1. Based on the 4th
Edition of PMBOK
PROJECT COMMUNICATION
MANAGEMENT
Waleed El-Naggar, MBA, PMP

2. Communication is Important!
 Why?
 It consumes 90% of a Project Manager’s time.
 It weighs 14% in the PMP Exam !
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3. Communication… is What?
Encoding Decoding
Sender --------- Message ------- Receiver
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4. Project Communication
Management
Identify
Stakeholders
Plan
Communications
Distribute
Information
Manage Stakeholder
Expectation
Report Performance
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5. 10.1 Identify Stakeholders
Identify all people or
organizations impacted by the
project: e.g., Customers,
Sponsors, Team Members,
Suppliers (Internal & External),
and Labor unions
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6. Identify Stakeholders: Inputs
 Project Charter (provides information about
internal & external involved parties
 Procurement Documents
 Enterprise Environmental Factors (e.g.,
organizational culture, industry standards, … etc)
 Organizational Process Assets (stakeholders
register templates, lessons learned, old project
documents, … etc)
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7. Identify Stakeholders: Tools & Techniques
 Stakeholder Analysis: gathering & analyzing
information to determine stakeholder in 3 steps:
 Identify all potential stakeholders & relevant
information (roles, departments, interests,
knowledge levels, expectations, and influence
levels).
 Identify potential impact or support each
stakeholder could generate (power-interest)
 Assess how key stakeholders are likely to
react or respond to various situations.
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8. Power-Interest Grid
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9. Identify Stakeholders: T & T (2)
 Expert Judgment: groups or individuals
specialized in certain areas such:
 Senior management
 Subject matter experts
 Industry groups and consultants
 Professional and technical associations
 Project managers with experience in similar
project and
 Identified stakeholders.
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10. Identify Stakeholders: Outputs
 Stakeholder Register: it contains
 Identification Information: name,
organizational position, location, role in
project, … etc.
 Assessment Information: major requirements,
expectation, potential influence in project …
etc.
 Stakeholder Classification: Internal/External,
supporter, neutral, resistor, … etc.
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11. Identify Stakeholders: Outputs (2)
 Stakeholder Management Strategy: define an
approach to increase the support and minimize
negative impacts of stakeholder throughout the
whole project life cycle. It should define:
 Key stakeholder (can significantly impact the
project).
 Level of participation in the project
 Stakeholder groups and their management.
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12. Sample Stakeholder Mgmt Plan
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13. Quiz
How should the project manager manage the
stakeholders with high power in high interest in the
project?
A. Keep them satisfied
B. Manager Closely
C. Treat them equally to other stakeholders
D. Give their request a high priority
Answer: B
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14. 10.2 Plan Project Communication
 Determining Stakeholder s’ information needs
and defining communication approach:
 Who needs What
 When he/she needs it
 Who will deliver
 How will it be delivered (report, email,
verbal, … etc)
 Should be planned early and revised through
the whole project life.
 Improper communication planning will lead to
significant problems
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15. Plan Communications: Inputs
1. Stakeholder Register:
2. Stakeholder Management Strategy
3. Enterprise Environmental Factors:
Company’s culture, infrastructure, market
conditions etc.
4. Organizational Process Assets: Historical
records- lessons learned – templates-
guidelines & Procedures.
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16. Plan Communications: T & T (1)
1. Communication Requirements Analysis:
Determine information needs of the project
stakeholder. (Number of communications
channels)
N(N-1)/ 2
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17. Plan Communications: T & T (2)
2. Communication Technology: affected by
 The urgency of the need for the information
 The availability of technology
 Expected Project staffing (experience,
training, … etc)
 Duration of the project (Will technology
change?)
 The project environment
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18. Plan Communications: T & T (3)
3. Communication Models.
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19. Plan Communications: T & T (4)
4. Communication Methods:
 Interactive (meetings, phone calls, video
conferences, … etc)
 Push Communications (letters, memos,
reports, emails, faxes, … etc)
 Pull communications (Intranet, knowledge
repositories, … etc)
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20. Plan Communications: Outputs
 Communications Management Plan:
 Communications item: information for distribution
 Purpose: The reason of the distribution
 Start/end dates.
 Medium and formality
 Responsibility: who will distribute the information
 Escalation Procedures
 Glossary of Terminology
 Project Documents Updates (Schedule,
stakeholder Register, stakeholder strategy, … etc)
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21. Q: One Purpose of the Communication
Management plan is to offer:
A. Methods about how to gather & store
Information.
B. Measure the level of experience of each team
member.
C. Organize the project and the relationships of
stakeholder responsibilities.
D. Provide methods of releasing team members
after they are no longer needed.
Answer: A
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22. Q: The team has 5 team members as well as the
project manager. How many communication
channels?
A. 10.
B. 15.
C. 6
D. 30
Answer: B
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23. 10.3 Distribute Information
 The process of making needed information
available to project stakeholders as planned.
