5 Basic Customer Service Skills You Cannot Live Without

Some are born with excellent customer service skills and some need to have customer skills thrust upon them. Either way, if you want a successful business with a profitable client base, you cannot live without them. Countless businesses that had a lot of promise have fallen by the wayside due to an overall lack of customer service skills. It’s not just all about promoting a customer service driven ethos in the workplace. It’s also crucial to ensure your individual service skills, and those of your employees, meet the high standards your customers expect.

1. Active Listening

It sounds like an obvious one, but are you truly listening to what your customer is saying? The easy part is sitting on the other end of the phone while customers talk about their grievances, but are you really taking it in? Making notes of the issues, going away and returning to your customer with the best solution is crucial for effective customer service. The ability to actively listen doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Good listeners typically make some of the best customer service employees because they are most likely to understand what a customer needs quickly and accurately.

2. Clear Communication

Communication and listening skills tend to go hand in hand. When dealing with customers it is crucial you have the ability to communicate your thoughts and the required information as clearly and concisely as possible. You may be great at communicating face-to-face, but your customer service skills need to extend to phone, email or written correspondence. In the digital age it can be difficult to get your point across. If you come into contact with customers daily, you need to be able to convey information efficiently and accurately, no matter what the method.

3. Memory Retention

Memory is a vital skill that often goes unrecognised. Those trying to provide excellent customer service will need to retain a lot of information – names of customers, company policies and product details. They need to remember their dealings and conversations with customer in order to provide an appropriate follow-up. They also need to be able to process information from other departments quickly in order to relay that information accurately to customers. A strong memory is a vital asset to effective customer service, as forgetting names, updates and details will make the customer feel undervalued.

4. Negotiation and Persuasion

When it comes to customer service it is not uncommon for negotiation and persuasion skills to come under the spotlight. When issues arise you need to have the right skills to win back disgruntled or challenging customers. Using negotiation and persuasion to find a common ground with your customers will be an invaluable safety net in potentially sticky situations. In an ideal world you need to find a solution that is both beneficial to the customer and to the company – customer service skills will help you achieve this.

5. Efficiency

Customers want projects to be handled as quickly but also as accurately as possible, which is why efficiency is key for quality customer service. People who sit back and wait for customers to come to them will not be successful in providing the best possible customer service. Anticipating customers’ needs and meeting them quickly is a sure fire way to ensure high standards of customer service. If you don’t have efficiency skills and take a more relaxed approach to projects, your business is sure to suffer.

Customer service requires a wide range of important and valuable skills. Ensuring you have these skills in your armoury will make your job as a project manager that much easier. With PRINCE2® training, project managers are taught how to nurture and utilise their customer service skills to their maximum capacity. With the right methodologies in place, your customer service skills can be used to significantly enhance the customer experience provided by your business.

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Six Sigma and Lean: 3 Secrets for Success

Today, we continuously rediscover the power of Six Sigma and Lean in almost every industry, from service industries to software development; mass production to mass customization; and multi-national companies to small and medium enterprises.

What are the secrets of Six Sigma and Lean that make their application as effective today as they were over 30 years ago?

The roots of Six Sigma come from the statistical approaches to production control developed during the explosion of mass production in the beginning of the 1900s. The official Six Sigma System was launched in the 1980s as a data-driven, structured methodology allowing process analysis and improvement with the goal to reduce variability, so that only 3.4 defective parts per million are produced at any process step.

After World War II, Japanese engineers embraced and further built upon these statistical methods to create the basis for what we call today Lean Manufacturing. Lean considers not only the data, but also the management philosophy, focussing on the value chain and creating an environment where waste is unacceptable and must be eliminated. Lean drives for continuous improvement with the active involvement and responsibility of all employees to achieve perfect quality.

The secrets that Six Sigma and Lean hold are broad and far-reaching. They impact companies in three broad areas, highlighted below, which connect the customer values with a company’s strategy and link them with process-based flows and with trained and motivated employees.

1. Focus on Customer Value → Better Products, Delighted Customers

Six Sigma and Lean emphasize the importance of understanding the customer and what the customer sees as value. Designing a product or service which meets or exceeds the customer expectations requires the first step of defining what the customer expects: what features differentiate your product, and what will delight the customer. A focus on customer value creates better products, improved market share, and loyal customers. Understanding these expectations gives us a starting point to reduce waste, in other words, anything that does not contribute to the customer value.

