Distributing Important Information in an Effective and Timely Manner

Many written reports neglect to provide the important information that good managers and technical people have a knack for asking about. For example, it is important to include detailed technical information that will affect critical performance features of products or services the company is producing as part of a project. It is even more important to document any changes in technical specifications that might affect product performance. For example, if the Fiber-Optic Undersea Telecommunications program included a project to purchase and provide special diving gear, and the supplier who provided the oxygen tanks enhanced the tanks so divers could stay under water longer, it would be very important to let other people know about this new capability. The information should not be buried in an attachment with the supplier s new product brochure. People also have a tendency to not want to report bad news. If the oxygen tank vendor was behind on production, the person in charge of the project to purchase the tanks might wait until the last minute to report this critical information. Oral communication via meetings and informal talks helps bring important information positive or negative out into the open. Oral communication also helps build stronger relationships among project personnel and project stakeholders. People make or break projects, and people like to interact with each other to get a true feeling for how a project is going. Many people cite research that says in a face-to-face interaction, 58 percent of communication is through body language, 35 percent through how the words are said, and a mere 7 percent through the content or words that are spoken. The author of this information (see Silent Messages by Albert Mehrabian5) was careful to note that these percentages were specific findings for a specific set of variables. Even if the actual percentages are different in verbal project communications today, it is safe to say that it is important to pay attention to more than just the actual words someone is saying. A person s tone of voice and body language say a lot about how they really feel. Since information technology projects often require a lot of coordination, it is a good idea to have short, frequent meetings. For example, some information technology project managers require all project personnel to attend a stand-up meeting every week or even every morning, depending on the project needs. Stand-up meetings have no chairs, and the lack of chairs forces people to focus on what they really need to communicate. If people can’t meet face to face, they are often in constant communications via cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging, or other technologies. To encourage face-to-face, informal communications, some companies have instituted policies that workers cannot use e-mail between certain hours of the business day or even entire days of the week. For example, in the summer of 2004, Jeremy Burton, then vice president of marketing at a large Silicon Valley company, decreed that in his department, Fridays would be e-mail-free. The 240 people in his department had to use the phone or meet face-to-face with people, and violators who did use e-mail were fined.6 Some companies are also taking advantage of social networking software to increase informal communications. In 2008, Jeremy Burton, now CEO of Serena Software, instituted Facebook Friday. I told all the employees it s OK on a Friday for everybody to goof off and spend an hour or two on Facebook. . . . I said Go nuts! I dare you to participate, and I bet you will find out something new about somebody in the company that you never knew before. Burton wanted his people to get to know each other better, but he also wanted them to keep up with ever-changing technology so they could continue to develop useful software products. The subversive message was Guys, the world is a different place and if we re going to stay relevant we re going to have to wake up, Burton said.

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Method for Distributing Information in Projects

Ensuring that the right people (such as stakeholders, project team members, project sponsors, etc.) get the right information at the right time for project status and to make decisions on projects requires a great deal of planning. Effective distribution of information relies on the selection of the right tools and methods to ensure you reach the people you need to reach in the manner best suited for them to evaluate and/or make decisions.

Communication Methods

The method to communicate that you select should be based on:

• The type of information to be distributed 
• The audience requirements 
• The timeline for a required response 

Any or all of the following are acceptable methods for distributing project information to stakeholders and other relevant interested parties:

• Project team meeting 
• Individual, one-on-one meetings 
• Stakeholder meetings 
• Video conferencing 
• Conference calls 
• Email 
• Portal or project intranet site 
• Collaborative work management tools 

The method you choose is based on your audience, the environment, company policies and/or access to software, the size of the project and other factors.

There are pros and cons to different methods of distributing (communicating) project information. It is important to weigh the pros and cons against availability of certain tools/methods, expectations of the individual being communicated to about the project, expectations around formal or informal communication, the need for formal record keeping, etc.

General Categories of Communication

The three basic general communication categories include:

• Face-to-face communications (group or individual meetings) 
• Hard-copy communications (letters, memorandum, reports) 
• Electronic communications (email, conference calls, web conferencing) 

Face-to-face communications can be either formal or informal, one-on-one or in groups. Face-to-face communication allows more easily for gauging others’ reactions to what you are communicating, which allows you to ensure they are hearing what you intend them to hear and understand what you are saying.

Meetings may be costly if you need to bring individuals in from other states and/or countries to participate. However, it may be a good idea, for global projects, to have at least a face-to-face meeting as a project kickoff and another meeting mid-way through or near the end of the project. To ensure your meetings are productive, be sure to plan for them ahead of time and send to all participants an agenda prior to the meeting. If participants are required to have information with them for the meeting, make sure they know they are expected to be prepared for the meeting.

To ensure an effective meeting, you will need to facilitate it or have someone available who is able to facilitate the meeting. This includes ensuring the agenda is followed and the meeting starts and ends on time. Document the notes from the meeting, including any “to-dos” or decisions made or which need to be made and distribute to all participants as a follow up the meeting. If there are “to-dos” or decisions to be made, include a timeline as agreed to at the meeting.

