©1996ProjectManagementInstitute,130SouthStateRoad,UpperDarby,PA19082USA103ProjectCommunicationsManagementincludestheprocessesrequiredtoensuretimelyandappropriategeneration,collection,dissemination,storage,andultimatedispositionofprojectinformation.Itprovidesthecriticallinksamongpeople,ideas,andinformationthatarenecessaryforsuccess.Everyoneinvolvedinthepro-jectmustbepreparedtosendandreceivecommunicationsintheproject“language”andmustunderstandhowthecommunicationstheyareinvolvedinasindividualsaffecttheprojectasawhole.Figure10–1providesanoverviewofthefollowingmajorprocesses:10.1CommunicationsPlanning—determiningtheinformationandcommuni-cationsneedsofthestakeholders:whoneedswhatinformation,whenwilltheyneedit,andhowwillitbegiventothem.10.2InformationDistribution—makingneededinformationavailabletopro-jectstakeholdersinatimelymanner.10.3PerformanceReporting—collectinganddisseminatingperformanceinforma-tion.Thisincludesstatusreporting,progressmeasurement,andforecasting.10.4AdministrativeClosure—generating,gathering,anddisseminatinginfor-mationtoformalizephaseorprojectcompletion.Theseprocessesinteractwitheachotherandwiththeprocessesintheotherknowledgeareasaswell.Eachprocessmayinvolveeffortfromoneormoreindivid-ualsorgroupsofindividualsbasedontheneedsoftheproject.Eachprocessgener-allyoccursatleastonceineveryprojectphase.Althoughtheprocessesarepresentedhereasdiscreteelementswithwell-definedinterfaces,inpracticetheymayoverlapandinteractinwaysnotdetailedhere.ProcessinteractionsarediscussedindetailinChapter3.Thegeneralmanagementskillofcommunicating(discussedinSection2.4.2)isrelatedto,butnotthesameas,projectcommunicationsmanagement.Communi-catingisthebroadersubjectandinvolvesasubstantialbodyofknowledgethatisnotuniquetotheprojectcontext.Forexample:•Sender-receivermodels—feedbackloops,barrierstocommunications,etc.•Choiceofmedia—whentocommunicateinwritingversuswhentocommuni-cateorally,whentowriteaninformalmemoversuswhentowriteaformalre-port,etc.•Writingstyle—activeversuspassivevoice,sentencestructure,wordchoice,etc.•Presentationtechniques—bodylanguage,designofvisualaids,etc.•Meetingmanagementtechniques—preparinganagenda,dealingwithconflict,etc.PROJECTCOMMUNICATIONSMANAGEMENT1010.1CommunicationsPlanning10.2InformationDistribution10.3PerformanceReporting10.4AdministrativeClosure104©1996ProjectManagementInstitute,130SouthStateRoad,UpperDarby,PA19082USAFIGURE10–1AGUIDETOTHEPROJECTMANAGEMENTBODYOFKNOWLEDGE10.3PerformanceReporting10.4AdministrativeClosure10.1CommunicationsPlanning10.2InformationDistribution.1Inputs.2ToolsandTechniques.3Outputs.1Performancemeasurementdocumentation.2Documentationoftheproductoftheproject.3Otherprojectrecords.1Performancereportingtoolsandtechniques.1Projectarchives.2Formalacceptance.3Lessonslearned.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.1.2.1.1Inputs.2ToolsandTechniques.3Outputs.1Communicationsrequirements.2Communicationstechnology.3Contraints.4Assumptions.1Stakeholderanalysis.1Communicationsmanagementplan.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.1.2.1.1Inputs.2ToolsandTechniques.3Outputs.1Workresults.2Communicationsmanagementplan.3Projectplan.1Communicationsskills.2Informationretrievalsystems.3Informationdistributionsystems.1Projectrecords.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.2.2.3.1Inputs.2ToolsandTechniques.3Outputs.1Projectplan.2Workresults.3Otherprojectrecords.1Performancereviews.2Varianceanalysis.3Trendanalysis.4Earnedvalueanalysis.5Informationdistributiontoolsandtechniques.1Performancereports.2Changerequests.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.3.5ProjectCommunicationsManagementFigure10–1.ProjectCommunicationsManagementOverviewPROJECTCOMMUNICATIONSMANAGEMENT10.1.1.2©1996ProjectManagementInstitute,130SouthStateRoad,UpperDarby,PA19082USA10510.1COMMUNICATIONSPLANNINGCommunicationsplanninginvolvesdeterminingtheinformationandcommunicationsneedsofthestakeholders:whoneedswhatinformation,whenwilltheyneedit,andhowwillitbegiventothem.Whileallprojectssharetheneedtocommunicateprojectinformation,theinformationalneedsandthemethodsofdistributionvarywidely.Iden-tifyingtheinformationalneedsofthestakeholdersanddeterminingasuitablemeansofmeetingthoseneedsisanimportantfactorforprojectsuccess.Onmostprojects,themajorityofcommunicationsplanningisdoneaspartoftheearliestprojectphases.However,theresultsofthisprocessshouldbereviewedregu-larlythroughouttheprojectandrevisedasneededtoensurecontinuedapplicability.Communicationsplanningisoftentightlylinkedwithorganizationalplanning(describedinSection9.1)sincetheproject’sorganizationalstructurewillhaveamajoreffectontheproject’scommunicationsrequirements.10.1.1InputstoCommunicationsPlanning.1Communicationsrequirements.Communicationsrequirementsarethesumoftheinformationrequirementsoftheprojectstakeholders.Requirementsaredefinedbycombiningthetypeandformatofinformationrequiredwithananalysisoftheval-ueofthatinformation.Projectresourcesshouldbeexpendedonlyoncommunicat-inginformationwhichcontributestosuccessorwherelackofcommunicationcanleadtofailure.Informationtypicallyrequiredtodetermineprojectcommunicationsrequirementsincludes:•Projectorganizationandstakehol