Role Of Project Manager In Communication Management Plan Management Essay

Role Of Project Manager In Communication Management Plan Management EssayThe role of a digest carriage in nominate communication solicitude consists of Identifying stakeholders, Planning communication conjecture, Distributing Information and Managing Stakeholder expectations and Reporting performanceA key role of the draw jitney is to create a communications vigilance plan to analyze stakeholder communications ask and disseminate important information efficiently.Richer forms of communications should be procedured for important objectivesThe Tuckman modal valuel demonstrable by Dr. Bruce Tuckman in 1970 describes 5 puts of squad schooling such as Forming, Storming, Norming, playing and AdjourningIf devise managing directors depended too heavily on money, penalty or authority, the project was more in all likelihood to fail compared to make challenge and expertise which were more influentialProject Managers should cook an example by leading their teams such that th e team members should know how to deal with impinges, where team members work out small meshings amongst themselves before elevating them to the higher upsProject jitneys and team members could use these strategies such as confrontation, compromise, smoothing, forcing, withdrawal and collaborationProject practitioners should adhere to the PMIs Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct in dealing with fight amongst team members.1. IntroductionThere are four substance association areas of project management that deal with project scope, time, cost and quality management which help in defining the specific project objectives. mankind resource, communications, adventure and procurement management are the four facilitating knowledge areas. These four facilitating knowledge areas are processes that help in achieving the project objectives and hence are important. The greatest holy terror to any project is the ineffective communication between the project manager, team and the key s takeholders. Many problems in completion of projects are attributed to unclear scope or unrealistic schedules which indicate communication problems between the project manager, team and stakeholders. It is crucial for project managers and their teams to render Project communication management. Project communication management deals with generation, collection, ventilation and storing of project information (Schwabe, 2010)This next section deals with the role of a project manager in a communication management plan and the elements involved in it. Further sections show how project managers establish team culture, the characteristics of motivation, conflicts, strategies on conflict resolution and ethical behavior in dealing with conflicts.2. Communication Communication is precise important for the success of any project. It is also closely related with team work and team building and hence also affects how conflicts happen. A communication management plan for the entire project is ve ry necessary. The role of a project manager in project communication management is given as followsa. Identifying Stakeholders This stage identifies the race involved in or affected by the project. The project manager creates processes and manages relationships with them. The project manager must create a Stakeholder register and Stakeholder management strategy.b. Planning communications This stage identifies the communication inescapably and the channel of communication required by the stakeholder. A communications management plan and project documents update are required made by the project manager.c. Distributing Information and Managing Stakeholder expectations The Project manager makes important information available to project stakeholders efficiently and in a timely manner, such that it satisfies the communication unavoidably and expectations of the project stakeholders. Formal or informal plans, procedures, policies are the output of this stage.d. Reporting Performance A project manager collects and reports project performance information to the stakeholders in the form of status reports, forecasts and progress measurements (Schwabe, 2010)Developing information and making it available to all the stakeholders is an important function of the project managers and team. Project managers and their teams must decide the recipient of the information and distribution channels for the information. They should also decide on the format of the information, such as written reports or meetings etc. A key role of the project manager is to create such a communications management plan to analyze stakeholder communications rents and disseminate important information efficiently. accord to the Daft and Lengels Media richness theory, the richness of the media in communication is directly proportional to the time and cost spent on it. Hence face to face communication is preferred to email because of better communication but it is more costly and more time is spent . Thus richer forms of communications should be used for important objectives (Markus L, 1994)3. Establishing team cultureTeam work and people management are the most important issues in project management. Establishing and need teams are interlinked with communication and are important to understand before understanding conflict and the ethical issues related with conflict.Belbin observes that, The essence of a team is its members form a co-operative association through a division of labor that best reflects the contribution that each can make towards the common objectives.To establish a team the project manager can use the following graphical techniquesWork Breakdown Structures shows major assigns broken down into smaller tasksLinear Responsibility Charts shows relationships between tasks and peopleOrganizational Hierarchy Charts shows structure of a project team or organizationThe Tuckman humourl developed by Dr. Bruce Tuckman in 1970 describes 5 stages of team development such asForming an important stage of introducing team members either at initiation, or as new members are introducesStorming team members have different opinions on how a team should work. Usually conflicts occur during this phaseNorming team members have developed common working method and cooperate with each otherPerforming Team members are likely to build loyalty towards each other. Team can cope with greater change and complex tasks.Adjourning After completion of work and successful reaching of goals, this stage consists of the break-up of the team (Cadle and Yeates, 2001)This expressive stylel gives a brief idea about where conflict occurs within a team and at what stage. This could be used by the project manager to handle conflicts effectively during the storming stage.Establishing the right balance of roles in any team is crucial in avoiding or solution conflicts. In a successful team there is a good combination of different personality types. According to Meredith Bel bin a successful team of necessity the following combination of rolesThe chair calm, strong and tolerant individualThe plant an individual who generates ideasThe monitor-evaluator Evaluates ideasThe shaper an individual who focuses on the objectivesThe team worker helps create a good working environmentThe resource investigator finds information and resources for the projectThe completer finisher checks details, deadlines, proof readsThe company worker works hard, corresponding to team worker (Belbin, 1996)A good blend of different personality types in a team will help in formation of less conflicts and resolving conflicts faster. According to Patrick Lencioni, lack of teamwork