B4 Communication in projects

Infrastructure or process performance

As with team or department performance, this is an ‘internal’ communication that takes place between the members of a team or department who are responsible for managing an infrastructure component or system, or the members of a process team. People outside of these teams should not be involved in this type of communication as it is aimed at managing people rather than measuring the quality of a service.

Purpose	There are at least three purposes of this type of communication:· To ensure normal operation of the infrastructure or a process To detect potential issues with the infrastructure or process concerned To ensure that corrective action has been taken and that it was effective
Frequency	The frequency of this type of communication will vary depending on the nature of the system (s) being managed or the process being executed. Some component s of the infrastructure are more volatile and will require frequent communications and even meetings to ensure that it performs predictably. More stable components will simply require a confirmation that everything is still working as expected. Some processes have a requirement of frequent reporting and communication. For example, Incident Management may require updates every five minutes for a high- impact incident. Other processes do not need to communicate that frequently. For example Capacity Planning needs to communicate changes on a monthly or even quarterly basis.
Role Players	Staff who manage key CIs Staff who execute processes Process owner s and technology managers Potential escalation to more senior managers, the Service Manager
Content	Comparison between required and actual performance Trends of performance over time Specific reports of missed targets or unexpected levels of performance
Context / sources	Event Logs System Performance Record s Process Performance Reports Incident and Problem Record s Exception Report s and Audit Reports Review with vendor Service Reporting may indicate a problem with one or more technology areas or processes

Table B.5 Performance Reporting requirements: infrastructure or process

Service Operation staff are often involved in projects. This may be to provide input to a new design, or to assist in verifying utilization or throughput rates, or to assist in conducting tests of new or changed services. In other cases the projects may affect existing OLAs and their feedback will be required. It must be recognized that this involvement will add to the level of communication that these individuals will be receiving and transmitting. This will require additional time and focus, which should be allowed for by managers assigning resources to projects on a part-time basis.

Purpose

Project communication as multiple purposes, including: To gain support from project stakeholders – this communication will focus on the scope, cost and benefits of the project and will seek to demonstrate an overall return on the project’s investment To ensure that all members of the project team understand and are aligned to the objectives of the project To assign work to individuals or teams To schedule activities and ensure that resources are ready to begin their stage of the project To check on and report the progress of the project To detect and escalate potential exceptions or delays in the project To prepare project customers and audiences for the rollout of the solution being built

Frequency

The frequency, role players and content of communication will depend on the nature of the project and the type of Project Management methodology being used

Table B.6 Communication within projects

Formal project communication tends to follow the cycle of project meetings. For example:

• Weekly or monthly project meetings will be held with the Project Manager and the individual team leaders
• A monthly status update will be sent to the project’s Executive Sponsor and possibly other key stakeholders
• Exceptions and the result of quality assurance checks are reported into Project Assurance teams, who in turn will communicate the need for corrective action as necessary.

Inside each team, communication will be more focused on completing their tasks and will generally be more frequent than the project-wide communication.

There is likely to be a high level of less formal communication inside each team and also between teams to ensure that tasks are completed on time and promised resources are available when and where they are supposed to be. Extensive communication is also required as part of the handover from one team to another as the project moves from one stage or phase to another. An important rule of thumb is to document any communication that could potentially affect the outcome or the cost of the project.

Role Players	Project Manager and project administrative and coordination staff Project Sponsor Key Project Stakeholders (e.g. customers, IT Managers, Board members, users, etc.) Project teams and individual contributors Vendor sales and technical staff where the purchase of services or solutions are part of the project
Content	Gathering requirements for the solution being built by the project Project scheduling Project ‘Marketing’ information including Return on Investment or Business Case information Status updates Gathering information to complete a task Events that could affect the scope, cost or timely completion of the project Progress reporting within teams or between teams Information about the results of testing Notifications to teams or individuals that the project is approaching ‘their’ stage or activity and that they should make the appropriate preparations Reporting on the successful completion of activities Review of the overall success of the project ·
Context / sources	Project Charter Project Budget Statement of requirements Project Schedule Project meetings Team meetings Status and progress reports Test reports Customer sign-off documentation Post-Implementation Review ·

Table B.7 Communication on handover of projects

Дата добавления: 2014-12-23