Communication Management Plan and Information System

Communication plan is an important component of a project. In order to develop a communication plan, for Green House Construction Company, it is essential for the project manager to collect the necessary information such as target audience, project objectives, the details of the stakeholders and the applicable communication vehicle.

The Green House Construction Company mainly undertakes the project associated with building of various houses and apartments. The main stakeholders associated with the projects undertaken by Greenhouse Construction Company are listed below-

1. Project Sponsors
2. Resource Manager
3. Project Manager
4. Project Owner
5. The Client Company
6. Jay and Dash

The above stakeholders are needed to be communicated regularly with the project progress and the status of the project.

In order to documents the initial information associated with the project, a knowledge management system and a decision support system is needed o be in place. This will help the project team in documenting the initial information associated with the project. Project manager is responsible for decision support system while the business analyst is responsible for knowledge management system. I have been assigned with the role of managing the knowledge information system. 

The delegated authorities within the project associated with the Green House Construction Company that will determine the activities that is needed to be included in the communication plan. The delegated authorities associated with the Green House Construction Company include the Project Supervisor, quality manager and the sub-contractor.

In order to successfully manage the project, it is essential to keep the stakeholders informed about the project progress. Development of the communication plan is the process by which the project progress might be reported to the stakeholders of the project. For that, choice of an appropriate communication vehicle is necessary. The Green House Construction Company mainly follows the communication vehicle of formal email and teleconference in order to stay in touch with the related stakeholders of the project undertaken and to communicate the details of the project.

Development of a communication plan is an essential aspect of project management in Greenhouse Construction Company. In order to develop a communication plan, it is essential for the project team to consider the communication vehicle, the preferable mode of communication of the stakeholders and the components of the project that are needed to be communicated.

A mixed method of communication is followed in Green House Construction Company. The four method of communication that are commonly used by the managers and the project team of Green House Construction Company includes interpersonal Communication, Non verbal communication, written communication as well as oral communication. The communication vehicle that is mainly used in Green House Construction Company includes the email, which is a non verbal communication. Apart from that, the daily communication is carried over phone and in teleconference.

Effective Communication Processes

PIMS can be defined as the project management web application that is mainly used by the project teams for completion of different project management activities. PIMS is beneficial for management of the project as it provides eleven standard modules and five custom modules that help in easier management of the project data. The standard project modules provide standard configuration options that help in easier customization of the needs of the project. A completely customized web application is provided by PIMS that act as a personal organizer of the projects undertaken by Green House Construction Company. The benefits include easier management of the project schedule; tracking the progress of the project and understanding the basic needs of the project.

The Green House Construction Company makes use of a web based Project Management Information System in order to keep a track of the project progress. The Web based system is suitable for consideration in Green House Construction Company mainly because it is easily accessible from the mobile devices as well. My role is to ensure that the software is in place and is operating in an appropriate manner. It is my responsibility to ensure that the software is up to date.

1. a) Information generation is an important aspect of the building projects undertaken by the Green house construction company. The information generation is a part of project initiation that ensures that an appropriate project communication plan is prepared that will be followed by the project team for successful project completion. The information generation includes setting up of a meeting with the clients and to discuss the requirements and the deliverables of the project, which are documented in order to ensure that the project is implemented in an appropriate manner.
2. b) Information gathering is an important aspect of project management in Green House Construction Company. The information required for successful project management include gathering of the information such as details of project schedule, budget related to the project, resource required in the project and the methods that will be applied for successful project information. The information gathering is managed by discussing the project requirements with the project clients.
3. c) All the information associated with the project that are either gathered or generated are documented and stored in soft copy form so that it can be easily communicated to the associated stakeholders of the project.
4. d) The information retrieval process is easy since the project information are stored in a web based dedicated Project Information Management System. The Project Information Management system helps the project team of Greenhouse Construction Company is easier information retrieval. The web based Project Information Management System can be accessed through mobile as well.
5. e) In order to analyze the information associated with the project, The Green House Construction Company ensure that the information collected are appropriately stored and can be accessed in times of need.

The different process that can be used for disseminating the information associated with the project to the staffs and the project stakeholders are as follows-

1. For disseminating information to the staffs, face to face communication method is chosen as it helps in ensuring that accurate information is communicated to the staffs.
2. For communication with the stakeholders, a formal method of communication is used, which includes, email and teleconference (when needed). This method of communication is appropriate for the stakeholders of the project as sharing the soft copy of the project as an attachment of the email helps in keeping the stakeholders up to date with the progress of the project.

The data associated with the projects undertaken by the Green House Construction Company is validated by cross checking by requirements and the specification of the project. A project manager aims in monitoring the project process by comparing the progress of the project as per the project plan.

