Introduction

At the completion of this lesson you'll be able to describe and define:

• Communications management process
• Communications management plan
• What should be reported
• Information distribution
• Lessons learned
• Communications model

• Nonverbal
• Percent of communication that is nonverbal
• Paralingual
• Active listening
• Effective listening
• Feedback

• Communications methods

• Formal/informal written
• Formal/informal verbal

• Communication channels
• Percent of time a project manager spends
communicating
• Rules for meetings
• Issue logs
• Communication blockers
• Control of communications

How much time do you spend planning communications? How many times have you deleted a voicemail without
listening to the very end of the message? Are you flooded with e-mails? How many times have you not read all the way through an e-mail?

In almost every study, including my own, communications is the number one problem a project manager has on
a project. You will read in this chapter that a project manager spends 90 percent of her time communicating.
Shouldn’t we then do something to plan, structure and control communications?

Beginning project managers do nothing about communications and just issue status reports. Better project managers might create a communications management plan and report more than just status. Great project managers take the previous two actions, plus the following: ask stakeholders what they need communicated to them, identify what communications they need from stakeholders, and frequently revisit communications at team meetings to limit communications problems.

To pass this exam, you need to be more like the great project manager.

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

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