Project Communication
Consulting, Thought Leadership | Anand T. | September 1, 2009 at 5:20 am
Poor project communication will cause many projects to end unsuccessfully. In today’s world, however, projects need to be undertaken in partnership with the business, and this partnership absolutely requires solid communication. In fact, many of the problems that surface on a project are actually the results of poor communication. Poor communication can lead to the following trouble areas.
Differences in expectations…
It is just as simple as some stakeholders thinking that the project is going to be completed on December 31, when it has been extended until March 31. People make decisions based on the best information they have at the time, and if the project manager does not keep everyone under a common set of expectations, things can start to get out-of-sync fast.
People are surprised…
If people are not kept informed as to what is going on, they will be surprised when changes occur. For instance, if you are not going to be able to make your deadline date, you want to make sure people don’t read it suddenly in a status report. Proactive communication means that you raise the potential of missing your deadline as soon as it becomes a risk. Then you continue to keep people up-to-date on the status. If you have to declare that you cannot meet your date, people are prepared. People get angry and frustrated when they find out bad news at the last minute, when there is no time left to have an impact on the situation.
No one knows what the state of the project is…
On some projects, people are not really sure what the status is. If they are not sure about what is going on, they have to spend extra time following up for further information. In fact, if you send updates to stakeholders and they continually follow-up with you for more information, it is a sign that your communications are not targeted correctly.
People are impacted by the project at the last-minute…
This is a prime cause of problems. In this situation, the project manager does not communicate proactively with other people about things that will impact them. When the communication does occur, it is at the last minute and everything is rush-rush. For example, this happens when the project manager does not tell resource managers that team members are becoming available until the day they are released. Or it could include the project manager that knows for three months that a specialist is needed, but only asks for the person the week before. In each case, the other party is surprised by the last minute request and does not have time to adequately prepare.
Team members don’t know what is expected of them…
In the prior problem situations, communication problems surfaced between the team and outside parties. However, poor communication also occurs within a project team. Some project managers do a poor job of talking with their own team to explain what they are expected to do. Sometimes the project manager is not clear on when assignments are due. Sometimes the project manager has a vision of what a deliverable looks like but does not communicate that to the person assigned until the first attempt comes back wrong. Sometimes the project manager does not communicate clearly and team members spend time on work that is not necessary. Again, all of this causes extra work and extra frustration on the part of the project manager and team members alike. Many projects have problems. Poor communication can cause many problems and aggravate others. On the other hand, proactive communication can help overcome many other mistakes. Don’t consider communication to be a necessary evil. Instead, use it to your advantage to help your project go smoothly with less frustration, less uncertainty and no surprises. This raises ultimate question in one’s mind – “How do I deal with these changes?”
Dealing changes in project…
Changes to projects are almost inevitable. As project work progresses, discoveries are made, problems are encountered and solved, new requirements are discovered. All of these have the potential to change one or more of the three main constraints that bound any project – Time (the deadline), Resources (the people, materials and money available to do the project), and Output (the required deliverables). Any change that affects one of these constraints can seriously affect the ultimate delivery of the project. For instance, if the deadline is tightened, you will need more resources to deliver the same output. If the resources available are reduced (usually in the form of lost people), you will likely need more time to deliver the output. If the output requirements change (usually added functionality and/or features) you will need either more time or more resources. For purposes of self-protection as well as for good records, you should document every change to the project. There are several things you should make note of…
Who is requesting that the change be made?
What exactly, and in detail are they asking to be changed?
What, in their opinion, is the priority of making the change? How important is it?
What, in YOUR opinion, is the impact that making the change is likely to have on the project?
What exactly, and in detail is going to happen to the existing project plans as a result of the change?
What additional resources will be required?
How much additional time will be required?
Will it affect either the timing or the content of the delivery?
Who needs to be notified about the change?
Who is authorizing the change?
That last one, “Who is authorizing the change?” is the key. If you are in a position to authorize the additional resources, the additional time required, or the change in output, great. You can do it. If, on the other hand, you are not in a position to authorize it, your job is to get the information into the hands of whomever is in a position to authorize it. Write it up and get approved.
What if your project is late due to non-cooperation…
Don’t take the situation too personally. There is a real danger in getting too emotionally “invested” in your projects. When this happens, anything that negatively impacts the project – whether you can do anything about it or not – takes on a sinister aspect. You must accept that there will always be things that will impact your projects over which you have little or no control. When these occur, you can only react as best you can with the good of the project as your primary aim.
Make sure that the impact of withheld information, resources, work output, etc., is clear. A good change-control process is helpful here. It allows you to describe the change being made as well as the impact of that change on the project. Document this and be sure that everyone who should be informed is informed.
Document what happens. Always document the things that happen during a project. Never assume that “everyone knows why this happened.” They may, but, then again, they may not, or they may have a completely different understanding of the situation. Try to document the occurrence in a factual way. Try to avoid accusations and conjecture about “why” the thing happened. Document what happened and the impact it had on the project. A good change-control system can help with this. This documentation should become part of the total project documentation and can be included as part of the final project report. A good, carefully worded narrative about why the project was delivered late can reference this documentation. Use your sponsor. A sponsor is someone in a position of authority in the organization who has agreed to act on behalf of you and the project when an issue is outside your scope of authority and control. One of the functions of a sponsor is to intercede in situations like the one you described. When a conflict occurs, the sponsor should be informed and asked for both advice and for direct assistance in resolving the conflict. The most common conflicts are over needed resources but they can also occur over issues of cooperation and delivery of work or information. Use these methods religiously and you will see; things would become easier.
This article is combination of author’s own views and excerpts from various famous books and articles.
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