The validation check that is followed by the Green House Construction Company includes comparing the project progress with the project plan that is developed. This method is appropriate for management of this project since it helps in ensuring that that specifications provided by the clients are fulfilled while delivering the project.

The validation checks in Greenhouse Construction Company are quite efficient and effective as the quality manager of the project ensures timely completion of each deliverables of a project. However, it is to be noted that the validation checks can be further improved by following a more formal process.

The different communication network within the project includes formal emails, face to face communication, telephonic communication and teleconference meetings.

The three most commonly used communication networks in Green House Construction Company include email, telephonic conversation and face to face meetings.

1. a) The frequency of communication in email network is quite frequent while that of face to face communication is quite less. The frequency of telephonic communication is as per the requirements.
2. b) In email, mainly the project progress is shared with the stakeholders of the project. The telephonic conversations include communicating the urgent needs of the project while face to face meetings are held to discuss the project progress.
3. c) The format of email is doc, pdf or ppt. The format for telephonic and face to face meeting is verbal communication.
4. d) Green House construction Company follows a formal communication process so that management of the project becomes easier.

Project Management Web Application at Green House Construction Company

There can be certain communication issues associated with the projects undertaken by Green House Construction Company. This includes insufficient communication, unstructured communication and irrelevant communication spamming the communication channels.

There are certain issues associated with the information management system in Greenhouse Construction Company. One of the major issues includes regular maintenance of the system. Apart from that, the issues include inaccurate information storage leading to erroneous report generation.

The information that is needed to be recorded in the issue log includes all the factors that affect the projects undertaken by Green House Construction Company in a negative manner. The information include the delays in the project, extra expenses in the project, losses in the projects and the errors identified in the project management process.

In Green House Construction Company, the ownership of the communication records that are generated throughout the execution of the project is provided to the program manager. It is mainly decided by the project team members and the owner of the project.

The controls that are placed on the records include regular project monitoring in order to identify whether the project is following a planned approach of project implementation.

The archived records of the project are kept for a minimum of  5 years. This is done in order to ensure that the records of the old projects can be fetched in times of need.

Communication strategy	Impact on project outcome	Successes	Areas for improvement	What you would have done
Development of Communication Plan for Project Implementation	The Communication plan had a positive impact on success of the project as with the development of the communication plan  of the project, it was possible to ensure that a correct mode of communication is followed while communicating the major needs of the projects to the associated stakeholders of the project.	The Success of the project is largely associated with the choice of appropriate communication vehicle.	There are certain areas of improvement related to the communication of a project.  The frequency of communication could have been increased in order to ensure that every minute details of the project is communicated to the stakeholders of the project.	I would have ensured that progress report is regularly communicated to the stakeholders of the project. This would have increased the frequency of the project as well.
Continuous Communication within the team in order to ensure that issues and the news associated with the project is easily communicated to the associated team members.	This strategy neither impacts the project in a positive way nor impacts the project in a negative way.	This communication strategy was followed by the Green House Construction Company in one of its projects. However, the strategy was not that successful.	This communication strategy needs a lot of improvement.  The communication process that is followed was quite haphazard and ineffective. Therefore a systematic communication was needed for efficient project management.	I would have ensured that a planned communication method among the team members is followed while  execution of a project.

Record essential information

Project objectives	The objective of the project is to deliver a residential house to the client.
Project manager and leaders	The leader of the project is the program manager. My role in this project is to ensure that the project implemented according to the requirements of the project.
Description of client and other stakeholders	The clients include the owner of the residential houses. The stakeholders associated with the project include the project manager, the program manager, resource manager, business analyst and the clients.
Dates of project	Please Insert
Deliverables	· Development of Project Plan · Project Budgeting · Resource Allocation · Completion of the Project

Communication Strategy	What worked and why?	What worked and why?	why? Recommendations for improvements
Development of Communication Plan for Project Implementation	The planned communication plan worked in favor of project implementation	The teleconference option was not effective as it was hardly used	The project communication plan is needed to be improved in order to report the project progress in a timely fashion.
Continuous Communication within the team	The concept worked for easily communicating the issues associated with the project.	The communication process was largely unplanned.	This type of communication can work in favor of the project if implemented in a planned manner.

The communication management plan that is followed in the projects undertaken by Green House Construction Company needs a lot of improvements. In order to ensure that the issues and the important needs of the project are effectively communicated to the project team, an efficient communication management plan is needed to be developed. The re-written communication plan for Greenhouse Construction Company and the project undertaken by the Greenhouse Construction Company is represented in the following table.

