Planning communications and configuration management in a project. How to write a good project communications plan

The concept of communication management in the project. Stages of the communication management process in a project. The main tasks of the stages of the communication management process in the project.

Project communication management

In general terms, communication is defined as any exchange of information between people (or groups of people). Accordingly, communication is the process of transmitting a message from a sender to another party. The communication model includes structural elements and processes. Structural elements: sender, message, recipient, communication channel, "noise", Feedback, correction. Communication processes: a) the emergence of an intention, the origin and formulation of an idea, information about which the sender then transmits by message; b) designing an idea - coding and choosing a method (channel) for its transmission; in) the transmission itself as such, i.e. proper communicative act; G) decoding (understanding the meaning) of the message by the recipient. Project management is associated with the need for constant coordination of the activities of departments and individual project participants in order to achieve common goals. This coordination takes place in various forms, but primarily through the diverse contacts of the project team members, i.e. during their communication. Therefore, communication, along with decision-making and motivation, is considered as a connecting element in project management. Communications are divided into three levels that are most important for defining the goals and objectives of communications management. First level- this is communication as a general phenomenon that unfolds at all levels of the organizational structure of the project. Second level- this is the direct practice of contacts between the project manager and individual participants in the investment project. Third level- communications are considered as a special component of managerial activity of managerial activity and an object of regulation by the head. Each of these levels has two main aspects, normative-organizational and subjective-psychological. The first is related to the objective organizational forms of communication, the requirements for its effective implementation, the structure of the optimal communication process. The second reveals the influence of the psychological characteristics of "communicators" on communication and allows us to explain a number of its important features, including those that hinder its effective implementation.

Project communications management processes include the following steps:

Communication is often a critical success factor for a project (note - Tower of Babel). In modern projects, the negative consequences of poor communications can be varied:

Loss of time searching for documents, switching interfaces, searching across multiple systems

Downtime due to inaccessible, outdated, unapproved documentation, waiting for instructions

Pauses due to the movement of paper copies of documents Waste of time due to the reuse of documents (orders), etc.

Communication management in the project includes the processes necessary to ensure the timely and correct formation, collection, storage and closing of information on the project. It provides the necessary connections between people, ideas and information.

Workflow solutions: Management of contracts (including the electronic version) Management of administrative documents Management of correspondence Creation and management of electronic archive Support for the process of translating documents

Solutions at the communication level: Virtual project office Satellite or other communication channels (e-mail)

Project communications management is a knowledge area that includes the processes necessary for the timely creation, collection, distribution, storage, receipt and, ultimately, use of project information. Processes ex. Project communications provide for the creation of the necessary links between people and information that are required for the successful implementation of communications. Project managers may spend excessive amounts of time communicating with the project team, project stakeholders, client, and sponsor. Everyone who is involved in the project in one way or another should understand well how a communicator is. affect the course of the project as a whole. Processes ex. project comments include the following elements:

10.1 Communication planning– determination of the needs of the project participants in communication and information.

10.2 Dissemination of information– timely provision of the necessary information to project participants.

10.3 Performance reporting– collection and dissemination of information on the performance of work. This information includes current status reports, progress evaluation, and forecasting.

10.4 Managing project participants– management of communications in order to meet the requirements of project participants and solve problems that arise.

Project Communications Management(information communications interaction management) is a managerial function aimed at ensuring the timely collection, generation, distribution and storage of the necessary project information.

Under information understand the collected, processed and distributed data. To be useful for decision-making, information must be provided in a timely manner, as intended, and in a convenient form. This is achieved using modern information technologies within the project management system.

Communications and the information accompanying them are a kind of foundation for ensuring the coordination of the actions of the project participants. The scheme of information exchange within the organization is shown in fig. 12.1.

Figure 12.1 - Information exchange in the organization

Communication management provides support for the communication system (interactions) between project participants, the transfer of management and reporting information aimed at ensuring the achievement of project goals. Each project participant must be prepared for interaction within the project in accordance with his functional responsibilities. The information link management function includes the following processes:

planning a communication system - determining the information needs of project participants (composition of information, terms and methods of delivery);

collection and distribution of information - processes for regular collection and timely delivery necessary information project participants;

reporting on the progress of the project - processing the actual results of the state of the project, the ratio with the planned and trend analysis, forecasting;

documenting the progress of work - collecting, processing and organizing the storage of project documentation.

