When you're on a large project it is difficult to keep everyone in the loop with what's going on. Yes, you can send out emails to everyone on your mailing list but certain people are only interested in certain things and most of the time your emailed updates may be left unread. I wondered what techniques other people used to keep everyone in the loop without bombarding people with stuff they don't need. I wondered about setting up RSS feeds so people can chose what they want to recieve but I'm not sure as to whether it would work or not. What do you guys think? Saving Changes...
RSS could work in a high tech environment where people are a little tech savy. A suggestion you might want to look into is open lunch sessions for people onsite (have a speaker about the project and offer lunch :) or make use of webinars, basically the same idea as the "lunch sessions" but this can work for distributed organizations. Record the sessions for people that can't be present.
It's more interactive this way. And keep on doing newsletters. You don't have to bombard people, but it keeps the project at least in peoples mind.
Cheers
Bas Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Rosie, who is "the business"? The split between IT and "the business" is a false one, in my opinion, but that's for another day!
Do you have a communications plan for your project? Different people like to get their info in different ways. RSS could be good, but you'll probably need to consider other ways too. General company updates at high level could stay with the newsletter or generic staff briefings. If you have RSS do you have a blog or wiki or something that would provide the feed? You could put the link to that in your email signature.
In my previous company we used to put monthly project reports on the intranet but after looking at the page views we realised no one was looking. Generally, if people are not part of the team but want to know more, they just need to know who to ask, so be available and invite comments. Saving Changes...
Rosie:
I assume you have a communication plan. It sounds like your concern is feedback from team members and stakeholders.
I use the following methods:
RACI Matrix and Communication Plan
Project Website
Email
Document Repository
Core and Subgroup meetings
Steering Committee Meetings
Your plan should identify roles and responsibilities, who gets what communications, when, method and how often. Don't get stuck trying to please everyone; you'll burnout. Make sure you clarify your communication plan, point them to the information and be creative. Brown bags and quarterly presentations will help calm the masses too.
It it is a company wide project of interest, then set up a visible link on your INTRANET, updating the project as progress is made - simple and effective.. Saving Changes...
Jeff ArmstrongAgile Programme & Portfolio Consultant| business-docs.co.ukLondon, United Kingdom
Hi Rosie,
This is a great thread - one of the toughest challenges for programme and portfolio management, as well as project management, is keeping a shared understanding across the business.
RSS - I'd agree this relies on tech-savvy stakeholders.
Blogs and Wikis - have used both of these for project intranets - they work fine, but of course this is dependent on being focussed and keeping them up to date (and avoiding sprawling reports)
Lunch sessions - great idea.
Webinar - brilliant, and works wonderfully. In fact I want to start using these more regularly...
IMHO you should keep your activity light weight, and to-the-point.
My approach (for the wider business) is:
1) a simple 1-sider A3 roadmap, with report dashboard. updated weekly. Available on intranet for reference.
2) regular, short "Update" meetings. 30 mins weekly with standard terms of reference.
For more interested parties, the RACI, RAID and other project docs can be referenced on intranet.
PM me if you want further details.
kr,
matt
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Peter WrightProgramme Manager| BAE SystemsSouthport, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Hi Rosie,
Some good comments below and useful. I have been in different business environments where comms plans were created and adhered to through to comms plans are suggested but everyone ignores.
Simple answer is to continue to ask your stakeholders during the project/programme life cycle, if you are able to and your business is structured capture this in the comms plan. Also seek their agreeemnt on the file format (pdf, mpp) and also consider those blackberry users but beware of copying all of the report text into a seperate report for them specifically.
I agree with Matt below especially for approach (1)
I would suggest adapting 1-3 reports max (to keep your sanity and work life balance) for a programme / large project. I have used the following:-
1) Either from the teams (or yourself if your business is smaller) detailed task reports / contract plans from 3rd parties
2) A Project Team high level view + key milestones (I filter mpp plans and save as pdf for those that want to see detail).
3) A summarised reports - Typically for the directors showing key milestones and workstreams.
Any of the above can be converted to wiki/web pages if needed.
I have found in my current environment workshops, lunch sessions and webinars/conference calls are not well received as time passes as it is perceived as just another project meeting that can be dropped as more "shiny/priority" projects and meetings are requested of them.
I've found this a really interesting thread as I often meet project managers who aren't sure how to communicate to their stakeholders or who pick the wrong methods. Like others have mentioned on here, I am an advocate of agreeing a communications plan at the start of the project and doing a detailed stakeholder analysis first to inform the communications plan of who may need to be communicated to, from which the type and frequency of communication is then determined. I see a lot of people who dismiss a communications plan as an unnecessary step as they think they instinctively know what needs to be communicated, to whom and how. It is only when team members and stakeholders subsequently start to either ignore their communications or complain that they aren't getting what they want, that any further consideration is then made. Far better to think about it upfront, document the plan and gain agreement to it.
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Mir AlikhanProject Manager| ChangementKaty, Tx, United States
There should a liaison role - either you have to step up, or the business should be willing to interface regularly. Especially if they are interested in a fruitful endeavor. Saving Changes...
Mir AlikhanProject Manager| ChangementKaty, Tx, United States
RSS and other feeds just distort truly valuable information. We don't want to bog users down with data over load. Saving Changes...
You should use an appropriate PIS (Project Information System), preferably web based and update the system daily. Then your project stake holders/project sponsors will look into the PIS!
