Project Communications And Information Management

Communication Matrix

Discuss about the Project Communications and Information Management.

Plan Information and Communication Processes

Communications Matrix:

Target Audience	Communication Needs Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	Messenger	Vehicle (How?)	Frequency
Organization Employees	To let know the upcoming changes in the system	Operations Manager	Face to face meeting / written mail	Monthly
Management Board	To inform about the shortfalls of the existing system and changes needed	Manager of the IT Department	Board meeting	Once, before planning of project
IT Team	To inform about starting a project in incorporate all the necessary changes in the system	Manager of the IT Department	Face to face meeting / written mail	Once, before planning of project
Public	To inform about upcoming changes and new features	Marketing Manager	Advertisements, leaflets, notices	Daily (starting from a few days before completion of project

For the purpose of communication management during the project, there are several procedures that need to be followed. These procedures also ensure the communication is occurring between the stakeholders as per requirements. Some communication management procedures are as follows.

Standards – Before developing a particular communication plan, setting certain standards are necessary in order to define the boundaries and limitations of the communication procedure. The standards define how a specific stakeholder will communicate with a specific other stakeholder or stakeholder group through the course of the project.

Escalation Process – For informing the authority about an issue encountered or change required, the escalation process is used so that the identified issue is addressed quickly. For this project, the escalation will have to be through the project manager i.e. the issue should be reported to the project manager who will review the issue and then escalate it to the management board if it is not solvable.

Version Control – In cases of changes made in the communication plan, version control should be used in order to keep track of the changes and the details in each of the previous versions that have been changed.

Process to Update Communication Management Plan – Due to some changes in the project or the project team, the communication management plan is also changed or updated accordingly. However, for changing the communication plan, there is a specific process that needs to be followed. First, the changes are to be proposed and reviewed to determine whether it follows the pre set standards and other requirements. After approval, a version change document is to be created to keep track of the changes. Finally, the changes in the communication management plan are updated.

Storing, searching and retrieval of information in the proposed system are to be done entirely through the computer as the manual process for the same is too slow and inaccurate. However, these processed are to be executed in a systematic manner in order to ensure the information is handled correctly. There are several types of information kept in the system and hence, certain additional measures are required. For example, the public information is free to access and can be searched through the search engine easily. However, there are certain data and information related to the organization that is extremely confidential. These data and information cannot be founded through search engines or any other methods by the public. Another category of information is “restricted” whose source can be found by the user through search engines but has to request access for viewing the contents of the document.

1. Introduction

Communication Management Procedures

The purpose of the development of this communication plan is to ensure the right information is provided to the right stakeholder and at the right time. A communication plan is an essential component of a project plan and should be developed in order to meet the requirements of the project.

1. Communication Objectives

Communication plays a very major role in the project. The communication objectives are as follows.

• To ensure suitable information is transferred between two specific stakeholder groups
• To ensure all the stakeholders are informed about various project information and data
• To ensure there is unity among the project team members

1. Communication Purpose and Target Audiences

Audience	Communication Purpose
Organization Employees	To let know the upcoming changes in the system
Management Board	To inform about the shortfalls of the existing system and changes needed
IT Team	To inform about starting a project in incorporate all the necessary changes in the system
Public	To inform about upcoming changes and new features

1. Communication Message and Delivery

Audience	Message	Delivery Method	Delivery Frequency	Communicator
Organization Employees	Upcoming system changes	Face to face meeting / written mail	Monthly	Operations Manager
Management Board	Changes needed in the system	Board meeting	Once, before planning of project	Manager of the IT Department
IT Team	Requirements of the new system	Face to face meeting / written mail	Once, before planning of project	Manager of the IT Department
Public	Upcoming changes and new features	Advertisements, leaflets, notices	Daily (starting from a few days before completion of project)	Marketing Manager

1. Communication Message Contents

The contents of the key communications are:

• Specific information regarding project
• Relevant information regarding project
• Clearly stated changes and requirements
• Clearly stated changes that have been already implemented

Example of Project Communication

An appropriate example of project communication about the status of the project is project charter. A project charter is a document that is prepared during planning and contains all relevant information about the project including scope, time and cost. After preparing the charter, a copy of the same can be sent to the relevant stakeholders who can easily understand the details of the project and their roles in the project.