Hard-copy communications can really be combined with the category of electronic communications. In today’s information age with easy access to computers (in nearly all situations) hard copy reports, if desired, could be followed up with electronic version. You may choose to provide a hard copy status report to an executive if he or she prefers that format of communication, but you would want to retain an electronic version for recordkeeping, along with information about the distribution of the hard copy – such as a copy of the memo to the executive with the attached report.

Given the shortage of time, tight budget controls, the need for project managers to manage multiple projects, and project team members spread out over the country or in different countries, electronic communication methods are quite common. There are various methods of electronic communications and you may deploy a certain method depending on the communication need. For example, email may work best for short, brief updates on project status or to ask a question or get a decision made.

A project portal or intranet site is also a viable method of getting project data out to others and of sharing information via discussion forums or through chats to make decisions or get input. Tools such as Microsoft SharePoint® enable collaborative sharing of documents to make revisions – such as building of a project plan.

If you need to pull a large group together, and a face-to-face meeting is not possible, you may choose to use a collaborative meeting tool, such as GoToMeeting®, or a similar tool, to communicate with the team. Such tools allow for collaboration as video can be an option – if individuals are able to see each other there is a higher likelihood of collaboration. Many such tools also provide white boards and other collaboration options for document sharing, editing, etc. Similar to face-to-face meetings, follow up such meetings with document meetings notes, with “to-dos” or decisions to be made.

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Distributing Information

The information distribution process is used to distribute information according to the communication management plan. Therefore, the information to be distributed and the communication management plan are the obvious input items to the information distribution process.

The distributed information includes performance reports, which contain items such as the following:

• Performance information, including cost and schedule
• Status information
• Results from risk analysis and risk monitoring
• Any other useful information
• Current forecasts

The performance reports are generated by using a monitoring and controlling process called Report Performance. In addition to the communication management plan and performance reports, the following organizational process assets can also affect the information distribution process:

• Information and lessons learned from past projects
• Organizational policies, procedures, and guidelines for distributing information
• Templates to facilitate information distribution

Tools and Techniques for Information Distribution

The tools & techniques that the project manager must use for this process are:
Communication skills - Communication is the exchange of information, so communication skills are a necessary requirement for information distribution. Communication skills, an essential part of general management skills, are used to ensure the following:

• The right stakeholders get the right information at the right time.
• The communication requirements and expectations of stakeholders are properly managed.

Any communication line has two ends. There is a sender on one end and a receiver on the other. Both the sender and the receiver need to have communication skills. The sender has the following responsibilities:

• Ensure that the information is clear and complete.
• Confirm that the information is received and properly understood.

The receiver has the following responsibilities:

• The information is received in its entirety.
• The information is correctly understood.

So, the success of information distribution depends on both the sender and the receiver.

Communication has two flavors in each of the following dimensions:

• Media - These flavors are writing and speaking on the sender’s end and reading and listening on the receiver’s end.
• Place - These flavors are internal to the project; that is, within the project; and external to the project; that is, communicated to entities external to the project, such as the customer, the media, and the public.
• Format - These flavors are formal, such as reports and briefings, and informal, such as memos and ad-hoc conversation.
• Hierarchy - A horizontal hierarchy means communication among peers, whereas vertical means communication between different levels of the organizational hierarchy; for example, a manager communicating to the team that reports to the manager.

The information that needs to be communicated also needs to be gathered, stored, and retrieved.
Information distribution methods - The information can be distributed in a number of ways that fall into the following two categories:

• Synchronous - Both the sender and the receiver have to be present at the same time, such as at face-to-face project meetings and telephone calls.
• Asynchronous - The sender and receiver don’t have to be present at the same time, such as with written paper or electronic documents, online bulletin boards, e-mail etc.

Information distribution tools - You can use one or more appropriate tools to distribute information. These sets of tools include the following:

• Document format - Hard copy or electronic.
• Messages - E-mail, fax, voicemail, Internet bulletin boards, blogs.
• Meetings - Face-to-face meetings, video conferences, and teleconferences.
• Management tools - Project scheduling tools.

You use these tools and techniques to generate the output of the information distribution process.

Output of Information Distribution

The output of the information distribution process is, well, the distribution of information to all stakeholders. This distribution of information falls into two categories:

• Formal distribution - This distribution refers to communicating the information as planned, such as regular status and progress information updates at scheduled times, such as once a week every Wednesday.
• Informal distribution - This refers to the communication of information on an as-and-when-you-need basis. For example, the project sponsor can ask you for information that is not part of the regular schedule of distributing information. You don't have a choice but to provide him with this report. 

The process of distributing information will create some items that can be added as a record to the organizational process assets. Some of them are:

• Project reports and status reports
• Stakeholder notifications about resolved issues and approved changes
• Project presentations
• Project records, such as memos, meeting minutes, and project files, such as plans and schedules
• Feedback from stakeholders
• Lessons learned

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