2. Process Mindset → Achieve Company Strategic Goals

A process is a sequence of steps with clearly defined inputs, which consumes resources and time, and produces a defined output. A process view can be taken at every level of a company, to any level of detail. Defined process flows allow a clear measurement of the process performance, and, with this information, the management can prioritize efforts to achieve their strategic goals and to focus and track internal efforts towards these goals. The process mindset challenges process cycle times and can be extended into the supplier base to reach up the supply chain to achieve higher performance.

3. Company Motivation → Increase Productivity and Quality

One of the keys to the success of Lean is the involvement of employees, the understanding that the process flow cannot be understood from a distant office but must be walked, examined with the involvement of those who perform the process daily and whose ideas for improvement can have a significant impact. Bringing this level of active involvement and responsibility to everyone in the company and having clear performance measures, results in company-wide motivation and increased productivity, where all members of the team are working towards a common goal and have a chance to learn and develop.

Effecting the transformation to adopt Six Sigma and Lean requires emphatic commitment from top management, expert guidance from trained Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belts, and project initiation and execution from a trained team of Six Sigma Black, Green, and Yellow Belts.

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Why should I study PRINCE2?

To Gain First Class Project Management Skills

PRINCE2 is the de facto project management standard. It provides the skills to make you confident about successfully managing projects. That's because PRINCE2 uses a common language, systems and procedures. This allows you to control resources and risks. PRINCE2's controls lead to fewer mistakes, but the lessons log teaches you and your team how to learn from them.

You can save time, money and effort with PRINCE2. Best of all, it's adjustable. So no matter what the industry, company size, project size or even methods already in use, you can tailor PRINCE2 to work effectively.

To Improve Employment Prospects

A PRINCE2 qualification is a great asset for your CV. PRINCE2 is recognised as a world-class international product and is the standard method for project management. More than half the respondents to Arras People's 2011 survey have a PRINCE2 qualification. It's no wonder so many companies across the world require staff to be PRINCE2 certified.

A 2016 AXELOS PRINCE2 survey found the majority of UK respondents consider PRINCE2 valuable to their career, and less than 10% don't.

A PRINCE2 Foundation qualification can be reached with ILX's renowned PRINCE2 Foundation online learning or a three day PRINCE2 Foundation tutor-led classroom course. A PRINCE2 Practitioner qualification can be reached with the ILX combined PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner blended package or our prestigious PRINCE2 Practitioner Plus online learning or a combined PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner five day tutor-led classroom course. Businesses are increasingly working in an agile manner. A PRINCE2 Agile certification improves your prospects by proving your ability to tailor the PRINCE2 method to agile projects.

Why Implement PRINCE2 In Your Organisation?

PRINCE2 Is the International Standard Method for Project Management. It is recognised as a world-class international product partly because it embodies many years of project management best practice and provides a flexible and adaptable approach for all projects. Its method provides a framework covering the wide variety of disciplines and activities required within a project. PRINCE2 formally recognises responsibilities within a project, focuses on what a project is to deliver (the why, when and for whom) and provides your organisation's projects with:

◉ A common, consistent approach
◉ A controlled and organised start, middle and end
◉ Regular reviews of progress against plan and against the Business case flexible decision points
◉ Assurance that the project continues to have a business justification
◉ Flexible decision points
◉ Management control of any deviations from the plan
◉ The involvement of management and stakeholders at the right time and place during the project
◉ Good communication channels between the project, project management, and the rest of the organisation
◉ A means of capturing and sharing lessons learned
◉ A route to increasing the project management skills and competences of the organisation's staff at all levels.

Why Use a Project Management Methodology?

A 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey found that "higher-performing projects are significantly more likely to be staffed with certified project managers".PRINCE2 provides benefits to the managers and directors of a project and to an organisation, through the controllable use of resources and the ability to manage business and project risk more effectively.

PRINCE2 embodies established and proven best practice in project management. It is widely recognised and understood, providing a common language for all participants in a project.

PRINCE2 encourages formal recognition of responsibilities within a project and focuses on what a project is to deliver, why, when and for whom.

PRINCE2 Agile allows you to add flexibility and improved communication to these projects by integrating agile methods.

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10 Reasons to Choose PRINCE2®

There are many project management methods that can be implemented within an organisation, but PRINCE2® is one of the most respected, popular, and successful. Used extensively by the UK Government and around the world, PRINCE2 is a process-based method that helps manage projects effectively. But why should you implement it in your organisation?

