Communications Management

Question 1

Define:

Acknowledgment

Answer 1

The receiver signals that the message has been received. An acknowledgment shows receipt of the message, but not necessarily agreement with the message.

Question 2

Define:

Choice of Media

Answer 2

The best modality to use when communicating that is relevant to the information being communicated.

Some communications demand a formal report, whereas others warrant only a phone call, a face-to-face meeting, or a few sentences in a text message or sticky note.

The appropriate medium is dictated by what needs to be communicated.

Question 3

Define:

Communication Assumptions

Answer 3

Anything that the project management team believes to be true but hasn’t proven to be true.

For example, the project management team may assume that all of the project team can be reached via cell phone, but parts of the world, as of this writing, don’t have a cell signal.

Question 4

Define:

Communication Barrier

Answer 4

Anything that prohibits communication from occurring.

Question 5

Define:

Communication Channels Formula

Answer 5

N(N – 1)/2, where N represents the number of identified stakeholders. This formula reveals the total number of communication channels within a project.

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For example, if a project has ten stakeholders, the formula would read 10(10 – 1)/2, for a total of 45 communication channels.

Question 6

Define:

Communication Constraints

Answer 6

Anything that limits the project management team’s options.

When it comes to communication constraints, geographical locales, incompatible communications software, and even limited communications technology can constrain the project team.

Question 7

Define:

Cone of Silence

Answer 7

An environment for the team that is free of distractions and interruptions.

Question 8

List:

Considerations for Communication Technology

Answer 8

• Urgency of the Information
• Reliability
• Ease of Use
• Project Environment
• Protecting the Information

Question 9

Define:

Decoder

Answer 9

The device that decodes a message as it is being received.

Question 10

Define:

Effective Listening

Answer 10

The receiver is involved in the listening experience by paying attention to visual cues from the speaker and paralingual characteristics and by asking relevant questions.

Question 11

Define:

Encoder

Answer 11

The device that encodes the message being sent.

A fax machine is an example of an encoder and a decoder.

Question 12

Define:

External Communication

Answer 12

The idea of communicating with stakeholders outside the organization, such as customers, vendors, media, government agencies, and the public.

Question 13

Define:

Feedback

Answer 13

The sender confirms that the receiver understands the message by directly asking for a response, questions for clarification, or other confirmation.

Question 14

Define:

Fishbowl Windows

Answer 14

The virtual team uses videoconferencing to ensure that all team members can view other team members and can communicate quickly, no matter where the other workers are located among all the virtual team members. Each team member has a “window” into the other team members as they work.

This approach prevents the lag time virtual teams sometimes experience when communicating with other remote workers through more conventional means.

Question 15

List:

Five C’s of Communication

Answer 15

• Correct grammar and spelling
• Concise messaging
• Clear purpose of the message
• Coherent flow
• Controlling flow of the message

Question 16

Define:

Follow-the-Sun Approach

Answer 16

For large projects with multiple teams working together in locations spread across multiple time zones, this approach enables the work to be passed on to the next team in workday increments from east to west.

Question 17

Define:

Formal Communication

Answer 17

This is communicating through reports, meetings, minutes, and project presentations.

Question 18

Define:

Hierarchical Focus

Answer 18

In this communication approach, upward communication represents senior management, downward communication represents the project team and other project contributors, and horizontal communication represents your peers.

Question 19

Define:

High-Bandwidth Communication

Answer 19

Face-to-face communication that includes non-verbal communication.

Question 20

Define:

Informal Communications

Answer 20

Communicating through relaxed conversations, e-mails, ad hoc meetings, and social media.

Question 21

Define:

Information Presentation Tools

Answer 21

A software package that allows the project management team to present the project’s health through graphics, spreadsheets, and text.

Think of Microsoft Project.

Question 22

Define:

Information Retrieval System

Answer 22

A system to quickly and effectively store, archive, and access project information.

Question 23

Define:

Interactive Communication

Answer 23

The most common and effective approach to communication where two or more people exchange information.