 Effective information distribution incudes
several techniques such as:
 Sender-receiver models (feedback, barriers, … etc)
 Choice of media
 Writing style
 Meeting management techniques
 Presentation techniques
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24. Distribute Information : Inputs
1. Communication Management Plan.
2. Performance reports (output of 10.5)
3. Organizational Process Assets
 Guidelines
 Templates
 Historical Information
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25. Distribute Information: Tools &
Techniques
1. Communication Methods:
2. Information Distribution Tools:
• Hard copies
• Electronic communication
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26. Types of Communication
1. Non verbal Communication: 55% of conveying
the message, composed of behavior & Physical
Mannerisms.
2. Verbal Communication
 Formal (Presentations- Speeches)
 Informal (Meetings Conversations)
Types of Verbal Communication:
 Para-lingual: Pitch & Tone of Voice
 Active Listening
 Effective Listening: Watching physical
gestures of the speaker.
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27. 3. Written
Formal : In project plan, charter, long distances
& complex problems.
Informal : Memos, emails, notes.
Communication skills allow information to flow:
 Internally
 Externally
 Vertically (up and down hierarchies)
 Horizontally (along peers)
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28. Take care if the question is asking you
what is the total number of channels or
what is the additional number of channels.
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29. Communication Barriers (1)
 Noise
 Distance
 Hostility
 Language
 Culture
 Evaluative tendency
 Improper Decoding
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30. Communication Barriers (1)
 Personality and interest
 Position and status
 Lack of responsive feedback
 Withholding information
 Mixed messages
 Stereotyping
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31. Distribute Information: Outputs
1. Updated Process Assets Updates;
 Stakeholder Notifications
 Project Reports
 Project Records: correspondences – memos
– project notebooks.
 Project Presentations: where the presenter
must determine;
 Feedback from stakeholders
 Lessons Learned Documentation
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32. WHATEVER YOUR MESSAGE
is;
keep it clear and simple
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33. Q: The most common negotiation problem that
occurs during negotiation is:
A. Each side might misinterpret what the other side
has said
B. Each side may give up on the other side
C. One side may try to confuse the other side
D. One side may be too busy thinking about what to
say next to hear what is being said
Answer A
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34. 10.4 Manage Stakeholders Expectations
Working with stakeholders to meet their needs
and addressing issues as they occur.
 Actively manage expectations of stakeholders to
increase likelihood of project acceptance.
 Addressing concerns and issues.
 Clarifying and resolving issues
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35. Manage Stakeholders Expectations:
Inputs
1. Stakeholder Register
2. Stakeholder Management Strategy
3. Project Management Plan
4. Issue Log
5. Change Log
6. Organizations Process Assets
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36. Manage Stakeholders Expectations:
Tools and Techniques
1. Communication Methods
2. Interpersonal Skills
 Building trust
 Resolving conflicts
 Active Listening
 Overcoming resistance to change
3. Management Skills
 Presentation Skills
 Negotiation
 Writing Skills
 Public Speaking
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37. Manage Stakeholders Expectations:
Outputs
1. Organizational Process Assets Updates
2. Change Requests
3. Project Management Plan Updates
4. Project Document Updates
 Stakeholder management strategy
 Stakeholder Register
 Issue Log
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38. 10.5 PERFORMANCE REPORTING
 Provides information regarding all PMP
Management Areas.
 Emphasizes Forecasting.
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39. PERFORMANCE REPORTING: Inputs
1. Project Management Plan
2. Work Performance Information:
 Deliverable status
 Schedule Progress (CPI, SPI, … etc)
 Cost incurred
3. Work Performance Measurements: to calculate
actual work performance versus plan.
4. Budget Forecast
5. Organizational Process Assets
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40. PERFORMANCE REPORTING: T & T
1. Variance Analysis
2. Forecasting Methods
 Time series methods
 Causal/econometric methods
 Judgmental methods
 Other methods
3. Communication Methods
4. Reporting Systems
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41. PERFORMANCE REPORTING: Outputs
1. Performance reports, e.g. Bar charts/Gantt
chart, S- Curves & resource Histograms.
2. Organizational Process Assets Updates
3. Change Requests
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42. Q: Of the Various tools & Techniques on Performance
Reporting, which one integrates scope, cost &
schedule information as key elements?
A. Real options Analysis
B. Variance Analysis
C. Earned Value Analysis
D. Schedule/ Cost Analysis
Answer C
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43. Q: At the end of each project, the project team should
prepare a lessons learned summary that focuses on all
of the following except:
A. Sharing Best Practices with other teams in the
organization
B. Warning others of potential problems
C. Suggesting methods to mitigate risks effectively to
ensure success
D. Sharing only the positive aspects of the project for
future replication elsewhere in the organization
Answer D
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44. Q: Extensive use of _______ communication is
most likely to aid in solving complex problems
A. Verbal
B. Written
C. Formal
D. Nonverbal
Answer B
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45. Q: The WBS can be an effective aid for
communication in which situation?
A. Internal within the project
B. Internal within the organization
C. External with the customer
D. Internal and external to the project
Answer D
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46. Q: The Most Likely results of Communication blockers
is that:
A. The project is delayed
B. Trust level is enhanced
C. Conflict occurs
D. Senior management is displeased
Answer C
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47. Q: Communications are often enhanced when the
sender _____ the receiver
A. Speaks up to
B. Uses more physical movements when talking to
C. Talks slowly to
D. Shows Concern for the perspective of
Answer A
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48. Thank you
waleed_k@aucegypt.edu
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