ATEC 4370 Communication Management

ATECARTS & TECHNOLOGY

ATEC 4370 Project Management for Arts & Technology - I


Agenda• Project Communication

Management

• The Marshmallow Challenge

• Assignment 2 and Quiz



Project Communication Management


Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)



Project Communications Management

• “Project Communication management includes the processes that are required to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring and ultimately disposition of project information-PMBOK”.



Project Communications Management

How much do you think project managers spend communicating?


Project Managers and Communication



Communication Management Plan

“Describes the communication needs of the stakeholders, including timing, frequency, and methods of communication.”



Communication Management Plan Content

• Stakeholders• One or more target audiences with unique communication requirements• Know the target audience!

• Objective• The purpose and objective of communicating with the desired target

audience e.g. risk mitigation, information, persuasion• Content

• What information should be communicated• Executives – high-level summary• Functional Managers – resources required• Operational – project activities• Project Team – issues, risks, changes, feedback

PMBOK 5th Edition



Communication Management Plan Content Cont.…

• Timing and Frequency• The timing of the communication with respect to the project lifecycle e.g.

achievement of milestones• The frequency of communication for each group of stakeholders e.g.

weekly status reports• Method

• E-mail, written report, meeting, telephone, posters, video, discussion forum, website, newsletter, blog, wiki, presentation, informal

• Responsibility• The member of the project team responsible for the communication

PMBOK 5th Edition



The Process of Communication

• 60% of all management problems are a result of faulty communications• Affects project performance• Affects relationships

• Single most important attribute of an effective project manager is listening• Why is listening so difficult?

• Capable of processing information much faster than rate of speech• Immediately start to evaluate and judge what is being said without

actually listening

Managing People (Including Yourself) for Project Success by Culp and Smith (1992)



Factors Affecting Communication

• Message Content (20%)– The content of what we communicate

• Communication Process (80%)– The process of how we communicate with others

So What’s Your Point? by Wetherbe and Wetherbe (1996)



Communication Technique – Active Listening

Active listening– Be attentive– Focus on understanding others feelings AND message– Refrain from evaluation and judgment– Genuine empathy– Check perception– Ask open ended questions




Active Listening Perception Checking

• Effective Techniques– I heard you say… Is that accurate?– Here is what I hear you saying.– I heard that you want…– If I’m hearing you correctly, it appears your major concerns are…Is that

correct?

• Ineffective Techniques– What you are telling me is…– From what you said, you must mean…– So, what you want is…– I know exactly what you mean.




Examples of Active Listening

• Good listening

– (John) “The client just called. It’s the fifth time he’s changes his mind. We’ll never meet the deadline”

– (Bob) “So, the client just changed his mind again. You think we’ll miss the deadline.”




Examples of Active Listening• Active listening

– (John) “The client just called. It’s the fifth time he’s changed his mind. We’ll never meet the deadline”

– (Bob) “It seems to me that you’re really frustrated about the client’s changes.”– (John) “Yes. The project seems to be totally out of control. We don’t know what

the client wants.”– (Bob) “So, do you feel that we haven’t listened to the client?”– (John) “Well, partly, I suppose. Most of his changes seem to be things he’s had on

his mind for quite a while?”– (Bob) “Do you feel he’s had some ideas that we didn't hear?”– (John) “Right. He throws out so many ideas. I bet he’s frustrated with us for not

digging deep enough at the start. We’d better flush out his ideas and regroup.”– (Bob) “So, I’m hearing that you would like for us to talk with the client and

reassess where we are going on the project.”– (John) Right. If it’s OK with you, I’d like to arrange a meeting.”– (Bob) “Good idea”




Active Listening Exercise• Split into teams of 3

– Have one person assume the role of the speaker (S), one person assume the role of the listener (L), and one person assume the role of the observer (O).

– Time permitting, you will each have a chance to assume the role of speaker (S), listener (L), and observer (O)

• S describes a recent movie he or she saw to L while O observes– S should briefly summarize the movie and describe why it was good or bad

• L will actively listen to S– Attentive– Avoid evaluative judgments– Perception checking– Focus on content and feelings

• O will evaluate how well L actively listened to S

PMP in Depth



The Marshmallow Challenge

https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower?language=en

https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower?language=en



Assignment 2 Submission

Deadline – 11:59 PM, Apr 2(Sunday)



Quiz Time

ATEC 4370 Communication Management

Technology

Transcript of ATEC 4370 Communication Management