The Process of Communication: A Practical Guide to Project Management

Problem: In an effort to cut costs, keep resources productive, and increase margins, many companies spend a tremendous amount of time, energy, and money on establishing a sound production methodology. However, with most of the effort going to process, very little forethought is given to how project managers effectively communicate and manage expectations within that process. This puts the most vital part of the process, communication, in the hands of each individual project manager. Solution: What I do in this book is outline a simple and duplicable Communication Framework that can be used across any production process and development methodology. I give step-by-step instructions on how to set and manage expectations for the team, the client, and other people who rely on the project manager for information. Goal: The goal of this book is to give Project Management a Communication Framework that they can use within the confines of any development methodology. All too often project managers are given a process to work within, such as Agile or Waterfall, but are left on their own when it comes to interpreting how to communicate within the process. Every project manager (PM) needs some leeway to tailor their communication style to a specific project, client, or team but, just as it is important to build every project on top of a foundation of sound methodology, it is also imperative to have a sound framework for communication. This book is a collection of best practices and lessons learned that I’ve developed over the past twenty five years of producing digital media for global brands and the international agencies that develop them. To help explain my Communication Framework, I’ve placed it on top of a process that I’ve honed over the years. This format will help you to better understand the dependencies that process and communication have on one another and the tools that every producer must learn in order to be successful. The tools will come in different forms. I have included a number of templates such as a Postmortem Questionnaire, RACI, and Content Delivery Matrix to help the reader along, but I also speak to the concepts of the Four Laws of Communication, the Five Most Common Obstacles to Success, the Three Hip-Pocket Solutions to Any Obstacle, the Importance of the Review, Feedback & Approval process, the Hammer Philosophy, the Three Phases of Process and How to Set the Proper Expectations, to name a few.