1. Tried and Tested: The PRINCE2 methodology has been used for over thirty years in projects around the world. Originally based on the project management method PROMPT, it was then adopted and developed by the CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency) where it was used for all Government system projects as standard. Using a methodology that has this level of maturity can really help your project. After all you know you are working from a solid foundation and that can really help deliver project success.
2. Defined Organisation Structure: PRINCE2 defines clear roles and responsibilities. Each team member is assigned a role or roles right at the start of the project. This means that all team members understand their tasks and responsibilities and commit to them from the outset.
3. Planning: The method focuses on what the project needs to deliver by dividing the project into smaller portions or stages. Not only can large-scale projects seem more manageable, but goals can be set and achieved more easily.?
4. Standardisation: Implementing the PRINCE2 methodology means that everyone involved in the project uses a common approach and language. The standardised procedures and methods bring clarity to the project, while time can also be saved in auditing and recruitment.
5. Clear Steps: The PRINCE2 approach provides organisations with a step by step method from project conception to closure. Its focus on the project’s deliverables, and the what, why, where, when, and by whom, gives the project an organised and controlled process throughout. The PRINCE2 method also allows for regular reviews of the project’s progress against the plan, so any risks or potential problems can be addressed and managed.
6. Risk Management: PRINCE2 focuses on making sure that the project is viable from the outset. Time is dedicated to ensuring that the project is planned, requirements are understood, and risks are considered, put simply that a sound Business Case exists for the project. It’s these considerations that help organisations clearly see when a project’s risk outweigh the potential benefits or when risks could affect the project’s completion. Failure to address risks can result in costly project failure which is why implementing a project management method such as PRINCE2 can help lead projects to their successful conclusion.
7. Customise: The PRINCE2 method isn’t a strict “how-to” guide that has to be adhered to at all times. Instead it can be tailored to the needs of your project and business. It can be used for projects of any size and type.
8. Change Management: Organisations can be subject to change throughout the life of a project. PRINCE2 addresses this by ensuring regular project reviews are carried out to review the continued viability of the project and ensuring a robust change management process exists.
9. Free to Use: The PRINCE2 method is free to use which means any business, regardless of size or type can benefit from this mature project management method.
10. Training: The use of the PRINCE2 method doesn’t guarantee project success, which is why training is so vital. There are various PRINCE2 training courses that can coach individuals and organisations in the use of PRINCE2 and help them understand how to apply it to their projects. At ILX, we offer the PRINCE2 Foundation, PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner, and PRINCE2 Practitioner training courses in classroom and online environments. These courses will take you from understanding the basics of the method to successfully applying it to projects.PRINCE2® is a registered trade mark of AXELOS Limited.

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Virtual Classroom Training: Top 5 Benefits

Is virtual instructor-led training (VILT) right for you? It gives you the freedom to learn at home, like e-learning. At the same time, it has the interactivity of a traditional classroom course. Here are five benefits to virtual classroom training.

1. Time-efficient

Traditional classroom courses usually require travelling, which means more time off work. Like classroom courses, PRINCE2 virtual courses take 3 days following a 6-8 hour pre-course. The difference is, virtual courses let you do everything from home. You can save time spent planning, travelling and staying in hotel rooms.

2. Affordable

Virtual courses save money, as well as time, spent in hotels. The virtual course, which includes the exam and pre-course material, costs the same as a classroom course. However, virtual courses avoid the charges of travelling, like meal and fuel expenses. If you’re self-funding or pitching a PRINCE2 course to your boss, VILT could be a better proposition.

3. Flexible exams

We allocate the last hour of the course to the exam. That goes for virtual and traditional classroom courses. But for virtual courses, you can opt to take the exam any time up to 12 months after the course. Not only that, but because it’s an online exam, you get the results immediately.

4. Accessible

The technical requirements are more achievable than ever. Virtual learning is still novel because it would’ve been unreliable when dialup was common and PCs weren’t as good. The University of Southern Queensland in 1996 offered a graduate certificate program online. It used webpages, newsgroup discussions and online work submission. That was all cutting-edge in the 1990s. Back then, they most likely thought about having classes online, but it wasn’t feasible then.

5. Interactive

The live webinar format is perfect for virtual learning. Audio courses would’ve been widely accessible years ago, since audio on its own is easier to stream. The problem is, these courses would have missed so much of what makes them good now. It helps if learners can follow visual cues. That’s why our VILT courses feature screen sharing and interactive whiteboards. Visual data keeps learners’ attention better than audio on its own. It also helps people understand concepts if they can see them as they’re explained. Not only that, but these courses are interactive, allowing for questions and collaboration.

