Introduction Communication Management in Project Management

Project Communication Management

Output Oriented Project Management and Project Communication Management

See: What is a project; project management

Communication is is one of the 9 topic areas of project management knowledge.

The knowledge area of Project Communication Management consists of the following processes -

**Communication Management Processes**
Process	Project Phase	Key Deliverables
Communication Planning Steps of Communication Planning: Identify project stakeholders Analyse the communication needs of each stakeholders Identify the information for fulfilling the information needs of each stakeholder Identify the Method and the Effort Required Prioritise the Communication Options Develop a Conflict Management Strategy	planning	Project Stakeholder Analysis - project major takeholders roles table Communication Matrix - Project Communication Plan How to Report and Present the Communication Proposal Other communication planning templates
Information Distribution	Execution	Status Report Project Progress Report
Reporting performance	Execution	Interpersonal skill assessment Employee Performance Review – Peer Review Performance review long Performance Review 2 Performance Review Form performance appraisal forms Interim Performance Review Report

Managing the required project communications, as most of project activities, requires communications planning and that planning requires from the very beginning involving the project stakeholders so as to make partecipated decisions and conform to the needs and expections of all actors involved. The Project Quality Plan defines how and when the various stakeholders receive information, and communicate with each other.

Most of the time of task managers is actually devoted to communication. The project manager spends an average of 90% of her time in communicating. Proper communication management is therefore essential for team Efficiency and Effectiveness. Aslo accountability and transparency are dependent on the way communication is managed in the process.

In addition to having a solid Communications Plan in place, it is the responsibility of members of the Project Team to exercise good communication skill . Communication skill is critical to keeping your stakeholders informed, supportive, and enthusiastic. Smart planning and consistent information delivery keeps your project on track and helps avoid confusion.

When composing correspondence, progress reports, meeting minutes, etc., and when speaking with individuals face to face, the team members are responsible for clear, unambiguous, and complete communication of information. The receiver, in turn, must be sure information is not only received correctly and completely, but that it is understood. During Project Execution, the Project Manager, Project Team, and Stakeholders will share information using a variety of communication mechanisms.

See Tasks, tools and elements of communication management

Project management demands a free flow of communication with and among project team members, and internal and external project stakeholders. The project team needs frequent information from each of its team members to complete and improve the project and to understand the needs and expectations of the project's beneficiaries. Project Communication management is the systematic planning, implementing, monitoring, and revision of the exchnage of information amongst the project team and the project stakeholders . Project communication management aims at timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage, and ultimate disposition of project information and knowledge.

In the structure of the project, communication management is considered one of the facilitating processes (along with quality planning, staff acquisition, risk response planning, procurement planning, solicitation planning). "Facilitating" does not mean unessential or optional: it only means that it is a process that varies in the sequence, is performed in parallel with other activities, have a two-way feedback loop with many core processes. (core processes of project management instead are performed sequentially and are divided into three main phases, i.e. project planning, project execution, project closure).

Attention: There is an important difference between Project communication and organizational communication . A project is a temporary and one-time endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service, that brings about beneficial change or added value. This property of being a temporary and a one-time undertaking contrasts with organization processes, that are permanent ongoing perations aimed at creating the same product or service over and over again. The communication of these two systems is often very different and requires varying technical skills and philosophy, hence requiring the development of project management. Organizational processes instead are recurring and they regenerate themselves at the end of each completition.

See also:

Interim Performance Review Report