Stakeholders	Power	Interest	Communication Vehicle	Communication Frequency	Comments
Project Manager	Medium	High	Email and Telephone	Daily	The issues in the previous communication plan was highlighted and addressed. The frequency of communication was improved in order to ensure that every project details are rightly communicated to the team members
Green House Company	High	High	Email and Teleconference	Weekly	Since the projects are undertaken by the Green House construction Company, it is essential for the company to directly communicate the same to the clients. Therefore, the frequency of communication of the Company is increased.
Project Team	High	Low	Email and Telephone	Daily	It is essential for the project team to communicate every details to the the stakeholders and the other team members of the project. Therefore, continuous communication of the project team to the main stakeholders of the project is essential. Therefore, improvement in the frequency of communication is proposed in this communication plan.
Project Client	High	High	Email	Monthly	The Project client has the responsibility of communicating the project specifications and the requirements of the project. Therefore, it is necessary for the project team to ensure that the project needs are appropriately communicated to the team members and the contractor of the project.
Contractor and Sub Contractor	Low	Medium	Telephonic conversation	Weekly	It has been observed that the contractors of the project are a significant part of the project team that is responsible for implementing the project on time. Therefore, a planned communication in a weekly basis is essential for success of the project.

Table 1: Representing the Communication Plan that is followed by the Greenhouse Construction Company

The Project management information system that are mainly used while implementation of the residential housing project by Greenhouse Construction Company includes the information management system and a decision support system. The company made use of project information management system in order to ensure that the vital information associated with the project is stored in a secure manner. Appropriate storage and record keeping further helped the project manager in understanding the project needs and the project issues. Thus, the choice of making use of project management information system is justified in management of the residential projects that are undertaken by Greenhouse Construction Company. Apart from that, the use of decision support system considerably helped the project manager and the project team in talking the vital decisions of the project. Based on the report generated by the decision support system, the decision making process related to project implementation have been easier. Thus, the choice of making use of management information system and decision support system in management of the project is justified. However, there are a number of ways by which these information systems could have been improved. More timely report generation was essential in order to reduce the delays in the project. Apart from that, he use of transaction processing system could have helped the project team with appropriate project budgeting. However, with the use of the decision support system and the management information system helped the Greenhouse Construction Company in successful implementation of the residential housing projects undertaken.

Mixed Communication Methods at Green House Construction Company

The use of modern communication methods and media application could have helped in elimination of the major issues associated with the project communication. The alternative communication method and media that could have been used for communication purpose in Greenhouse Construction Company includes the use of direct broadcasting messages or similar messengers in order to report an issue to all the team members and the stakeholders of the project simultaneously. This would have further improved the communication process and would have eliminated the issues of delayed or improper communication. This is considered to be a good alternative choice for the project and the project management.

This option was however could not be used in this project due to certain technological constrains. However, the idea of broadcasting messages is already proposed and it is expected that Greenhouse Construction Company will be implementing the same prior to the start of any new project. This communication method will be effective for managing the issues including communication gap and delayed communication. This can further help in easier information flow. However, after development of the new communication plan, majority of the communication issues were resolved and the company was successful in implementing the residential housing project. 

For development of the communication management plan, the Green House Construction Company collects necessary information for the associated stakeholders of the project. While working on the residential project, the stakeholders that provided most useful information includes the project manager, the sponsors of the project and the project resource manager. The information provided by these stakeholders of the project had been a great help in development of the communication plan. The details supplied by the stakeholders helped in refining the project objectives and further helped in successful implementation of the project. The information was related to the project design and the expectations of the client. It was useful since the information helped in delivering a project as per the expectations of the client.

The delegated authority that has most influence over the communication plan that is implemented in the project includes the project supervisor. The project supervisor has the most influence over the project communication plan mainly because the project supervisor has the detailed knowledge of the status of the project and the process through which the project is being implemented.  Therefore, this delegated authority is bound to have a large impact on the communication plan as he is responsible for reporting any issues or any changes in the project. Thus it can be said that the information shared by the project supervisor is vital for development of the communication plan in a project.

Impact of Communication on Project Success

The different project aspects that were used in information system for efficient management of the project undertaken by Greenhouse Construction Company include the project plan, the communication plan, the risk management plan of the project and the details of project deliverables. Appropriate information about the above mentioned helped the project team of Greenhouse Construction Company in easier decision making. Appropriate project decision making helps in better management of the project team. Appropriate team synchronization was possible with the help of the detailed information, which in turn helped in appropriate decision making.

The tasks related to the projects that are undertaken by the Greenhouse Construction Company are implemented by delegating the responsibilities to the different team members of the project. It has been observed that division of responsibilities to the different team members help in better management of the tasks associated with a project.