Communication system planning

The communications plan is integral part project plan. It includes:

an information collection plan that defines the sources of information and methods for obtaining it;

information distribution plan, which defines the consumers of information and methods of its delivery;

a detailed description of each document to be received or transmitted, including format, content, level of detail, and definitions used;

a plan for the commissioning of certain types of communications;

methods for updating and improving the communication plan. The communication plan is formalized and detailed depending on the needs of the project.

Collection and distribution of information

Within the framework of the project, there is a need to implement various kinds communications:

internal (within the project team) and external (with company management, customer, external organizations etc.);

formal (reports, requests, meetings) and informal (reminders, discussions);

written and oral;

vertical and horizontal.

Systems for collecting and distributing information should meet the needs of various types of communications. For these purposes, automated and non-automated methods of collecting, processing and transmitting information can be used.

Manual methods include the collection and transmission of data on paper, holding meetings.

Automated methods involve the use of computer technology and modern means of communication to improve the efficiency of interaction: e-mail, document management systems and data archiving.

Project Progress Reporting

The processes for collecting and processing data on actual results and displaying information on the status of work in reports provide the basis for coordination of work, operational planning and management. Progress reporting includes:

information about the current state of the project as a whole and in the context of individual indicators;

information about deviations from baseline plans;

forecasting the future state of the project.

Documenting the progress of work

The main intermediate results of the progress of work should be formally documented.

Documentation of progress results includes:

collection and verification of final data;

analysis and conclusions about the degree of achievement of the project results and the effectiveness of the work performed;

archiving results for future use.

Computer systems for maintaining electronic archives make it possible to automate the processes of storing and indexing text and graphic documents, and greatly facilitate access to archival information.

Under information technology understand the totality of processes for collecting, transmitting, processing, storing and communicating information to users, implemented using modern software tools.

12.2 Project management information system

Project Management Information System- an organizational and technological complex of methodological, technical, software and information tools aimed at supporting and improving the efficiency of project management processes.

In the process project implementation managers have to deal with significant amounts of data that can be collected and organized using a computer. In addition, many analytical tools, such as recalculation of the work schedule based on actual data, resource and cost analysis, involve rather complex non-automated calculation algorithms.

The development of project management systems for personal computers has gone through several stages. With the increase in PC power, the functionality of systems improved, their capabilities increased. With the introduction of standards for data exchange between systems, the spread of network and Web technologies, new opportunities opened up for further development support systems for project management processes and their more efficient use. The projects themselves are becoming more and more complex, which imposes additional requirements on the development of information technologies for project management.

Today, the use of information technology for project management can be represented as shown in Fig. 12.2.

Figure 12.2 - Automation of project management

personal computer systems, equipped with project management software, should provide the following functions:

work in a multi-project environment;

development of a calendar-network schedule for the performance of work;

optimization of distribution and accounting for limited resources;

conducting a "what if" analysis;

collection and accounting of actual information about the timing, resources and costs of automated report generation;

planning and control of contractual obligations;

centralized storage of information on ongoing and completed projects, etc.

Distributed Integrated Systems The main tools used are:

architecture "client- server". It allows workstations ("clients") and one or more central PCs ("servers") to distribute the execution of applications using the processing power of each computer. Most client-server systems use databases (DB) and database management systems (DBMS). For successful project management, it is necessary that the data obtained during the planning and execution of the project be always available to all project participants;

telecommunications systems(transmission of digital data via fiber-optic cables, local area networks, etc.);

portable computers;

teamwork support software, allowing:

email exchange;

document flow;

group activity planning;

participation of remote team members in interactive discussions by means of support and discussions;

brainstorming session, which allows participants to express their opinions using computers connected to one large screen.

Internet/Intranet are technologies that bring together enterprises and projects. They provide access to project information without requiring significant funds for its organization. Placing a site-project on the Internet is the most optimal and, probably, the only way to inform participants about its status in cases where they are located in different parts of the globe.

The created web pages form a web site, which is then hosted on the provider's server, and thus accessed by remote users from all over the world. With regard to project management in the form of web pages, calendar-network schedules of work, reports (graphic and tabular), minutes of meetings and any other documents related to the project can be published.

intranet based on the same elements as the Internet. The fundamental difference between them lies in the fact that Intranet users are a limited circle of persons, which, as a rule, are employees of a particular corporation, organization, enterprise.

