What is Project Communication Management

This is considered one of the top most important knowledge area in project management. Project Communication Management is very important since the success or failure of the end result of the project mostly depends on how effectively project information are communicated. (PMBOK, 5th Edition)

Project Communication Management includes the processes necessary to make sure to drive the project towards success and the ultimate disposition of project information. Among these processes, planning, creation, distribution, storage, control, monitoring, etc… need to be taken care of. When it comes to communication, most of the project managers spend most of the time communicating with stakeholders including the team, client and top management. An effective communication is important to bridge the gap between diverse stakeholders relying on different cultural and organizational backgrounds.

Communication can happen through different dimensions and this depends on the parties involved in a particular communication.

1. Internal (among the project team) and External (customer, supplier / vendor, etc…)
2. Formal (reports, documents, meeting minutes, etc..) and informal (emails, reminders, memos, etc…)
3. Vertical (throughout the organizational structure from top to bottom) and horizontal (among peers)
4. Official (via newsletters, annual reports, etc…) and unofficial (off the record communications)
5. Written, oral and verbal (through voice) and nonverbal (via body language)

There are 3 main processes identified under Project Communication Management. They are;

Plan Communication Management

This is the process of developing the proper method of project communications based on stakeholders’ information needs and requirements. This is also a subsidiary plan of Project Management plan and it supports the project team to identify and document approach to effectively and efficiently communicate with each other.

Manage Communication

Under this process, activities such as info: creating, collecting, distributing, storing, retrieving, etc… take place. All these processes occur according to the communication management plan. This process involves in directing an effective communication flow between project stakeholders.

Control Communication

This process includes the activities of monitoring and controlling communications throughout the entire project life cycle. In addition, it also has to make sure that the relevant information needs of the stakeholders are met accordingly. By doing so, it confirms an optimal information flow among all the project stakeholders at any given time.

Below table shows under which Project Management Process Group the above processes are performed.

**Please note that each and every individual process mentioned above will be explained further separately.