1ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Communications Management Part 2 Diana Adorno

2ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Agenda From last week Communication choices Communication groups’

3ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 From last week Definition of ‘rapport’ Relationship, especially one of mutual trust or emotional affinity ( Observations of communication styles

4ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Communication choices Different methods When do use which one

5ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Brainstorm Take 2 minutes come up with as many different ways to communicate as possible Then Compare with your neighbour Classify your communication methods

6ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Activity Note when you would use each method

7ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Classifying methods By technique By purpose By delivery method (newspaper, ppt…) By group size (large, small) By Style By audience (expectations, age, knowledge) By relationship (to you, to each other) By situation (formal, information, direct, indirect)

8ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Group size Person-to-person In small groups In large groups E.g. training, presentations In a meeting In an organisation Memos, letters, repots etc. Mass media

9ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Techniques Speaking Conversation Phone Interview Meeting Presentations (short, long, formal, informal) Writing SMS Post-it note Letters Documents

Which technique to use when? Could be simultaneous

11ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Coming up with a strategy Identify the objective Required behaviour Messages identification Audience analysis Feedback required Best channels Best delivery method via identified channels

12ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Coming up with a strategy (another way of saying the same thing…) What it is the objective What do you need to say or do? What does the audience need to do or not do? Who is affected? Who is the audience? What do you need to know from the audience? What are the best ways to get your message across? How and by whom should the message be delivered?

13ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Examples Arranging to meet a friend for coffee Arranging to meet your project team of 4 people Arranging a large meeting for a team of 10 Arranging a tour and show of a large product to visiting (potential) clients Arranging a convention Rolling out a new software product Rolling out new procedures

14ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Example: Upgrade 1 persons PC What is the objective? What do you need to know about the project? Length of time to upgrade When What preparation before upgrade What support is in place and how to access

15ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Example What do you need to know about the person? Knowledge of the project Knowledge of the team Location Working times Work-load Criticality

16ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 The strategy Interview the person to understand their working habits Agree a good time for them to do the upgrade Move all of their data to a server Provide them with a replacement machine Upgrade the machine Return the machine Thank you letter from the Manager

17ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 The communications plan List the project steps (project plan) Identify the communication points in the project plan For each point: List the activities E.g. Newletter as a channel will require an article to be written and published List the resources Who will do the work, what other

18ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 The Impact of the Number of People on Communications Channels

19ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Communications Planning Every project should include some type of communications management plan, a document that guides project communications Creating a stakeholder analysis for project communications also aids in communications planning

20ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Sample Stakeholder Analysis for Project Communications

21ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Conflict Can Be Good Conflict often produces important results, such as new ideas, better alternatives, and motivation to work harder and more collaboratively Groupthink can develop if there are no conflicting viewpoints Research by Karen Jehn suggests that task- related conflict often improves team performance, but emotional conflict often depresses team performance

22ICT 421 IT Professional Practice Semester 1, 2005 Using Templates for Project Communications Many technical people are afraid to ask for help Providing examples and templates for project communications saves time and money Organizations can develop their own templates, use some provided by outside organizations, or use samples from textbooks Research shows that companies that excel in project management make effective use of templates