Communications Management

The comment I hear the most from people studying for this exam is that they expect the questions
about communications to be easy. That is not always the case.

For many people working on projects, communication is a key source of problems. How many times has someone misunderstood what you said? How many times has communication failed to reach the proper stakeholders?

What many people do not realize is that communications cannot be smooth unless they are given careful attention. Therefore, as you read this lesson, realize that there is a formal plan for all communications on the project. Communications must then be carefully managed and controlled throughout the life of the project. Information to be distributed must be carefully thought out and managed, including what should be included in reports and to whom those reports should be sent.

As you read this lesson and as you take the exam, think of the words "formal, formal, formal!"

Although it is not particularly difficult, make sure you take this lesson seriously and find your gaps regarding communications.

By now, we have worked through many lessons with understanding the overall process first before we look at the details. Have you taken advantage of this trick by following along? If not, you might want to go back to each section. The tricks are in this course because I invented them to help you.

As was stated in other lessons, we need to plan before we do. Therefore, communications must be planned before they are implemented. Then information about the project must be gathered, and sent to all stakeholders. Since performance reporting is a communications function, performance information must be gathered and compiled into various types of reports. But communication is not just about reports - another important part of the communications process involves managing all communications to and from the stakeholders.
The following images illustrate the overall communications management process. Know these images to better answer questions about it, as well as the inputs and outputs, without focusing on memorization.

Communications questions are frequently combined with other topics. For example, a work breakdown structure is a communications tool (see the Scope Management lesson), and risk response strategies should be communicated (see the Risk Management lesson).