Project Management: Written documentation, reports, and communications methods used during the life cycle of an IT project

Abstract

The activities involved in designing and orchestrating a successful project encompass many phases and best practices.  A project involves various aspects of documentation methodologies, verbal and written reports, and a variety of communication techniques and approaches.  This document will outline activities involved in a few key aspects of the life cycle of IT projects.  Many important elements are involved in managing a successful project. A well-organized kick off meeting is a good beginning, which includes prior planning and organization of the kick off meeting, as well as careful selection of the appropriately skilled team members in order to achieve key project goals.  An efficient and thorough project communication plan is also important in order to maintain streamlined successful communication to all project parties such as project sponsors, stakeholders, and all team members. A mutually agreeable communication plan with the project sponsor will aid in keeping the sponsor apprised of all activities and achievements of the project, including any risk items the project sponsor needs to be directly involved with or responsible for mitigating.  Lastly, closing out the project includes many activities and best practices that not only aid in the project team members learning key items that were successful or not so successful, as well as the final report out to project sponsors and stakeholders, and the compilation and finalization of important project documentation for future review or system support.

The Art of Project Management

            The life cycle of a project includes many activities, documents, team members, resources, and communication requirements involved with design, implementation and delivery of the project.  To be a successful project manager and to run projects smoothly, many things need to happen at the beginning of the project, while the project is in motion, and at its ending.  The following will outline a few of the key aspects within a project.

Recipe for a Successful Project Kickoff

Projects have to start somewhere, so what better way than to start at a collaboration meeting with everyone involved. A project kickoff meeting, as what is referred to in the professional world, is a meeting that allows all project participants to share and collaborate on the project plan and to allocate individual roles and responsibilities. Expectations are set and guidelines are featured. This is also the point where project managers estimate the resources required by the project such as money, technological requirements, and people resources that will fulfill the needs and further aid the project (Leffingwell &Widrig, 2003). All project kickoff meetings should include some of the same basic elements, regardless of the desired outcome or type of project being tackled by the team.

            A successful project kickoff meeting is important to the project succeeding. Since it is the initial meeting with the sponsors and stakeholders, it can only occur once and whatever the outcome - the atmosphere for the remainder of the project is many times founded upon this first meeting. For the kick off meeting to be successful, it requires that careful and thorough planning occur in preparation for the meeting, with the goal that all project team members will agree on all relevant aspects and objectives of the project.

            The first step is to “develop the project goals and deliverables” (Sisco, 2002). The project manager should prepare a list of the items that are required for the project enabling the project manager to effectively address all the critical topics and objectives necessary for the project during the meeting. When all applicable parties agree on the objectives and the final deliverables of the project, the next step is to identify the specific roles of each team members that defines their responsibilities with the project (Sisco, 2002).

            After the project team members have been determined, it is necessary to ascertain what resources are needed from four key groups: operations, corporate support, management, and technical resources (Sisco, 2002). The resources required for each project will be unique, including the number, roles, and time required, and may be limited by matters such as the budget or number of staff available. As the project is kicking off, the project manager should also “develop a project team contact list” (Sisco, 2002) for the team members.

            Since it is “important for project team members to be aware of major assumptions that apply to the project” (Sisco, 2002) the project manager will ensure that each team member is absolutely clear on what their responsibilities are within the project. After which, the project manager will outline tasks, assign responsibilities, and indicate timeframes of each phase and milestone of the project plan (Sisco, 2002). This outlining and documentation warrants that everything has been considered for the project such as adequate resources identified and allocated, objectives included and defined, and all team members including the sponsors and stakeholders agree on all factors of the project.   With these items well defined, assigned and agreed upon, the project can successfully take off.

Elements of a Successful Project Communication Plan

Communication or the lack thereof, is perhaps the most important part of any project. Granted, money and employees are important, but if communication does not flow smoothly, the project is doomed from the start. A project communication plan is designed to be a documented approach in which project managers relay information to the appropriate stakeholders so that they are kept up to date on the progress of their investment. Much like its kickoff meeting brethren, project communication plans are important for any project, no matter the topic.

            Project communications planning used during the life cycle of an IT project helps the project run as smoothly. As so eloquently quoted by Freedman (2000) “In terms of project communications, the project plan itself is probably the most meaningful communication vehicle in the entire arsenal.”  When information is communicated in an organized manner, there is little room left for error due to any miscommunication. Miscommunications can cause the project to be delayed indefinitely because for example, the wrong action was taken.

            There are several different elements of a successful project communication plan. The project needs to clearly identify the intended audience of the project communication plan. The stakeholder communication requirements should include the what, who, and when. The content, format and detail level should be agreed upon and communicated as well. It should be known by all members of the group who the person responsible for communicating the information is as well as who is going to receive information. Properly identifying the audience will help bring the business to higher levels of efficiency.

            The second tier of the communication plan is the frequency in which updates are pushed. For instance, employees would need to be kept up to date at a much higher frequency than stakeholders. Team members have new tasks often, while stakeholders might only want a brief outline of what has been accomplished only once a week or even once a month. This part of the communication plan should really be addressed in the initial project kickoff meeting if done correctly and efficiently. The frequency of communication that is needed, when and to which group, is an important element for any successful project communication plan. 

