DAXPRO Academy | The Importance Of Communication Management In Project Management

     In the process of project implementation, maintaining good communication and establishing a good communication method is a key point of team building, which is also widely recognized by project managers.

     We often encounter diverse clients in our project management work. Their engineering projects involve multiple sub-units in different regions, there are many departments, and the organizational structure is relatively scattered. Therefore, in the process of project promotion, it is necessary to understand the concerns of various departments and establish a corresponding management organization to promote a series of issues. All of these require a good communication mechanism.

     According to the experience and lessons of project implementation management over the years, the construction company should not only communicate with customers, various government departments where the project is located, and the interior of the construction company (such as functional departments, labor subcontracting teams, etc.), but also communicate with the industry. Colleagues and experts communicate constantly.

The secret to a successful project is
communication!
communicate!
Communicate again!

1. Communication management process
     Generally speaking, communication management is a processing process of collecting and feedbacking, storing and processing, solving and publishing various information collected during project execution. Simply put, it is the transmission and understanding of information.

     The main process of communication management includes:
     First, communication planning, including determining the information and communication needs of project stakeholders, who needs what information, when they need it, and how to send the information to them.
     Second, the information is sent, and the required information is provided to all project stakeholders in a timely manner.
     Third, performance reporting, collects and publishes information on project performance, including status reports, progress reports, and forecasts.
     Fourth, manage closure, generating, collecting and distributing information to formalize phase or project completion.

2. The main communication relationship
     The main task of the project manager is the coordination and management between people. It should become the communication link between the supervisor, team members, users and other stakeholders. The goal is to satisfy the users and make the company have Profit, so that team members can make progress.

     In the process of project implementation, there are generally the following relationships that require a lot of communication to make the project run more smoothly. But no matter what kind of cooperative relationship the two parties are in, the principles of communication are the same, that is, clear purpose, clear thinking, attention to expression, and sincerity; we must choose a favorable time and adopt an appropriate method.

Communication with users
     The construction unit and the customer are two opposing organizations on the surface, but they are actually a unity. The common goal of both parties is to hope that the project can be successful, so the communication between them is the most important in all communication of the project. The client may not have a deep understanding of the engineering specifications, and the construction unit may not have a sufficient understanding of Party A's needs and business, resulting in differences in the understanding of the project between the two parties.

     We often deal with this kind of communication relationship in engineering practice in this way: firstly, when it is necessary to make some key decisions in the implementation, we must actively solicit the opinions of customers, and humbly accept the guidance and coordination management of customers; establish a work contact system, Participate in project liaison meetings on time to communicate on project progress and problems; insist on submitting weekly work reports to customers so that they can keep abreast of project trends; earnestly implement the suggestions put forward by users, and fully convey the ideas of customers to each corresponding stakeholder. and co-process. On the basis of adhering to the principle of mutual respect and mutual benefit, we can basically form a benign communication relationship with users, so that any problems in the project will not become problems.

     In fact, the simple and effective way to get a deep understanding of the client’s thoughts is to become the client himself. At some point, the construction unit will pretend to be the client, work with the client to get familiar with their business and habits, and think and act like the client. Dealing with problems is the way to establish a harmonious relationship with customers.

Communication between the project manager and the company's leaders.
     The project manager and the company's leaders understand and master the specific situation in the project implementation process mainly through the communication with the project manager and other project team members through the actual situation on site. This kind of communication includes two types: regular and irregular. The project team submits a progress report every week, listing the progress of the project, whether there is any deviation from the plan, and what problems have arisen and been resolved. Irregular communication is mainly reflected when the project encounters a situation that requires decision-making or handling by the engineering manager. Frequent communication with the engineering manager is conducive to sorting out one's own work ideas and gaining confidence from the support of the leader.