1. a) The responsibility of information generation was given to the Project manager as the project manager was responsible for development of the project plan. The project plan is necessary in every project as it identifies the pathways through which the project can be implemented in a successful manner. Thus, the choice of project manager for this task is justified.
2. b) The responsibility of information gathering, associated with the management of a project undertaken by Greenhouse Construction Company is given to the project planner. The project planner has the responsibility of collecting the necessary details of the project. These details are needed for development of an effective project plan.
3. c) The responsibility of information storage is provided to the document handler of the project. The project team member ensures that every document of the project is in place so that all the related information is available in times of need.  Therefore, the choice of this person for information storage is appropriate in consideration of the residential projects undertaken by Greenhouse Construction Company.
4. d) The retrieval of the information is vital for efficient decision making related to a project. The responsibility of appropriate information retrieval is provided to the project supervisor in Greenhouse Construction Company. This is because the project supervisor should have detailed information about the project needs and project specifications in order to compare the same with the project progress. Thus, it can be said that the choice of project supervisor for information retrieval from the project is justified.
5. e) The responsibility of information analysis is provided to the program manager. It has been observed that the Greenhouse Construction Company is associated with the management and implementation of more than one projects simultaneously, which are generally led by the program manager. The analysis of the stored information by the program manager helps him in understanding the project status and the progress of the project.  Thus, the choice of project manager in information analysis is justified.
6. f) The responsibility of dissemination of information is given to the team members. This is essential since the communication plan that is prepared for handling the projects of Greenhouse Construction Company involves every team members and the stakeholders of the project to communicate with each other in other in order to disseminate information related to the management and execution of the project.  Therefore, the access of information dissemination is provided to the team members so that it is possible for the project team to disseminate the necessary project information to all the stakeholders associated with the project.

The data validation in Greenhouse Construction Company is done by comparing the project progress with the project plan. This is an effective method of data validation since it helps in validating whether the project team is implementing the project as per the requirements specified by the clients. If that is not the case, certain corrections in the process of projec6t implementation will be necessary for consideration for Greenhouse Construction Company.

The communication channel that is mainly used while the execution of the project includes formal channel of email. Apart from that, telephonic communication is followed for communicating the major issues in the project. The stakeholders of the project often opt for teleconference option in times of need. Thus, the major communication networks that are used in Greenhouse Construction Company are internet and telephone.

While implementation of the residential housing projects in Greenhouse Construction Company certain communication issues were faced. Effective project communication is necessary for transferring the necessary information to the stakeholders of the project. It has been observed that the Greenhouse Construction Company faced issues related to communication. Certain issues that were needed to be communicated were often delayed. Thus, the timely flow of information could not be ensured in the process. A successful project implementation requires timely information circulation, which was often missing in case of Greenhouse Construction Company. The communication issues in Greenhouse Construction Company is resolved by developing an appropriate communication plan that was followed while implementation of the project. A timely communication is ensured so that appropriate information flow is guaranteed. Furthermore, unplanned communication is promoted as well so as to ensure that even the minute details are communicated with the entire project team. While implementation of the residential project in Green House Construction Company, the communication issues associated with the Greenhouse Construction Company were resolved and an appropriate communication was ensured while implementation of the project. This helped in elimination of the issues such as delayed information transfer that was the main reason behind the project delays.

Areas for Improvement in Communication Strategies

The ownership of the project information records are provided to the team members who are capable of managing the records. The skills and the capabilities of each of the team members are analyzed prior to providing the responsibility of managing the information records. The project information records are vital for decision making in the project. The project information further helps in understanding the complexities of the project. Appropriate identification of the project complexities further helps in planning the project execution in an appropriate manner. Apart from that, prior to determination of ownership of the information record, the availability of the team members and their willingness in management of the vital information associated with the project are analyzed as well. After examining all these major aspects, the ownership of the project information records are provided to the team members.

The most successful communication strategy that has been undertaken by the Greenhouse Construction Company is the network of internet communication. In order to carry out the important communication associated with the Greenhouse Construction Company, email communication channel is mainly used.  Development of a communication plan and following the communication plan that is developed has been an appropriate choice for implementation of the project and fulfilling the objectives of the project. Thus, following the appropriate and formal communication strategy in the implementation of the different projects in Greenhouse Construction Company has been successful in fulfilling the project objectives. The main objective of Greenhouse Construction Company is to ensure that the projects are delivered according to the specifications of the clients. The choice of appropriate communication strategy ensured that the clients and the stakeholders of the project are informed about the project progress and the issues in the project. Therefore, the choice of a formal communication approach helped the Greenhouse Construction Company in successful project implementation.

The most important lesson learnt from the project implemented by Greenhouse Construction Company is that communication is important for managing the implementation of the project. In order to ensure that the project was implemented as per the requirements of the client, the issues and the progress is communicated to the management of the client and the stakeholders of the project. A planned approach of project communication helps in easier management of the project. Since a planned approach is followed in terms of project communication the entire project team was able to easily identify the major issues in the project. I have understood that too little communication in a project can often lead to failure of the project. An effective communication is therefore needed in order to ensure that the related stakeholders of the project know about the status and the progress of the project.

References

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