Communications Skills for Project Managers

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 Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Thinking About Your Project xi Communications in a New Way Why Isn't Good Project Management Enough? xi Why Are Project Communications So Important? xii What Happens If You Ignore Project Communications? xiii So What Will You Get from This Book? xiv Business Project Management xv Case Study xvii The Payoff xix 1 Linking Projects and Strategy Through Effective Communications 1 Projects to Change the Business 4 Start with the Expected Business Benefits 6 Conducting a Feasibility Study 7 Developing a Feasibility Study for Project Renewal 8 Clear Project Goals Make Sense to Everyone 9 The Primary Goals of Every Project 10 2 Preparing the Leadership 13 How Involved Should the Leadership Be? 13 Providing the Leadership with a Script 17 Developing a Working Committee and Working Groups 22 Communications and the Working Committee 25 Communications and a Working Group 26 3 Writing the Project Charter 31 Contract 33 Statement of the Business Problem 34 Goals and Objectives for a Successful Project 35 The Primary Goals of Project Renewal 35 Project Scope 36 Assumptions and Constraints 37 Risks and Benefits 38 Project Budget and Schedule 40 Tips for Writing the Charter 40 4 Establishing the Team and Communicating 45 with the Business Communicating the Sale 46 Relationship with Each Other 48 Level of Knowledge of the Goals and Business Case 49 Credibility of the Project Team 50 Questions or Concerns 50 Information or Techniques to Gain Acceptance 50 Communications Within the Team 51 Managing the War Room 54 Listening Is Part of Communicating 55 5 Common Elements for All Communications 59 Step One: Analyze the Target 60 Step Two: Plan the Approach 64 Step Three: Deliver the Message 68 6 Writing the Case for Change 73 What Is the Secret to Writing a Case for Change? 74 Influences on Behavior 74 Communications Create Perception 76 Process for Building a Case for Change 78 The Results Can Be Dramatic 82 7 Analyzing Changes to Business Process 83 Communicating a Change 90 Building Changes into the Training Plan 91 Building a Leadership Plan 93 Developing Preliminary Performance Measures 94 8 Developing Support for the New Business Processes 97 Addressing the Fairness Factor 97 When Leaders Backslide 98 When Other Key People Backslide 100 Urgency and Decisions 102 9 Developing an Operations Integration Plan 105 Case for Change 107 Understanding the Process Changes 108 Support Provided 109 Preparation for Project Deliverables 110 Understanding the Timetable 111 Napoleon's Thirds 112 10 Developing the Communications for the Project 115 The Basics of Communications: It's All About 115 Perceptions What Does a Communication Plan Look Like? 117 Developing Effective Messages 125 11 Writing the Project Plan Memorandum 129 for the Executive Team Review of the Common Elements for All 130 Communications Writing the Project Plan Memorandum 133 12 Using Communications to Handle Risks 139 Managing Business Risks Through Communications 142 Managing Organizational Risks Through 145 Communications Managing Risks Through Communications 146 13 Presenting to Stakeholders During Project 149 Execution Decide Your Purpose 150 Analyze the Audience (Stakeholders) 152 Strategy 157 Build It in Three Parts 158 Practice 159 Questions 160 Visual Aids 161 14 Communicating About Problems 169 Effective Meetings 172 15 Communicating Scope Changes 177 Basic Assumptions 178 Requesting a Change 180 Communicating About a Change 182 Presenting the Options and Reaching a Decision 183 Communicating the Decision 185 16 Communicating with Operations 189 Good News-Bad News 190 Dangerous Assumptions 192 Build a Storyboard to Explain the Project 198 17 Preparing Operations to Accept the Deliverables 201 Providing the Training Operations Needs to Be Ready 202 Performance Evaluation and Project Deliverables 206 Readiness Assessment Checklist 210 18 Overcoming Resistance to Change 215 Reasons for Resistance 216 Types of Resistors 218 Overcoming Resistance 221 19 Handling Competition with Other Initiatives 225 Maintain Situational Awareness 226 Horizontal and Vertical Communications 227 Address Potential Conflicts Quickly 228 Project Renewal 229 20 Writing the Close-Out Report 235 Business Stakeholders 237 Project Stakeholders 240 Packaging the Report 242 21 Providing Feedback to Your Project Team 247 Quality of Work 249 Timeliness and Consistency in Meeting Deadlines 250 Creativity 251 Administrative Performance 252 Ability to Work as Part of a Team 252 Attitude 253 Communication Skills 253 Technical Ability 254 Cost Consciousness 254 Recommendations for Improvement 255 Developing a Matrix 256 Celebrate 257 22 Crossing the Finish Line 259 Communicate with the Business on the Value Created 259 Performance Measures in Operations 260 Communicate with All Team Personnel 262 The After-Implementation Review 263 In Conclusion 264 Index 265 About the Author 268

About the Author :
Michael Campbell, PMP is an experienced project manager and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Project Management, 4th Ed. (Alpha Books) and Bulletproof Communications (Career Press).