Communication between project manager and project team members
     In the process of project execution, the project manager is often in a dilemma, one party is the user of Party A, and the other is the members of the project team. When Party A raises questions about the project construction and requests changes, the technical personnel of the project team often find various reasons to reject it, and this is the main reason for the conflict between Party A and Party B. In addition, team members often complain about task assignments and overtime. As a project manager, you should start from a rational point of view, try your best to meet the reasonable needs of customers, and fully mobilize the enthusiasm of team members. Under the premise of fairness, fully demonstrate the role of personal charm.

     Other relationships included in the main communication management include: equipment suppliers, design units, engineering subcontractors, etc. The following are examples of the project manager's communication with various parties, which basically runs through the entire project cycle.
 

3. The communication method
     "harmony" has become an increasingly fashionable vocabulary. Although most of a project team has few members, the sparrow is small and well-equipped. Harmony also affects the work efficiency of the team to a large extent. How to apply appropriate skills to manage the team is a problem that every manager needs to face.

     There are many ways to communicate, including one-to-one communication, one-to-many communication, communication between multiple people, and mutual discussion among multiple people; in terms of communication carriers, there are oral, written, and body language; In terms of ways, there are face-to-face, telephone, Internet, video, broadcast, etc.

Oral communication
    Oral communication is a convenient and accurate way of communicating information. Face-to-face communication should be used more early in the project, which is especially important to promote team building and establish good working relationships. During face-to-face verbal communication, appropriate body language can be used to convey inner thoughts, but biased or offensive words and comments should not be used.

Written communication
     Written communication is mainly used to inform or confirm some important project activities, which can be used as a basis for future reference. For the project team and within the enterprise, the content of written communication mainly includes reports on project progress and other aspects, various notices, internal memos, etc. Written reports focus on using clear and concise language.

Meetings Communication
     meetings are a way to solve problems that arise during project execution, and they are a tool for input into project goals. The usual content of the meeting is to inform the project situation, formulate action plans, and convene discussions when existing or potential problems are discovered. The meeting time should not be too long, generally no more than 30 minutes, and the meeting should not be brought into endless debate, after all, the debate will not bring substantive and valuable things to the work.

4. Common communication problems
     In the process of project plan execution, whether the information exchange between various departments and personnel of the company is smooth, and whether the correction work is timely and effective is directly related to the quality of the project and the consistency of the project progress and plan. After analyzing some project communication processes, it is found that the following problems often exist:
 

Informal communication causes distorted communication information.
     Informal communication refers to communication methods other than the reporting and regular meetings stipulated by the project team, such as private conversations among project team members and passing gossip. Such information is easy to be distorted, which may lead to information errors in the project and cause risks. Information from informal sources of communication should not be used as valid information for the project for this purpose.

The information caused by oral communication cannot be stored
     . The information of oral communication cannot be saved, and it is easy to be forgotten after the communication is completed, and it does not have legal effect on specific occasions. In the actual project implementation process, verbal communication is very common, and can often achieve certain results. Therefore, oral communication should be preserved in written form as much as possible, and electronic writing can be used for easy preservation and easy reference.

E-mail abuse
     E-mail is not only used within the project team due to its convenience, but also an important means of contact with the outside world, and this may cause unnecessary troubles to users or integrators. Internal communication via e-mail, in a prescribed format, is easy to extract and manage, and it is also convenient to avoid problems caused by mis-delivery.

5. Summary
     Communication is the transmission and understanding of meaning. The main job of the project manager is not technical guidance but a bridge of communication. 90% of the working time of the project manager should be spent on communication.

     Confucius also pointed out in "The Analects of Confucius Yong Ye" that "a benevolent man, if he wants to establish himself, he will establish others, and if he wants to achieve himself, he will achieve others. Unless everyone stands together and achieves this position, I will never be independent and achieve it alone."

     Confucianism pays great attention to information communication and its methods. Its thinking puts people in the community to dialectically recognize their own identities, and then realizes that others have the same requirements and wishes as themselves through methods such as "taking close comparisons" and "forgiveness". . Therefore, we say that if the communication remains unimpeded, the whole project will be half successful.