Consider status meetings, ad hoc meetings, phone calls, and videoconferences.

This type of communication means that information is happening among stakeholders, like in a forum.

Examples of interactive communications are meetings, videoconferences, phone calls, and ad-hoc conversations. Interactive communications means that the participants are actively communicating with one another.

Question 24

Define:

Internal Communication

Answer 24

The approach of communicating inside the organization, with project stakeholders within the organization.

Question 25

# Define: Medium

Answer 25

The device or technology that transports a message. ## Footnote The telephone line is the medium between our fax machines.

Question 26

# List: Modes of Information Distribution

Answer 26

- Project meetings - Hard-copy documentation - Databases - Faxes - E-mail - Telephone calls - Information radiators - Videoconferences - Project web site

Question 27

# Define: Noise

Answer 27

Anything that interferes with or disrupts a message. ## Footnote It’s possible that static on the phone line may distort the fax message between the two fax machines.

Question 28

# Define: Nonverbal Communication

Answer 28

Facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language that serve as nonverbal cues that contribute to a message. ## Footnote Approximately 55 percent of communication is nonverbal.

Question 29

# Define: Official Communication

Answer 29

This refers to communicating with official documents, such as annual reports or communications to government agencies and the media.

Question 30

# Define: Osmotic Communication

Answer 30

To communicate by sharing an environment. ## Footnote It’s like osmosis; you absorb the information because it’s being communicated around you, not necessarily toward you.

Question 31

# Define: Paralingual Communication

Answer 31

The pitch, tone, and inflections in the sender’s voice that affects the message being sent.

Question 32

# Define: Project Presentations

Answer 32

Useful in providing information to customers, management, and other stakeholders.

Question 33

# Define: Pull Communication

Answer 33

This approach pulls the information from a central repository, like a database of information. Pull communications are good for large groups of stakeholders who want to access project information at their discretion. ## Footnote Consider a project website where stakeholders can periodically drop by for a quick update on the project status. This type of communication pulls information from a central repository. Pull communications allow stakeholders to retrieve information from a central source as needed.

Question 34

# Define: Push Communication

Answer 34

This approach pushes the information from the sender to the receiver without any real acknowledgment that the information was really received or understood. ## Footnote Consider letters, faxes, voicemail messages, e-mails, and other communication modalities in which the sender packages and sends information to the receivers through some intermediary network. This type of communication happens when the sender pushes the same message to multiple people. Good examples of push communications are broadcast text messages, faxes, press releases, and group e-mails.

Question 35

# Define: Receiver

Answer 35

The person who receives the message.

Question 36

# Define: Reporting System

Answer 36

A software program to store and analyze project data for reporting. ## Footnote A common reporting system will take project data, allow the project manager to pass the data through earned value management, for example, and then create forecasting reports about the project costs and schedule.

Question 37

# Define: Sender

Answer 37

The person who is sending the message.

Question 38

# Define: Stakeholder Notifications

Answer 38

Notices to the stakeholders about resolved issues, approved changes, and the overall health of the project.

Question 39

# Define: Status Review Meeting

Answer 39

A regularly scheduled meeting to discuss the status of the project and its progress toward completing the project scope statement.

Question 40

# Define: Time Reporting System

Answer 40

A system to record the actual time to complete project activities.

Question 41

# Define: Two-Way Communication

Answer 41

The exchange of information where both parties actively participate. providing feedback, responses, or clarification. ## Footnote This involves a continuous flow of messages between the sender and receiver, allowing for mutual understanding and collaboration.

Question 42

# Define: Unofficial Communication

Answer 42

This implies communicating with the project team, customers, and other stakeholders to represent the project through more relaxed and informal communications.

Question 43

# Define: Visibility

Answer 43

The team’s work and progress must be transparent to all stakeholders.

Question 44

# Define: Written and Oral Communication

Answer 44

This is communicating through both verbal and nonverbal methods and understanding that the message is affected by the words chosen and how the words are conveyed.