Communications Skills for Project Managers

✍ Scribed by Michael Campbell PMP

• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 289
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

According to the Project Management Institute, over 80 percent of a project manager's job is communication yet most project management books hardly discuss it. "Communications Skills for Project Managers" provides practical advice and strategies for ensuring success, even in the face of shifting organizational priorities, constantly evolving expectations, and leadership turnover. This important guidebook gives readers the practical strategies they need to keep everyone including themselves in the loop. Even a project that is brought in on time and on budget can be considered a failure if those outside a project team haven't been clearly communicated with throughout the project lifespan. This book provides readers with the skills they need for ensured project success, every time.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 4
Acknowledgments......Page 10
Why Isn’t Good Project Management Enough?......Page 12
Why Are Project Communications So Important?......Page 13
What Happens If You Ignore Project Communications?......Page 14
So What Will You Get from This Book?......Page 15
Business Project Management......Page 16
Case Study......Page 18
The Payoff......Page 20
1 Linking Projects and Strategy Through Effective Communications......Page 22
Projects to Change the Business......Page 25
Start with the Expected Business Benefits......Page 27
Conducting a Feasibility Study......Page 28
Developing a Feasibility Study for Project Renewal......Page 29
Clear Project Goals Make Sense to Everyone......Page 30
The Primary Goals of Every Project......Page 31
How Involved Should the Leadership Be?......Page 34
Providing the Leadership with a Script......Page 38
Developing a Working Committee and Working Groups......Page 43
Communications and the Working Committee......Page 46
Communications and a Working Group......Page 47
3 Writing the Project Charter......Page 52
Contract......Page 54
Statement of the Business Problem......Page 55
The Primary Goals of Project Renewal......Page 56
Project Scope......Page 57
Assumptions and Constraints......Page 58
Risks and Benefits......Page 59
Tips for Writing the Charter......Page 61
4 Establishing the Team and Communicating with the Business......Page 66
Communicating the Sale......Page 67
Relationship with Each Other......Page 69
Level of Knowledge of the Goals and Business Case......Page 70
Information or Techniques to Gain Acceptance......Page 71
Communications Within the Team......Page 72
Managing the War Room......Page 75
Listening Is Part of Communicating......Page 76
5 Common Elements for All Communications......Page 80
Step One: Analyze the Target......Page 81
Step Two: Plan the Approach......Page 85
Step Three: Deliver the Message......Page 89
6 Writing the Case for Change......Page 94
Influences on Behavior......Page 95
Communications Create Perception......Page 97
Process for Building a Case for Change......Page 99
The Results Can Be Dramatic......Page 103
7 Analyzing Changes to Business Process......Page 104
Communicating a Change......Page 111
Building Changes into the Training Plan......Page 112
Building a Leadership Plan......Page 114
Developing Preliminary Performance Measures......Page 115
Addressing the Fairness Factor......Page 118
When Leaders Backslide......Page 119
When Other Key People Backslide......Page 121
Urgency and Decisions......Page 123
9 Developing an Operations Integration Plan......Page 126
Case for Change......Page 128
Understanding the Process Changes......Page 129
Support Provided......Page 130
Preparation for Project Deliverables......Page 131
Understanding the Timetable......Page 132
Napoleon’s Thirds......Page 133
The Basics of Communications: It’s All About Perceptions......Page 136
What Does a Communication Plan Look Like?......Page 138
Developing Effective Messages......Page 146
11 Writing the Project Plan Memorandum for the Executive Team......Page 150
Review of the Common Elements for All Communications......Page 151
Writing the Project Plan Memorandum......Page 154
12 Using Communications to Handle Risks......Page 160
Managing Business Risks Through Communications......Page 163
Managing Organizational Risks Through Communications......Page 166
Managing Risks Through Communications......Page 167
13 Presenting to Stakeholders During Project Execution......Page 170
Decide Your Purpose......Page 171
Analyze the Audience (Stakeholders)......Page 173
Strategy......Page 178
Build It in Three Parts......Page 179
Practice......Page 180
Questions......Page 181
Visual Aids......Page 182
14 Communicating About Problems......Page 190
Effective Meetings......Page 193
15 Communicating Scope Changes......Page 198
Basic Assumptions......Page 199
Requesting a Change......Page 201
Communicating About a Change......Page 203
Presenting the Options and Reaching a Decision......Page 204
Communicating the Decision......Page 206
16 Communicating with Operations......Page 210
Good News—Bad News......Page 211
Dangerous Assumptions......Page 213
Build a Storyboard to Explain the Project......Page 219
17 Preparing Operations to Accept the Deliverables......Page 222
Providing the Training Operations Needs to Be Ready......Page 223
Performance Evaluation and Project Deliverables......Page 227
Readiness Assessment Checklist......Page 231
18 Overcoming Resistance to Change......Page 236
Reasons for Resistance......Page 237
Types of Resistors......Page 239
Overcoming Resistance......Page 242
19 Handling Competition with Other Initiatives......Page 246
Maintain Situational Awareness......Page 247
Horizontal and Vertical Communications......Page 248
Address Potential Conflicts Quickly......Page 249
Project Renewal......Page 250
20 Writing the Close-Out Report......Page 256
Business Stakeholders......Page 258
Project Stakeholders......Page 261
Packaging the Report......Page 263
21 Providing Feedback to Your Project Team......Page 268
Quality of Work......Page 270
Timeliness and Consistency in Meeting Deadlines......Page 271
Creativity......Page 272
Ability to Work as Part of a Team......Page 273
Communication Skills......Page 274
Cost Consciousness......Page 275
Recommendations for Improvement......Page 276
Developing a Matrix......Page 277
Celebrate......Page 278
Communicate with the Business on the Value Created......Page 280
Performance Measures in Operations......Page 281
Communicate with All Team Personnel......Page 283
The After-Implementation Review......Page 284
In Conclusion......Page 285
C......Page 286
P......Page 287
W......Page 288
About the Author......Page 289