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5 PRINCE2 Myths Busted

PRINCE2, despite – or maybe due to – its popularity, is subject to a lot of misconceptions. Here are 5 of the most common myths about PRINCE2 out there.

1. “PRINCE2 is all about documents and bureaucracy”

While some project managers are stuck in that pattern, PRINCE2 isn’t. The key to a successful PRINCE2 project is not about blindly completing every template document. It’s about discussing and collaborating. Many project managers spend too much time making overly detailed documents and not enough time with the team leader, addressing issues.

2. “PRINCE2 is inflexible”

Actually, one of PRINCE2’s 7 themes is change. Projects are expected to face obstacles and every industry, organisation and project is different. PRINCE2 equips you for change during a project and allows you to customise projects ahead of time.

PRINCE2 can even work with different project management methods. We offer a PRINCE2 Agile course, so you can use the framework of PRINCE2 with the flexibility of agile.

3. “PRINCE2 is for big companies”

PRINCE2 is appropriate to big companies, but it’s not exclusive to big companies. In fact, every PRINCE2 method has a note on scalability. That’s because not every aspect of PRINCE2 applies to every project.

For some companies and projects, it’s better to run a scaled back version of PRINCE2. Our expert PRINCE2 trainer Andy West talked about ‘PRINCE2 Lite’ in a September 2016 webinar. Many organisations want to break projects into stages, manage budgets or maintain quality control. Not all of them can afford to do PRINCE2 by the book. The good news is that, over the years PRINCE2 has been updated to make it more scalable, as well as flexible.

4. “PRINCE2 is only for the IT industry”

While PRINCE2 originated from PROMPT II, a government standard for IT systems, PRINCE2 was made with a broader scope. It’s been updated many times to become the de facto standard for project management. According to the AXELOS 2016 PRINCE2 report, PRINCE2’s level of adoption in IT has been overtaken by four other industries (pg. 29). Any industry that works with projects can make use of PRINCE2.

5. “You have to re-sit the training course after 5 years”

If you’ve passed the Practitioner exam, you don’t have to sit the training course or exam again. We have a dedicated course for Practitioners wanting to retain their registered status. This course can be taken 3 years after passing your Practitioner or last re-registration exam. If a re-registration exam is not taken after 5 years, the registered Practitioner status is withdrawn.

The re-registration course is less intensive than the Practitioner version. Instead, it’s more of a revision session. The re-registration exam is also 60 minutes compared to 150 for the Practitioner exam.

But for those just getting started with PRINCE2, take the Foundation course. It prepares you for working on – or with – project management teams. It also prepares you for the Practitioner certification. If you have any questions, visit our contact us page for queries or customer support.

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What is a Stakeholder? How to Identify, Analyze and Manage Project Stakeholders

One of the first steps in project management planning is the identification of stakeholders. In order to accomplish this, you need to understand what a stakeholder is. Loosely defined, a stakeholder is a person or group of people who can affect or be affected by a given project. Stakeholders can be individuals working on a project, groups of people or organizations, or even segments of a population. A stakeholder may be actively involved in a project’s work, affected by the project’s outcome, or in a position to affect the project’s success. Stakeholders can be an internal part of a project’s organization, or external, such as customers, creditors, unions, or members of a community.

Depending on the complexity and scope of a project there may be very few or extremely large numbers of stakeholders. A project may be a part of a city or county public works department and may include all members of the community as stakeholders and number in the thousands. In determining what a stakeholder is, it is important that we consider anyone who may fall into any of these categories. As we move on toward stakeholder identification we must analyze the project landscape and determine what individuals or groups can influence and affect the project or be affected by its performance and outcome.

So what is a Stakeholder? Stakeholders can be:

◉ The project manager, sponsor, and team
◉ The customer (individual or organization)
◉ Suppliers of material or other resources
◉ Creditors
◉ Employees
◉ Unions
◉ City, community, or other geographic region
◉ Professional organizations
◉ Any individual or group impacted by the project
◉ Any individual or group in a position to support or prevent project success
◉ Internal or external; local or international

Stakeholder Identification

So now we have answered the question: what is a stakeholder? The next step is to use this knowledge to answer the question: who is a stakeholder? This question is answered during the stakeholder identification process. Stakeholder identification is the process used to identify all stakeholders for a project. It is important to understand that not all stakeholders will have the same influence or effect on a project, nor will they be affected in the same manner. There are many ways to identify stakeholders for a project; however, it should be done in a methodical and logical way to ensure that stakeholders are not easily omitted. This may be done by looking at stakeholders organizationally, geographically, or by involvement with various project phases or outcomes.