            During the final phases of planning, the escalation process and the methods used to update the communication plan should be identified (Hehl, 2009). Presently, using modern technology, the most common way to communicate is through email, telephone, or virtual meetings (on applications like Citrix’s GoToMeeting or Skype) (Leffingwell & Widrig, 2003). These advanced forms of communication will facilitate high levels of productivity due to the fast delivery and response time.

Project Management Documentation

Document creation and deployment are some of the key aspects of any project management solution. In particular, thorough, consistent and regular project reports are vital to a project's overall success. Depending on the complexity of a given project, project reporting may require deep research and analysis on a per-organization and per-project basis. After assembling the right team for the job, project managers and team members collaborate on the best approach to accomplishing the project in front of them. In preparing such documents, it is important to evaluate some key elements that are vital to a successful project life cycle.

            First, it is important to identify the project's main plain. Without a backbone set up as the project's foundation, there is no hope of the rest of the pieces falling into place. During this phase, the team compiles and develops the principles needed to govern the rest of the project. This is perhaps one of the most vital documents involved with a project. Unforeseen factors come into play after a project is underway, and the main plan becomes an invaluable tool used to keep the project on track through a sea of constant changes (Carr, n.d.).

            The second part of the project document creation process is identifying specific goals sought after by project completion. A goal log should be used to identify each of the various objectives of the defined project. It is also helpful to outline how the project will benefit the organization as a whole, which may provide more motivation for those involved (Carr, n.d.). Often primary goals will be outlined by project sponsors or stakeholders, which can be fairly straight forward, depending on the level of involvement by the project sponsors.  Other goals can be added or modified as needed after the primary goals are in place.

            Problem and risk assessment is the third of four phases in project life cycle documentation creation. It is important for companies to identify the various problems and risks that coincide with completing a project. Documenting such solutions early in the project planning phase helps minimize unexpected issues and major project flaws throughout the project life cycle (Carr, n.d.). Granted, all issues are not going to be apparent at the very beginning. Being able to devise alternate solutions for known problems will help curb confusion in the long run (Drinkwater, n.d.). This is the first step towards risk management.

            Lastly, the action log is the final important document before a project can commence. By definition, an action log is a completed, master list of executable items or tasks outlining the project time line. This action list is also used to help the project manager divide and allocate project responsibilities between team members. Each member of the team has their own unique sets of strengths and weaknesses, so project leaders use the action log to assign tasks to team members that are best suited for different responsibilities (Carr, n.d.). Once the project is underway, this action log is used to document individual progress and performance of the project as a whole. Motivation to work with a feeling of purpose and enthusiasm come from this very important document (Drinkwater, n.d.).

            It is important to continually revisit these all project documentation to ensure the project is running with full efficiency, and on task. Above all else project documentation is one of the most important elements of communication. Proper documentation practices create project success, team morale, and maintaining sponsors and stakeholders’ satisfaction with project results (Drinkwater, n.d.). 

Advantages, Disadvantages, and Best Practices of Communication Methods

            As mentioned previously, there are a plethora of tools available to both the project manager and his or her affiliates. The Internet opens up a huge range of these tools including websites, email, and live video meetings all help reinforce a project’s chances of success if implemented correctly. This is especially true for projects that are spread out over large areas. Using these tools can be invaluable (Leffingwell & Widrig, 2003). For example, an American company outsourcing to Chinese workers can use these tools to communicate virtually instantly (using applications such as Citrix’s GoToMeeting, Skype, or Webex) while being located across the planet from other meeting attendees. Decision-making is nearly instantaneous when using these technologies and ultimately leads to faster and more efficient project completion.

            Although technological marvels are very beneficial, they do share some disadvantages. The existence of a variety of different methods may thoroughly confuse or overwhelm those participating in the project. Team members may not understand whether they should email, video chat, telephone, or even submit to a website with their inquiries and project status updates if too many technologies are employed. For just that reason, this should be clearly defined in the kick off meeting.

            Another disadvantage to the many technological options is cost.  Many are fairly expensive to implement and maintain. These factors should be considered in the overall cost of the project.  A significant disadvantage is that some people may not even be technologically savvy enough to operate chosen methods of communication. Even when someone is very good at their job and is the best in their field, it does not mean that they have the skills to host or participate in an online videoconference.

            A hopefully rare, but frequent disadvantage is the possibility of computer crashes or other outside factors that prohibit the use of a chosen technological communication method. Computer viruses, malfunctions, and hacking are also very real threat in this technologically advanced society. Thorough training and constant maintenance are necessity to prevent these disasters.

            Nearly all of these communication methods are used with the Internet as its backbone. This is why it is imperative to have a project running at its full technological potential. Internet access, business extranet, virtual private networks, video conferencing, email, fax machines, mobile computing through laptops, tablets, and smartphones, all become invaluable tools to the business professional. For this reason, it is important that all of these devices and technological components need to be constantly maintained to stay up and running through the lifespan of any project.

