, clarification, understanding, immediate feedback

Elements affecting communication

Body language

Cultural differences

When to use

Early in project, especially face-to-face

Provide timely communications

【•Verbal communication can take place face-to-face, via telephone, voicemail, or videoconferencing.

•Verbal communication provides a forum for discussion, clarification, understanding, and immediate feedback.

•Body language (in face-to-face communications) and tone (inflection and emotion of the voice) are important elements that enrich verbal communication.

•Body language can be used not only by the person talking, but also by the listener, as a way of providing feedback to the person talking.

•Positive body language can include direct eye contact, a smile, hand gestures, leaning forward, and nodding acknowledgment or agreement.

•Negative body language can be a frown, crossed arms, slouching, fidgeting, gazing or looking away, doodling, or yawning.

•When communicating with individuals from other cultures or countries, you need to be aware of their customs regarding greetings, gestures, eye contact, and proper protocol.

•When communicating verbally, a person must be careful not to use remarks, words, or phrases that can be construed to be sexist, racist, prejudicial, or offensive.

•A high degree of face-to-face communication is especially important early in a project to foster team building, develop good working relationships, and establish mutual expectations.

•Project team members need to be proactive in initiating timely communication with other team members and the project manager to get and give information.

•Verbal communication should be straightforward and unambiguous.

•The timing of verbal communication is very important.】

Written Communication

How it takes place

Through e-mail or can be sent hardcopy

What it provides

Information, confirmation, requests

What it affects

Length and word choice important

Media selected – electronic or hard copy

When to use

When impractical to meet

Disseminate information in a timely manner

【•Written communication is generally carried out through internal correspondence to or among the project team and external correspondence to the customer or others external to the firm, such as subcontractors.

•Written correspondence is increasingly transmitted through e-mail, but can also be sent as a hardcopy.

•Formal project documents that require signatures, such as contracts and amendments, are usually sent as hardcopies.

•Memos and letters are ways to efficiently communicate with a group of people when it is impractical to have a meeting or when the information needs to be disseminated in a timely manner.

•Written communication should be used only when necessary.

•Project participants are usually very busy and do not have time to read trivial messages or irrelevant documents containing information that could be communicated verbally at the next project meeting.

•An e-mail may be appropriate as a follow-up to a face-to-face conversation or a phone call confirming decisions or actions, rather than relying on a person’s memory.

•Written communication should be used mostly to inform, confirm, and request information.

•Memos and letters should be clear and concise and should not include lengthy dissertations or voluminous extraneous attachments.

•Project managers want to avoid a perception of being flooded with emails or electronic messages, which is more of a hindrance than a help.

•Work related e-mail should not include emoticons or text message abbreviations. It is considered unprofessional, and not all recipients may understand the abbreviations or may misinterpret them. KWIM :-)】

Most common types of meeting

1.Project kickoff meeting

2.Status Review Meetings（need a fast feedback, never happened for 2 hours）

Purpose

Inform

Identify problems

Identify action items

Frequency

Regularly scheduled

Status review meetings（certainly need a weekly, everday meeting）
【•A project status review meeting is usually called and led by the project manager.

•The primary purposes are to inform, to identify problems, and to identify action items.

•Project status meetings should be held on a regularly scheduled basis.

•You can see a sample agenda for a project status review meeting on this slide.

•As you may note, there are many possible subjects to be discussed under each of the agenda items:

•Accomplishments since last meeting: Key project milestones that were reached.

•Cost, schedule, and work scope—status: Performance should be compared to the baseline plan.

•Cost, schedule, and work scope—trends: Any positive or negative trends in project performance should be identified.

•Cost, schedule, and work scope—forecasts: The forecasted project completion date and forecasted cost at completion should be reviewed and compared to the project objective and the baseline plan.

•Cost, schedule, and work scope—variances: Any differences should be identified between actual progress and planned progress with respect to cost and schedule for project work packages and tasks. These variances can be positive or negative.

•Risk assessment update: Particular attention should be given to reviewing the trigger points for each risk to determine if any risk response plans are on the verge of having to be implemented.

•Corrective actions: Corrective actions to address problems and potential problems might take place right at the status review meeting.

•Opportunities for improvement: These should also be identified, along with problem areas and associated corrective actions.

•Action item assignment: Specific action items should be identified and assigned to specific team members.】

3.Problem-solving meetings
【•When a problem or potential problem is identified by an individual project team member, that person should promptly call a problem-solving meeting with other appropriate individuals

•He or she should not wait for a future status review meeting.

•Problem-solving meetings should follow a good problem-solving approach, such as the following:

•Develop a problem statement

•Identify potential causes of the problem

•Gather data and verify the most likely causes of the problem

•Identify possible solutions

•Evaluate the alternative solutions

•Determine the best solution

•Revise the project plan

•Implement the solution

•Determine whether the problem has been solved】

4.Design review meetings
【•Projects that involve a design phase, such as an information system project, may require one or more technical design review meetings to ensure that the customer agrees with and approves the design.

•Not every project requires a design review.

•Design review meetings are required to ensure customer approval.

•In many projects there are two types of design review meetings:

•A preliminary design review meeting occurs when the contractor has completed the initial conceptual specifications, drawings, or flowcharts.

•The purpose of this preliminary design review meeting is to get the customer’s agreement.

•A final design review meeting happens when the contractor has completed the detailed specifications, drawings, screen and report formats.

•The purpose of this final design review meeting is to gain approval from the customer.】

5.Post-project evaluation meeting（waste of time）