P.M. Ch.10- Project Communications Management

Project members should either have strong technical skills or soft skills

False

Adding more people to project that is falling behind schedule often causes more setbacks because of increased complexity of communications

True

people have different personality traits that often affect their communication preferences

True it is important to understand individual and group preferences

Rarely does the receiver interpret a message exactly as the sender intended

True

Geographic location and cultural background have no impact on communications

False – affect complexity of project communications – if project stakeholders are in different countries, it is often difficult or impossible to schedule times for two-way communication during normal working hours

It is extremely important to document any changes in technical specifications that might affect product performance

True

Communication becomes simpler when you increase the number of team members

False – important aspect of communications is the number of people involved in a project – as number increases, complexity of communication increases because there are more channels or pathways through which people can communicate

In a project, communicating badly exponentially increases the posibility of making mistakes

True

The communications management plan varies with needs of the project

True

Most WBSs include a section for project communications to ensure that reporting key information is project deliverable

True

Project managers must assess the needs of the organization, the project, and individuals in determining which communication medium to use and when

True

Status reports can take various formats depending on the stakeholders’ needs

True

A facilitator can help the team solve any communication problems

True

Good information technology project managers must have strong technical and communication skills

True

Do not have a meeting if there is a better way of achieving the objective at hand

True

Minutes must be comprehensive report of the meeting that was scheduled

False – should be short and focus on crucial decisions and action items from the meeting

The email is the most appropriate medium for all types of communications

False – not appropriate for addressing commitment, building consensus, meditating a conflict, resolving misunderstanding, making an ironic statement, conveying a reference document, reinforcing one’s authority, or maintaining confidentiality

The project summary report is a summary of all lessons-learned reports

False

Lesson Learned Report

– reflective statement – documents important information they have learned from working on project – p.m. often combines information from all of the lessons-learned reports into project summary report

Improving an organization’s ability to communication is an easy process

False – improving organization’s ability to communicate requires cultural change in organization that takes a lot of time, hard work and patience

Planning communications

involves determining the information and communications needs of stakeholders

Planning communications Outputs

communications management plan

Managing communications is part of the…

executing process of project communication management

As manager, you want to praise a team member, Phil, for doing a good job on a particular project. However, you know that Phil tends to be an introvert. Which of the following communication methods would Phil be most comfortable with?

Call Phil in for a private meeting to appreciate his work

How much information is through body language (face-face interaction)

58%

Short face-face meetings

Method of communication likely to be most effective for conveying sensitive or important information

As the number of people involved in a project __________, the complexity of communications _____________.

increases, increases

Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management Solution has a(n) ______ tool that provides a centralized and consolidated view of programs and projects

portfolio management

A(n) ________ allows users to create custom Web sites to access documents and applications stored on shared devices

SharePoint portal

A(n) ________ forces meeting organizers to plan the meeting and gives potential participants the chance to decide whether they need to attend

agenda

All metings must have a(n) ________ and intended outcome

purpose

A(n) _________ can be a vehicle for fostering team building and reinforcing expectations, roles, relationships and commitment to the project

well-run meeting

All meetings must have a(n) _______ and intended outcome

purpose

The main goal of controlling communications is to ensure optimal flow of information throughout the entire _______.

project life cycle

An important technique for ______ is the status review meeting

performance reporting

_______ often create consolidated progress reports based on the information received from team members.

Team leaders

______ are normally provided as status reports or progress reports

Performance reports

While trying to assess commitment of project stakeholders, a(n) _____ meeting or Web conference might be the most appropriate medium to use

face-to-face

_____ interactive communication happens when two or more people to exchange information via meetings, phone calls or video conferencing

interactive

the _______ analysis includes information such as the contract person for the information, when the information is due, and the preferred format for the information

stakeholder communication

a(n) _____ must include suggested methods or technologies for coveying the infomration

communications management plan

a(n) ______ is a document that guides project communications

communications management plan

many information technology professionals work on ______ projects where they never meet their project sponsors, other team members or other project stakeholders

virtual

a(n) _____ must include suggested methods or technologies for coveying the infomration

communications management plan

___ percent is through how words are said

38%

____ percent is through actual spoken word (interactions)

7%

formula to determine number of communication channels is _____, where n is the number of people involved

n(n-1)/2

how many channels would two people require when using the formula for calculating the number of communication channels?

1 — 1(2-1)/2

how many channels would five people require when using the formula for calculating the number of communication channels

10 — 5(5-1)/2

a team has 10 communication channels between its various members. using the formula number of communication channels = n(n-1)/2, where n is the number of people in the team, the team has _____ members.

5

Which of the following is true of project communications plan?

the communications plan should be party of the overall project management plan

an example of push communication is ______.

voice mails

an example of pull communication

blogs – web sites, bulletin boards, e-learning, knowledge repositories like blogs, and other means

What is true about push communication?

information is sent to recipients without their requests

which of the following communication methods would be most appropriate for assessing the commitment of project stakeholders

meetings

according to the guidelines provided by practical communications inc.m a(n) _____ is a medium that is "excellent" for encouraging creative thinking

e-mail

according to the guidelines provided by practical communications, inc, a(n) _____ is the most appropriate medium for giving complex instructions

meeting

according to the guidelines provided by practical communications inc, a(n) ____ is the most inappropriate medium for addressing negative behavior

meeting

____ address where project stand in terms of meeting scope, time, and cost goals

status reports

status reports

describe where project stands at a specific point in time

_____ describe what project team has accomplished during certain period

progress reports

_____ predict future project status and progress based on past information and trends

forecasts

which question typically addressed by project forecast?

how much money will be needed to complete the project?

email communication is suited or

communicating routine information

a _____ is a web site that enables anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify web page content

wiki

the _____ line for any email messages you write should clearly state the intention of the email?

subject

which of the following is a guideline that project managers should follow when communicating with their teams through email?

if the entire message can fit in the subject line, put it there

the items discussed in a(n) ____ include reflections on whether project goals were met, whether the project was successful or not, the causes of variances on the project, the reasoning behind corrective actions chosen, the use of different project management tools and techniques, and personal words of wisdom based on team members’ experiences

lesson-learned report

______ are a complete set of organized personal records that provide an accurate history of the project. these archives can provide valuable information for future projects as well

project archives

many experts that the greatest threat to success of any project, especially information technology projects, is a failure to _____.

communicate

the outputs of the _____ process are communications management plan and project documents updates

planning communications management

______ monitoring and controlling project communications to ensure that stakeholder communication needs are met

controlling communications

_____ can create communication problems; words may have different meanings in different languages

language barriers

project managers should try to _____ the size of teams or sub teams to avoid making communications too complex

limit or decrease

many information technology professionals work on _____ projects where they never meet their project sponsors, other team members or other project stakeholders

virtual

_____ communication management plan

– document that guides project communications – must include suggested methods or technologies for conveying the information

the _____ stakeholder communications analysis includes information such as the contact person for the information, when the information is due, and the preferred format for the information

stakeholder communications

____ communication happens when two or more people exchange information via meetings, phone calls or video conferencing

interactive