Videoconferencing allow you to transmit audio, video information over local networks and the Internet. Voice conferences are also used for computer telephony on the Internet.

A project communications management plan is a very necessary piece of paper that regulates who, how, when and what information will be learned about your project.

It is important to understand that this plan is not needed everywhere and not always. From my point of view, it makes sense to make a full-fledged communication plan with the number of participants from 15 and above. If there are fewer participants, it is still possible to keep all communications in mind, if there are more, there is a high risk of missing something.

What should be reflected in the communication plan:

1. A list of all project participants (both those who directly work on the project and those who can somehow influence it) indicating the name, position, role and contact details. When there are more than 80 people in the project, having all the phones and emails in one place is priceless. It is highly desirable for yourself to analyze all the participants in terms of influence, the ability to make your project very good or very bad, interest, interaction strategies, etc. (we’ll talk about this later), but in no case should this be included in the communication plan.
2. Basic principles of communication. If the observance of subordination is a value for you, and this is important in a project, then the plan is the right place to write it. The basic principles of communication include those norms and rules of conduct that the team must comply with in order to effective work by project. For example, meetings start exactly at the specified time (or, conversely, do not start until all participants have gathered). Or “we don’t talk on the phone at meetings.” Include here only items that you can enforce. For example, it’s a very bad idea to set a “no phone in meetings” rule, and still grab your smartphone when your sponsor (or wife) calls, explaining to everyone with big eyes"Well, it's a sponsor!"
3. Methods of communication used. Here you need to list which groups of stakeholders use which communication channels, and also make sure that they really use them. For example, it’s very easy to write an “email” for a customer (and what, he has one), and then six months later find out that his secretary sorts out his mail, and he hasn’t seen a single one of your letters. A typical set is a corporate and mobile phone number, a messaging system such as Lync or Skype, e-mail, video conferencing systems, personal meetings, etc. AT recent times plans increasingly include things like WhatsApp or Viber.
4. Planned communication list plate, including a group or list of interested persons, responsible person, regularity, method of communication, content of communication, communication requirements. For example:

The example lists a “push” type of communication (we practically “force” convey information), but in the same table you can indicate a “pull” type of communication (the participant himself is responsible for receiving information, for example, come in once a week and see updates to the list of tasks on corporate portal).

The process of agreeing documents and decisions on a project, involving more than 1 stakeholder and not reflected in specific plans (timing or budget management plan, for example). For example, if you need to decide only on terms, we will agree with the Customer (we just inform the rest), if on money - only with the Sponsor, if you need to choose “quickly and expensively” or “slowly and cheaply” - we collect a meeting with such and such participants . Often does the same in the form of a plate, very similar to the previous one.

1. Escalation process. How, to whom and in what cases do we “complain”?
2. The process of monitoring and reviewing the plan. How often and how will we evaluate whether our plan is working? Who will do it? What will we do if it doesn't work? How to control the use of the communication plan and the return on it, we will talk another time.

This is a minimum set of points, but the plan can grow and be supplemented depending on how complex the communication in your project is. If it involves 5 teams from different countries, people constantly go on business trips or there is a need to clearly regulate the joint work on project documents - all this is also included in the document. Here you can, in which all these nuances have already been taken into account.

Sometimes the communication plan is “beaten” into several for different stakeholder groups to make it easier to agree on, from my point of view this makes sense with 50+ project participants. The main rule here is that the degree of overregulation of the plan should be proportional to the risks of its non-fulfillment and somehow correlate with the number of participants and the volume of the project. It is because of situations when a 15-page plan is written for a project of 10 people, regulating how many times a week they are together they drink coffee, and there is an opinion that "project management is about meaningless pieces of paper."

It is also important to remember that preparing a communications management plan includes a description of how you will manage the expectations of stakeholders, but this is not included in the plan itself, which you will agree on. Expectation management - separate big topic, we will discuss it separately.

As always, below is a sample communication plan for a home renovation project to make things clearer.

We assume that I am the project manager.

1. The list of participants is me, my husband, the parents with whom we still live, the housing office, the foreman, neighbors.
2. Principles: we respect each other, we don’t swear, we go to appointments on time. Please note that “we don’t swear” applies only to the project team, who and how swears at the foreman during work, when we are not there, we don’t care.
3. Ways of communication - me, husband, foreman - mobile phone, mail, personal meetings, parents - mobile phone and personal meetings, neighbors - personal meetings (hiking "legs" to them), ZhEK - landline phone and email.
4. List of communications:

An excerpt from the chapter of A.V. Polkovnikov "Project Communications" from the book "Investment Management" / Ed. ed. V.V. Sheremet. - M.: graduate School, 1998.