Validation to Ensure Quality and Accuracy of Data

In order to ensure quality and accuracy of data, validation process is required. Whenever some data and information are to be sent to another stakeholder, it is important to determine whether it actually contains relevant and important information. Hence, an approval process must be implemented for any kind of document to be sent to the management board or any stakeholder group. The approval process can be done by the project manager who will review and validate the document before approving it for sending to the destination person.

Finalize and Archive Records

Finalizing and archiving records are important requirements of the system as it is to be designed for storing and accessing various records. In order to keep a record in the system, it is important collect sufficient amount of data regarding a particular record, develop a digital document containing information of the same including written material, pictures, videos and others and then enter the record in the archive. However, in the entire process, a control system is required. Without control, duplication of the data, repeated information on the same topic and other issues may occur. Hence, after the digital copy of a particular record is developed, it is to be verified with the existing archive to determine whether there is any existing same or very similar record already available. If not, the particular record is finalized and archived in the system.

Review of Project Performance

In terms of information and communication management, my project performance will definitely ensure the project is managed in the right way and also the project is moving in the right direction. Information and communication management is a very important requirement in this project and it is important to prepare the plans for the management that are best suited for the project.

Accordingly, I developed the plans that will be highly effective for this particular project. I considered all the relevant stakeholders that will be associated with this project and the communication requirements with them.

Date	Description of Problem / Opportunity	Recommended Action for Next Time	Lesson Learnt Raised by
PLEASE FILL	Language Barrier	Determine common language for communication, can use a translator for the personnel who do not speak that language	PLEASE FILL
PLEASE FILL	Face to Face Meetings Not Possible	Use video conference feature, written mails	PLEASE FILL
PLEASE FILL	Personal Conflicts between Stakeholders	Ensure the stakeholders are working in a team without personal rivalry or conflicts	PLEASE FILL

The issues log regarding information and communication in the project is shown as follows.

Date of Issue	Main Issue	Proposed Resolution
PLEASE FILL	One of the IT engineers could communicate with the project manager as he did not speak English	Determine whether all the project personnel know the common language before appointing in the project
PLEASE FILL	Team meeting in Week 3 was postponed as the project manager was not present	Allow video conference so that the meeting can be conducted even if one of the team members is in a different location
PLEASE FILL	The IT Manager and the Finance Manager conflicted due to some personal rivalry	Ensure the team members know about the policy regarding team work and professional behavior

 

Key Stakeholders

The key stakeholders in the project and their roles in the project are as follows.

Stakeholder	Role
Project Manager	Management and control of the entire project
Finance Manager	Management and control of the budget of the project
IT Manager	Supervision of the IT changes and reporting to the project manager
Marketing Manager	Informing the public regarding the proposed new changes that are being incorporated in the system

Specific Information Needs

Each of the stakeholders have specific information needs that are explained in the following table.

Stakeholder	Information Needs
Project Manager	Each and every information on the project including cost, time, changes, human resources, technical requirements and others
Finance Manager	Financial aspects of the project including budget requirements, net spend, weekly expenses and others
IT Manager	Requirements of the system, proposed new features, features of the existing system, budget available for the project and others
Marketing Manager	Information that is to be released in public regarding system changes and updates

 

Some communication issues that have been addressed are as follows.

Diverse Locations – In order to compromise for the diverse locations of the organization offices, a meeting room in each office was set up with a computer with video calling feature. Using the video calling feature, the different stakeholders from different offices could conduct meeting together and communicate accordingly.

Government Reporting – A reporting system was developed where the project log was updated, compiled and reported to the government.

Different Needs of Customer and Industry – In order to meet different needs of customer and industry, specific industry standards were chosen that fulfilled the requirements of the customer.

Types of Communication Resources Required

The communication resources that were required included email access, paper documents for sending printed reports, devices that supported video conference feature and cellular networks.

Pitfalls in Communicating with Stakeholders

In communicating with the stakeholders, I was aware of some pitfalls that were as follows.

Reporting Time – To ensure reporting by each stakeholder is done timely

Communication Format and Content – To ensure the communicated message is in the right format and with the right content

Protocols – To ensure the protocols are followed during communication