Failure to communicate is often the greatest threat to the success of any project, especially infor-
mation technology projects. Communication is the oil that keeps a project running smoothly. Proj-
ect communications management involves identifying stakeholders, planning communications,
distributing information, managing stakeholder expectations, and reporting performance.
It is important to identify stakeholders and determine strategies for managing relationships
with them in order to satisfy their needs and expectations. A stakeholder register and a stakehold-
er management strategy are key outputs of this process.
A communications management plan of some type should be created for all projects to help
ensure good communications. Contents of this plan will vary based on the needs of the project.
The various methods for distributing project information include formal, informal, written, and
verbal. It is important to determine the most appropriate means for distributing different types of
project information. Project managers and their teams should focus on the importance of building
relationships as they communicate project information. As the number of people that need to com-
municate increases, the number of communications channels also increases.
Reporting performance involves collecting and disseminating information about how well a
project is moving toward meeting its goals. Project teams can use earned value charts and other
forms of progress information to communicate and assess project performance. Status review
meetings are an important part of communicating, monitoring, and controlling projects.
To improve project communications, project managers and their teams must develop good
conflict management skills, as well as other communication skills. Conflict resolution is an impor-
tant part of project communications management. The main causes of conflict during a project are
schedules, priorities, staffing, technical opinions, procedures, cost, and personalities. A confronta-
tional or problem-solving approach to managing conflict is often the best approach. Other sugges-
tions for improving project communications include learning how to run more effective meetings,
how to use e-mail, instant messaging, and collaborative software more effectively, and how to use
templates for project communications.
New hardware and software continues to become available to help improve communications.
As more people work remotely, it is important to make sure they have the necessary tools to be
productive. Enterprise project management software provides many features to enhance commu-
nications across the organization.
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