Communication management processes.

Communications management provides support for the communication system (interactions) between the project participants, the transfer of management and reporting information aimed at ensuring the achievement of the project goals. Each project participant must be prepared to interact within the framework of the project in accordance with his functional responsibilities. The information link management function includes the following processes:

Collection and distribution of information- processes of regular collection and timely delivery of the necessary information to project participants.

Evaluate and display progress- processing of the actual results of the state of the project work, correlation with the planned and trend analysis, forecasting.

Documenting the progress of work- collection, processing and organization of storage of formal project documentation.

Communication system planning.

To study the needs and describe the structure of the communication system, the following information is usually required:

Information needs of project participants.

The physical structure of the distribution of project participants.

External information needs of the project.

Technologies or methods for distributing information among project participants can vary significantly depending on the parameters of the project and the requirements of the control system. The choice of interaction technologies is determined by:

Availability of technology.

Qualification and preparedness of personnel.

Communication Management Plan includes:

An information distribution plan that defines information consumers and delivery methods.

Detailed description of each document to be received or transmitted, including format, content, level of detail, and definitions used.

Schedule and frequency of interactions.

Method for making changes to the communications plan.

Depending on the needs of the project, the communication plan can be more or less formalized, detailed or described only in general view. The communications plan is an integral part of the project plan.

Evaluate and display progress.

The processes for collecting and processing data on the results achieved and actual costs and displaying information on the status of work in reports provide the basis for coordination of work, operational planning and management.

Most of the scheduling and scheduling methods discussed in Chapter 19 involve the use of a computer. During the implementation of the project, managers have to deal with significant amounts of data that can be collected and organized using a computer. In addition, many analytical tools, for example, graph calculation using the critical path method, resource and cost analysis, imply algorithms that are quite complex for non-automated calculation.

Currently, a significant number of software packages are presented on the market that automate the functions of planning and controlling the work schedule. These packages are based on network planning and critical path analysis methods. In addition, there are specialized packages for planning and controlling project costs. Packages scheduling are the basis for creating information system project management. This software, as well as the tasks of selecting and using packages within the project information system, are discussed in more detail in Section 20.5.

Collection and distribution of information.

Within the framework of the project, there is a need for various types of communications:

Formal(reports, requests, meetings) and informal(reminders, discussions);

Written and oral ;

vertical and horizontal .

Collection and distribution systems information should meet the needs of various types of communications. For these purposes, automated and non-automated methods of collecting, processing and transmitting information can be used.

Manual methods include the collection and transmission of data on paper, holding meetings.

Automated methods involve the use computer technology and modern means of communication to improve the efficiency of interaction.

Computer communications support tools are based on the use of group work software - groupware (groupware) and electronic document management. AT last years This area of ​​information technology has been rapidly developing, which is associated with an increase in the efficiency of communications. More details on group work tools are discussed in section 20.6.

Documenting the progress of work.

The main intermediate results of the progress of work should be formally documented.

Documentation of progress results includes:

Analysis and conclusions about the degree of achievement of the project results and the effectiveness of the work performed;

Archiving results for future use.

Computer systems for maintaining electronic archives make it possible to automate the processes of storing and indexing text and graphic documents, and greatly facilitate access to archival information.

Communication management and information technology.

So, most of the communication processes within the project involve the use of computers and communications. Moreover, it can be argued that from the moment of its inception to the present day, the development of project management methods and their practical use largely determined by the development of information technology.

The creation and calculation of mathematical models that formed the basis of project management methods became possible only with the advent of computers. The well-known critical path method, which formed part of the "network planning" methodology, was developed in 1956 as a result of research aimed at improving the efficiency of using the Univac computer for planning construction works.

The era of mainframe computers, expensive specialized project management software, and expensive experts who knew how to use it software continued until the mid-1980s. The use of automated project management systems was limited to organizations and projects whose budget allowed to pay from $500,000 to $1,000,000 for the installation of appropriate systems and the involvement of specialists.

With the development of personal computers, increasing their power and decreasing cost, as well as with the advent of inexpensive scheduling packages, automation of project management procedures has become available to a wider range of organizations.