could lead to a) Absence of trust b) Conflict c) Lack of commitment d) Avoidance of accountabilitye) Inattention to results which could lead to failure of organizations.The team consists of individuals with different needs and expectations from the team. Motivation plays a very crucial part in the d evelopment of a team and its individuals as discussed in the next section4. Motivation To understand the various factors that influence motivation we need to understand the hierarchy of needs of an individual. In the late 1940, Maslow suggested that people are motivated according to their circumstances. In this theory is the idea that the employees needs have to be satisfied from the bottom up as shown in Fig. 2. The bottom level consists of basic survival and safety needs. The need for belonging and to be part of a group or a team comes second. The fourth level is about the ego and esteem needs and the nett level is the personal fulfillment level. Project manager and project team members need to understand their respective motivations with regards to social, esteem and self actualization (Cadle and Yates, 2001)Self-actualizationPersonal offset and fulfilmentpersonal growth and fulfilmentEsteem needsAchievement, status, responsibility, reputationachievement, status, responsibilit y, reputationBelongingness and Love needsFamily, affection, relationships, work group, etcfamily, affection, relationships, work group, etc.Safety needsProtection, security, order, law, limits, stability, etcprotection, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.Biological and Physiological needsBasic life needs air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etcbasic life needs air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.Fig 2 Maslows Hierarchy of unavoidablySome of the methods employed by project managers to motivate or influence team members to work towards achieving a successful project areAuthority premenstrual syndrome right to issue ordersAssignment allocating dutiesBudget Authorization of funds by PMPromotionMoney Pay rise and benefitsPenalty causing penalization by PMWork Challenge such that it motivates the team memberExpertise PM commands respect from team members based on his special knowledgeFriendship ability to establish friendly relationsThamhain and Wilemon found that if project managers depended too heavily on money, penalty or authority, the project was more likely to fail compared to work challenge and expertise which were more influential (Schwabe, 2010)Some of the factors that affect motivation of employees are as followsEnvironmentManipulationScheduling rackLack of appreciationTechnically inept managementLack of involvementLow quality5. Conflict Resolution and EthicsThe possibility of conflict between team members is always possible unless good communication isnt observed. Some of the common reasons for conflict between team members are as followsSchedulingProject prioritiesHuman resourcesAdmin proceduresPersonality clashesCostsTechnical opinions and trade offsProject managers should help identify and manage conflict by using their human resources and communication skills. Project Managers should set an example by leading their teams such that the team members should know how to deal with conflicts, where team member s work out small conflicts amongst themselves before elevating them to the higher ups. The project manager must separate people from the problem and use negotiation to resolve dispute. Unethical behavior should be avoided by both the parties. Negotiation amongst project manager and team members such thatFocus on interests negotiator needs should keep in mind the interest of the parties to the dispute as against the position the parties have draw upInventing Options for mutual gain Negotiator should find win-win solutions such that no party compromises on the project objectivesInsist on objective criteria negotiator should go through the quality of outcomes rather than positions.According to Meredith and Mantel, negotiation skills are particularly required a) when using subcontractors b) different teams are brought together to work on a task c) during change management. In the event of a conflict, the following principles of negotiation should be adoptedWithout damaging the project objectives the conflict must be resolved safe negotiations must take placeAll parties should be satisfied by the solution to the conflict (Schwabe, 2010)Strategies for resolving conflictProject Managers and team members could make use of the 5 basic modes of conflict resolution as suggested by Krezner in 20031. Confrontation Project managers directly face conflict in the confrontation mode by using a problem solving approach such that affected parties work through their disagreements towards a win-win solution. This is the most preferred method of conflict resolution amongst project managers (Schwabe, 2010)2. Compromise Project managers adopt the compromise mode to bargain and search for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to the parties in dispute, similar to give and take attitude.3. SmoothingProject managers adopt the soothing mode such that they de-emphasize or avoid areas of conflict and emphasize the area of agreement4. ForcingForcing mode is also termed as the w in-lose approach such that a competitive or autocratic project manager exerts his viewpoint at the potential expense of another(prenominal) team members view point.5. WithdrawalThis is the worst conflict-handling mode where project managers retreat from a potential or actual disagreement and hence called the withdrawal mode6. CollaboratingThis is a fairly recent conflict resolution mode called the collaborating mode, where different viewpoints and insights are encouraged by decision makers to develop consensus and commitmentSuccessful project managers also use collaboration and compromise to resolve conflicts. Smoothing, forcing and withdrawal are hardly used by successful project managers for resolving conflict.A commonplace process for resolving conflict could be detailed as followsIdentify conflict and discuss with stakeholdersGather informationAnalyze solutionList options for conflict resolutionDecide conflict resolution modeCarry out conflict resolutionEthical Behavior in deal ing with ConflictsProject Managers and their team members are required to make ethical decisions in personal and professional lives. In terms of conflict resolution too, project management practitioners should conduct their jobs in an ethical manner. According to the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct present on the website, the practitioners should behave in the following manner with regards to professional integrity and conflict resolutionWe make decisions and take actions based on the best interests of society, public, safety and the environmentWe fulfill the commitments that we undertake we do what we say we will doWe acknowledge only those assignment that are consistent with our background, experience, skills and qualificationsWe inform ourselves about the norms and customs of others and avoid engaging in behaviors they might consider disrespectfulWe listen to others points of view, quest to understand themWe approach directly those persons with whom we have a confl ict or disagreementWe demonstrate the transparency in out decision-making processWe constantly study our impartiality and objectivity, taking corrective action as appropriateWe proactively and fully disclose any real or potential conflicts of interest to appropriate stakeholdersWe gravely seek to understand the truthWe are truthful in our communications and in our conduct (PMI Code of Ethics, 2010)