Elaborating Communications with Project Sponsors

The project sponsor is the most important member of the project team.  The project sponsor is the individual(s) that approves and authorizes the project charter, spearheads the project, provides executive level support, approves and extends a project budget, as well as driving the allocation of necessary resources for the project (Communications Management Plan Template, n.d.).

            Consistent, concise, and regular communication between the project manager and the project sponsor is essential for the project.  Keeping the project sponsor updated on achievements can benefit a project sponsor by providing the ability to give accurate status reports to their executive team, but most importantly keeping the project sponsor apprised of risks and problems is essential. Typically the project sponsor has the authority to make decisions or drive processes that can open roadblocks and turn a failing project around. Without this communication, the project sponsor would not know that action was needed (Brown, 2011).

            The appropriate frequency for which the project manager should communicate with the project sponsor is weekly or monthly, depending on the length and complexity of the project and the project sponsor’s availability and preference.  The project manager should review several high level topics using a standard summary format, unless the project sponsor requires more extensive detail.  This summary, which should include the overall status of the project, project successes, issues, road blocks, risks and costs, should be submitted to the project sponsor before the project status update meeting, providing an opportunity for the project sponsor to review the summary prior to the meeting.  Studies have shown that project sponsors prefer more analytical and verbal communications by the project manager. Whenever possible, the project manager should include graphs, visual aids, and charts to augment communication with the project sponsor.  The project manager should also make an effort to communicate verbally as often as possible (Muller, 2003).

            During the status meeting with the project sponsor whether face to face, conference call, or online meeting, all topics in the project status summary should be reviewed allowing the project sponsor to ask questions or provide feedback if necessary (Communications Management Plan Template, n.d.).  When the project is concluded, a final summary should be provided to the project sponsor indicating particular achievements, overall project status and lessons learned.

Guidelines for Effective Communication in Project Completion

            As a project comes near its end, the project manager should outline the procedures needed to close the project out. The main objective of the closeout phase is to lay a completed project to rest and to deliver the final requested results to applicable stakeholders and financial representatives. To close out efficiently, project managers should use a certain set of guidelines (Leffingwell & Widrig, 2003).

            All communication should be done both verbally and with written documentation.  Both good and bad highlights of the project’s lifespan should be brought up to those involved, including performance adjustments. Concerning record keeping, documentation should be retained which outlines each employee’s individual strengths and weaknesses as they were identified during the project. This information can be reviewed and used as reference for future projects or to analyze pay increased by merit. The opposite is also true, if poor performance was apparent, this documentation can be used to support termination or to analyze the need to reprimand the team member(s).

            Final communication between project managers and team members should occur at the very end of the project closeout. The main reason is to ensure that everyone that participated in the project through its lifespan can hear about the overall success or downfalls of the project from the stakeholders. This can provide a sense of accomplishment, and team members that can be proud of their work are typically eager to engage in another project (Leffingwell & Widrig, 2003). Positive reinforcement will help raise employee morale and will make them want to work hard on future projects in which they are involved.       Lastly, the project manager should emphasize the guidelines put forth and the lessons learned from these guidelines to help all team members learn the “dos” and “don’t dos” for future projects.

Final Thoughts

            A project is a dynamic, complex and unpredictable process.  The project manager and the project team have many tools and processes available to make the best attempt for a successful project.  The project manager needs to be thorough, dynamic, organized and imaginative to lead the project team in utilizing the best practices and tools available, while overcoming unexpected obstacles and issues throughout the project life cycle.  When the project team operates with “team” mentality, good communication practices are implemented and utilized, proper project documentation is captured and maintained, and today’s technological tools and applications are embraced the project manager has a fighting chance for a successful project.
References

Brown, S.(2011). What Should a Project Sponsor Do? Retrieved from http://www.globalknowledge.com/training/generic.asp?pageid=2062&country=Canada

Carr, D. (n.d.). Minimize Your Project Management Documentation. Project Smart. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/minimise-your-project-management-documentation.html on Monday, November 21, 2011

Communications Management Plan Template. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com/templates/communications-management-plan.html

Drinkwater, A. (n.d.). Communication: The Lifeblood of a Project. Project Smart. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/communication-the-lifeblood-of-a-project.html

Freedman, R. (2000, September 25). Communication plans are key to project success.Tech Republic. Retrieved November 26, 2011, from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/communication-plans-are-key-to-project-success/1028635

Hehl, M. (2009). Six Elements of a Successful Project Communications Plan. DESARA. Retrieved November 21, 2011, from http://www.desaragroup.com/docs/PMV14.pdf

Leffingwell, D. & Widrig, D.(2003). Managing software requirements.Boston: Pearson Education

Muller, R.(2003). Communication of Information Technology Project Sponsors and Managers in Buyer-Seller relationships. Retrieved from http://dissertation.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581121989 on Monday, November 21, 2011

Sisco, M. (2002, June 6). A Well-Planned Kickoff Meeting Sets the Tone for a Successful Project. TechRepublic. Retrieved November 21, 2011, from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/a-well-planned-kickoff-meeting-sets-the-tone-for-a-successful-project/1038879