The development of project management systems for personal computers also went through several stages. With the increase in the power of the PC, the functionality of the systems improved, their capabilities increased. With the advent of Windows, the introduction of standards for data exchange between systems, the spread of network technologies, new opportunities have opened up for the further development of support systems for project management processes and their more efficient use.

The implementation of the concept of a distributed integrated project management system (or a set of projects), the collection and dissemination of relevant information in real time became possible thanks to modern technologies, providing communication between project participants in local and global networks. Theoretically, project managers today can receive detailed project reports and issue assignments without leaving the office and without a single phone call. In this way, traditional systems for project management have a chance to turn from systems for modeling projects into systems that actually support management processes.

The role of communications in the project. Communication Management Planning

Communications- these are the processes associated with ensuring the timely and appropriate formation, collection, distribution, storage and final placement of project information. Since projects are carried out by people performing different functions, often located at a considerable distance from each other, the issues of information exchange and coordination of actions are very important. In the course of communication, goals are agreed, actions of people are coordinated, problems are identified and solved, and the expectations of project participants are regulated. According to E. Verzuh, starting with the formulation of the content of the work and ending with risk management and detailed planning, each of the project management methods is essentially one or another method of communication.

Schematically, the communication process can be represented by the model shown in Fig. 10.1.

Rice. 10.1. Communication model

Communication Management Plan is a document that describes:

– requirements and expectations from communications for the project;

- how and in what form information will be exchanged;

– when and where communications will take place;

– who is responsible for providing each type of communication.

Communication requirements are understood as the general (total) needs of the project participants for information. Members project team There are four main types of such requirements.

First, there is the need for information about distribution of responsibility. Each team member needs to know exactly what part of the project he is responsible for, what his powers and responsibilities are. The basis for such information is the organizational structure of the project.

Secondly, there is a need in coordination. Team members depend on each other to carry out the work of the project. Coordinating information ensures high efficiency of joint work of project team members. Information about making any changes to the project falls into the category of coordinating information.

Thirdly, information about the course of the project, the progress made. Team members should have information about the current state of the project, which allows them to identify problems in time and take measures to resolve them. Such information includes reports on funds spent at a certain point in time, on compliance with the calendar plan and project schedule. Information about the current status of risks and emerging issues is also important.

Fourth, team members need information about decisions. They need to be aware of the decisions made by management, project sponsors and clients, whether those decisions affect the project itself or its economic environment. An example of such information is the project charter, scope of work, work schedule, project budget.

Naturally, the very needs of people in communications go beyond the four points listed. But project communications management should only consider what is "necessary and sufficient" for the success of the project. Excess information, as well as its lack, negatively affects the implementation of the project.

The basis for ensuring communication requirements is the organizational structure of the project. Also important for setting communication requirements and managing communications the following aspects project:

Departments and specialties involved in the project;

Logistics of the number and locations of people involved in the project;

Internal and external information needs of participants.

The communication planning process determines the information and interactions needed by the project participants. For example, which people need what information, when they need it, who and how should provide them with this information. Although the need to communicate project information exists in all projects, the information needs and methods of disseminating it can vary greatly. An important factor in achieving project success is identifying the information needs of the project participants and identifying the appropriate means to meet these needs.

In most projects, the bulk of communications planning is done in the earliest phases of the project. However, the results of this planning process are regularly reviewed throughout the project and modified as necessary to keep them current.

The communications management plan is an integral part of the project management plan or is included in it as a subsidiary plan. The communications management plan contains:

– communication requirements on the part of the project participants;

- information about transmitted information, including format, content, and level of detail;

– the name of the employee responsible for the transfer of information;

- the name of the employee or group - the recipients of this information;

– the methods or technologies used to communicate information (eg memos, email and/or press releases);

– frequency of communication (eg weekly);

- a scheme for transferring by instances, which determines the timing and procedure for transferring to higher levels (chain) of problems that cannot be solved by personnel at lowest level;

– a method for updating and refining the communications management plan as the project progresses and evolves;

- Glossary of common terminology.

The communications management plan may also include guidelines for status meetings, project team meetings, e-meetings, and mailing lists. Email. The engagement management plan can be formal or informal, detailed or summarized, depending on the needs of the project.

The communications management plan is part of general plan project management or included in it as a subsidiary plan. The section template of this plan is given in Table. 10.1.

Table 10.1

Sections of a communications management plan

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