Chapter 10

Project Communications Management

See the introduction to Chapter 10 in the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition.

10.1 Communications Planning

See Section 10.1 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition.

10.1.1 Communications Planning: Inputs

• .1 Enterprise Environmental Factors
  All the factors described in Section 4.1.1.3 are used as inputs for this process. However, as most government projects require some sort of public communication, the social and political factors listed in Section 4.1.1.3 have a significant impact on planning the communication scope, channels, and timing.

• .2 Organizational Process Assets
  While all of the assets described in Section 4.1.1.4 are used as inputs for this process, project managers may be limited as to what they are permitted to keep confidential. Public records laws give citizens in many countries the right to view almost all governmental records, with a few exceptions for secrecy and privacy protection.

• .3 Project Scope Statement
  See Section 10.1.1.3 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition.

• .4 Project Management Plan
  In addition to constraints and assumptions listed in Section 10.1.1.4 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, the following comments are specific to government activity:
  • Constraints. A likely constraint in government projects is a lack of understanding about the complexity of the communication processes on the part of team members, sponsors, and other stakeholders. In many government projects, contracted vendors/consultants (sellers) run the project day-to-day, reporting to an appointed government employee (project manager) who may have a limited project management background (or be selected as project manager based on technical expertise, rather than project management skills). The project documents (especially external communication) might also be constrained by multiple reporting formats, which are sometimes not compatible, and are required in internationally funded projects by donors (e.g., World Bank, IMF, etc.) or aid-giving countries. The project documents (especially external communication) might also be more formal and require the appropriate signatures.

    

  • Assumptions. The primary assumption is that the project team will be working with or for a governing body, its officials (in the case of a representative government), and its constituents.

10.1.2 Communications Planning: Tools and Techniques

• .1 Communications Requirements Analysis
  Beyond the considerations expressed in Section 10.1.2.1 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, the information needs of organizational stakeholders have unique requirements based on information sharing in a functional bureaucracy. Government departments tend to be compartmentalized, so special planning is required when multiple departments, branches, agencies, or ministries are involved in the same project.
       Project stakeholders include not only the office holders, but also the public (that is, the constituents, those governed, the taxpayers). Therefore, timely and appropriate information needs to be clearly understood by a broader range of affected individuals than is the case for most private sector projects.
       Analysis and planning to manage the information and consultation needs for all stakeholders can be beneficial in obtaining balanced outcomes. For publicly funded projects, accountability to the public and the openness of political debate need to be factored in during project planning.

• .2 Communications Technology
  The compatibility of technologies used to transfer information can vary significantly from one agency or sphere of government to another. The availability of funding for technology upgrades to mitigate communications inconsistencies should be factored into the communications planning.
       With wide (and ever-growing) public acceptance of the Internet, a government’s relationship with its citizens relies more and more on specific tools for Web-based communication, such as official Web sites and government portals. E-government initiatives are currently undertaken by many national, regional, and local government bodies as an efficient way to provide information and services to the general public.

10.1.3 Communications Planning: Outputs

Section 10.1.3 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition discusses the communications management plan as one output from Communications Planning. This is also produced on government projects, and has a particular application in government:

• .1 Communications Management Plan
  On government projects, government officials (rather than the project manager) sometimes possess control over the communications. This can work well, but when it does not, it can become difficult to pinpoint reasons for the communication breakdown.

10.2 Information Distribution

See Section 10.2 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition.

10.2.1 Information Distribution: Inputs

See Section 10.2.1 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition.

10.2.2 Information Distribution: Tools and Techniques

See Section 10.2.2 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, with the following additional comments:

• .2 Information Gathering and Retrieval Systems
  Specific laws adopted in many countries require government systems to apply a more rigorous security policy to maintain higher levels of data and communications security, and to preserve citizens’ privacy, while still safeguarding the freedom of information rights related to accessing governmental records.

• .3 Information Distribution Methods
  In addition to the information distribution methods listed in Section 10.2.2.3 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, government projects often require public information dissemination through mass media communications, press conferences, public reports, investigations, audit results, and so on.

10.2.3 Information Distribution: Outputs

See Section 10.2.3 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, with the following additional comment:

• .1 Organizational Process Assets (Updates)
  Because the ultimate stakeholders in all government projects are citizens, the “stakeholder notifications” component in Section 10.2.3.1 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition must also include public information communication.
       Also, government audit or public accounts committees often require project information (all project records, not only the final reports) to be archived for a minimum period of time, such as 5–10 years after completion of the project. Project records may include correspondence, memos, reports (written or electronic), audio or video recordings, presentations of content, and any other document describing and detailing the project. This information may become available to the public, or be made available via freedom of information requests or similar processes, depending on the government sponsoring the project.

10.3 Performance Reporting

See Section 10.3 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition.

10.3.1 Performance Reporting: Inputs

Section 10.3.1 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition discusses inputs to Performance Reporting. All of these are used on government projects, but their formats may be prescribed by government components (such as defense or transportation), or have matching formats across all agencies. Also, election cycles can influence the reporting timelines required by representative bodies and executives.

If a project is outsourced, vendors or consultants will likely submit project reports to the government employee project manager responsible for the work.

10.3.2 Performance Reporting: Tools and Techniques

See Section 10.3.2 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, with the addition of the following:

• .3 Status Review Meetings
  For public sector projects, status review meetings usually include periodic reviews by funding or supervising authorities, such as a management review board year-end review, planning and development department’s quarterly review of projects, World Bank review missions, etc.

10.3.3 Performance Reporting: Outputs

See Section 10.3.3 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, with the addition of the following:

• .4 Recommended Corrective Actions
  Frequently, requested changes include budget adjustments as an important output of performance review. In the government context, projects are assigned annual budgets. If the funds cannot be utilized during the annual period, they are often returned unspent to the funding source. Additional funds may have to be requested to align the planned scope with the project baseline (see Section 7.2 of this document).

10.4 Manage Stakeholders

See Section 10.4 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition.

10.4.1 Manage Stakeholders: Inputs

See Section 10.4.1 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition.

10.4.2 Manage Stakeholders: Tools and Techniques

See Section 10.4.2 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, with the addition of the following:

• .1 Communications Methods
  Beyond the communications methods listed in Section 10.4.2.1 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, those in a government environment include specific tools for information distribution to parliamentary organizations and the general public. Such tools include government reports, presentations to legislative bodies, mass media communications, news conferences, public notices, and Web postings (among others), and are important to managing relationships with these key stakeholders.

10.4.3 Manage Stakeholders: Outputs

See Section 10.4.3 of the PMBOK® Guide—Third Edition, with the addition of the following:

• .4 Organizational Process Assets (Updates)
  For public sector projects, updates to organizational process assets also include external communication to public and other official organizations that contribute to a general government perception.