Benefits of a communication management plan
- Sets expectations: Agreement between stakeholders comms requirements. facilitates working together
- Makes comms easier - Know which channels are used and how, so streamlines for team.
- Enables tailoring for specific stakeholder needs. Basis on needs and preferences, senior m’ment prefer an email update.
- Increase comms effectiveness - get messages to the right people in the right way so more likely to be received.
Benefits of Comms management plan by specific roles
- Senior Mment - Know what to expect when. Supports decision making, thus efficiency.
- Users - Gives confidence product will be delivered. Different users may have different comms needs. Ensures all users are communicated to.
- Suppliers - Enables unambiguous and agreed communications as to when changes are required. Clarifies when progress information is required and what is expected. Include in contract. Maintains a good working relationship rather than ad hoc.
Benefit of identifying stakeholder needs
- Can assess interdependencies as to how best to reach people
- Identify which stakeholders have what level of influence so can manage comms accordingly. Can have conversations upfront of their needs.
- Can highlight those affected by project so you can develop a plan to minimise negative impacts of complaints and disruption.
Benefit of analysing stakeholder needs
- Understand level of interest and power in project. Enables strategy to engage accordingly, how they prefer to be engaged, frequency, style. Document to ensure needs met.
- To keep stakeholders engaged by being suitably informed. High interest, high power more engaged than low interest low power.
- Understand attitude towards project. Positive to negative. influence strategies used to sell benefits.
Positive comms examples
Prepared messages with familiar language Correct timing of messages Empathy to audience Right environment giving non verbal clues, ie face to face Agreement on common language Getting right person to send message - seniority Safe environment to discuss Ease of reading - clear font etc
Negative example comms
Use of jargon Lack of attention to detail Differences in perception / viewpoint Physical barriers, no eye to eye Language difficulties Expectations and prejudices leading to false assumptions and stereotyping Physiological barriers - Personal discomfort Presentation inappropriate
Sources of conflict at concept stage
Business justification - different options on investment decisions. Sponsor vs Senior manager funding
Project organisation / roles - Who is on project board / role of PM
Requirements - Different stakeholders may have different needs / functionality requirements and final output. Sponsor cost / users product features.
Sources of conflict at definition phase
- Schedules and estimates - Duration of project, unrealistic timescales.
- Scope - Boundaries of what is in and out of scope
Risk - Level of risk and how it can be mitigated, leading to poor estimation of contingency.
Sources of conflict at deployment stage
- Contract terms and conditions with suppliers - Who takes risks. Punitive contracts can lead to adverse behaviour
- Progress - Esp where suppliers paid on % complete, can lead to payments with held and escalation to litigation.
- Change requests - PM faced with requests to change quality and scope. Budgetary constraints. Escalate change leads to breakdown in relationships.
Sources of conflict at transition stage
- Acceptability of deliverables - Unclear acceptance criteria. Users demand higher quality than scope. No budget for change.
- Follow on actions. Outstanding issues, accountability. PM want BAU to cover, BAU want PM to cover. Can delay handover.
Five modes of dealing with conflict
- Compete - (Assertive uncooperative) Individual concerns at others expense. Quick / goal orientated, breeds hostility and resentment. impacts later
- Accommodating - (Unassertive and cooperative) Neglect own concerns to satisfy other person.
- Emotions protected, cooperative relationship focus.
- Breeds hostility when unresolved, can be exploited - Avoiding - (Unassertive uncooperative). Neither pushes or resists. Conflict not dealt with, sidestepping, postponing, withdrawing.
- Does not escalate conflict, postpones difficulty
- Low assertiveness and dependability. Issues fester - Collaborating (assertive and collaborative). Work together to find a joint solution. Dig in to an issue / explore reasons for disagreement, get insights
- Creates trust, focus on task, creates buy-in
- Time and energy consuming - Compromising - Find mutually acceptable stance.
- Useful for quick resolution, minimise short term damage. Democratic.
- No one is completely happy. Doesn’t deal with root issue.
Five stages of Formal Negotiation
- Planning - info gathering, setting goals, understand culture, note walk away position (BATNA), evaluate power, agree roles, decide on negotiation structure.
- Discussing - Open negotiations, set scene, define ground rules, build rapport, get issues on the table, explore key issues, listen, probe, question understanding. Assess ZOPA.
- Proposing - Opening position, no commitments, indication on areas of flexibility, Develop ZOPA, No -ve / +ve comments.
- Bargaining - Link issues, keep big picture in mind, work on ZOPA, Select issues of different values, conditional proposals, time outs where negotiations are protracted.
- Agreement and review - Summarise and confirm verbally, Document outcome, allocate action owners, communicate to parties impacted by outcome, Incorporate to PMP.
Explain BATNA and how used
Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement
- Walk away position
- Most advantageous alternative
Identify walk away position
Identify other persons walk away position
Prepare alternatives beforehand
Gives confidence as you know when to walk away
Accept offer if in your BATNA
Explain ZOPA and how used
Zone of Possible Agreement
Area of BATNA overlap
Critical for negotiation
To achieve must explore others interests and values
Do early in negotiation
Adjust as more known
Where ZOPA wide parties may use strategies to influence distribution of ZOPA, where small have a limited area to align on.
What to consider for a Win win approach
Time of collaboration
Ability / desire to share information
Benefits to both parties
Need to find ZOPA
State potential conflicts between User, Sponsor, Project Team and Suppliers
Users - May alter their expectations or requirements
Sponsor - Holds contingency
Team - Achievability of project, esp if not involved in base planning
Suppliers - Contracts terms and conditions. Who takes risk. Creates ill feeling
Benefit of sections;
- Responsibilities for defining communication
- Timing
- Feedback mechanism
- Identifying most effective sender
- Achieve maximum impact
- Ensure comms effective
Explain three benefits of a communication plan to a project – 30 marks (10 marks each)
A communications plan increases the effectiveness of communication.
• Getting a message to the right person, at the right time and in the right way, means that it is more likely to be received, understood and acted upon.
• It ensures that communication is planned rather than being last minute and reactive which decreases the prospect of important communication being missed (e.g. getting updated technical data to a supplier in time for them to stay on schedule).
• This leads to improved project performance and greater senior management confidence in the project team.
• It also ensures the validation of the effectiveness of communication by providing a ‘test’ that the message has had its desired effect. This feedback loop will improve the effectiveness of future communication.
a)/2 A communications plan supports stakeholder engagement.
• It does this by documenting a project’s stakeholders and setting expectations over their communication needs.
• The plan then effectively acts as an agreement, between stakeholders, of their communication requirements and how they will be delivered.
• This facilitates them working together to attain project goals and reduces the prospects of a conflict following a breakdown in communication.
• With constant monitoring of its use, the communication timing, content and format can be modified to meet the changing needs of the stakeholders for example, where a stakeholder require less frequent updates at later stages of a project.
a)/3 Using a communication plan makes communication easier and more efficient.
• It will save time throughout the lifecycle in trying to work out what communication each stakeholder needs. This is because that would have been done as part of communication planning.
• Determining which channels are used (e.g. email and phone calls), and how you will use them will streamline project communication management across a team.
• For example, noting how to access shared files to cut down on email requests for information.
• This should lead to reduced costs and less time spent searching for information.