Another way of determining stakeholders is to identify those who are directly impacted by the project and those who may be indirectly affected. Examples of directly impacted stakeholders are the project team members or a customer who the project is being done for. Those indirectly affected may include an adjacent organization or members of the local community. Directly affected stakeholders will usually have greater influence and impact of a project than those indirectly affected. While these details are developed and analyzed further in the Stakeholder Analysis process, it is important to begin thinking about them now and helps provide a systematic way to identify stakeholders.

An outcome of identifying stakeholders should be a project stakeholder register. This is where the project team captures the names, contact information, titles, organizations, and other pertinent information of all stakeholders. This is a necessary tool during Stakeholder Management and will provide significant value for the project team to communicate with stakeholders in an organized manner.

Stakeholder Analysis

Now that you’ve conducted the Stakeholder Identification process you should have a comprehensive list of all of the project stakeholders. If you’ve used one of the approaches we’ve discussed you should also have them grouped by geographic region, organization, project involvement, or whether or not they’re directly or indirectly impacted by the project. While stakeholder analysis is done for each individual stakeholder, these groupings are helpful in determining the level of detail required in this process.

The stakeholder analysis process requires a close look at each stakeholder to gather more in depth information in order to understand their impact, involvement, communication requirements, and preferences. Is this stakeholder organized? Are they a cohesive organization? Do they support this project or are they critical of it? How influential or powerful are they? Do they prefer to be notified via phone call or email? How often? What is this stakeholder’s interest in this project? These are the types of questions that must be answered in order to provide a complete analysis. Usually a chart or table is used to capture all of this information with stakeholders’ names listed one per row and a list of column headings addressing the types of questions asked above.

Many times a project team will create the stakeholder analysis by using the stakeholder register and simply adding a greater level of detail to each entry. It is recommended to leave these documents separate and create a stakeholder analysis independent of the register. The analysis may contain information that should not be distributed freely to all of the stakeholders as the register should be. In addition to the general information contained in the stakeholder register, the stakeholder analysis contains.

Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder Management is where you will use all of the information you’ve collected and develop a strategy to manage stakeholders. No matter how much you plan or how invested you are in a project, poor stakeholder management can easily cause a project to fail. It is a key component of executing and completing a successful project. A large portion of stakeholder management focuses on communication.

The cornerstone of stakeholder management is understanding who needs what information and when or how often they need it. There will also be stakeholders who support the project and those who may either be opposed to it or who present obstacles to the project’s success. Your stakeholder management strategy must be geared toward maintaining support from those who are in favor of the project while winning over those opposed or at least mitigating the risks they may present.

The questions you’ve asked and answered about each stakeholder in the Stakeholder Analysis process are your guide for how to interact with each stakeholder and satisfy their individual requirements. By determining how powerful a stakeholder is and whether or not they support or oppose the project will allow the project manager to create a strategy for communicating and working with that stakeholder to ensure project success. Some stakeholders may require little interaction or communication while some require nearly constant communication. Stakeholder Management is where these strategies are developed and executed. If a stakeholder is opposed to a project maybe it is because they seek more involvement or awareness and the project manager can work with that individual to win their favor and support.

By understanding what a stakeholder is and using a thorough and systematic approach to Stakeholder Identification, Analysis, and Management, a project manager can significantly improve his or her chances of success. As projects become more complex and involved, so does managing their stakeholders. It is easy to lose track or omit key project players and by not properly utilizing these processes and tools project managers will lose their ability to effectively communicate with stakeholders in a manner necessary to ensure a successful project.

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Sizing Up Your Project Status Report

Does your current status report measure up to Best Practices standards? This article lets you size up yours by outlining what project management experts consider essential in creating the most effective project status report. You’ll also learn how you can get a FREE customizable project status report template designed to meet those standards, courtesy of Project Management Docs.

Value of Project Status Reports

Basically, the value of a status report is to communicate the overall status of your project in a clear and concise manner. To be most effective, the report should be formatted to provide the overall picture of the project at a glance for top-level management. At the same time, it should cover enough in-depth information for team members and immediate managers. It’s essential to keep everyone involved “on the same page” so the project can proceed as smoothly as possible. You want to make sure there is no confusion about its current status and that all issues and risks impacting the project are addressed.

Weekly or Monthly?

Executives on a time crunch want a snapshot. Project managers and team members require more detail. An effective status report should accommodate both. For instance, the template designed by Project Management Docs reflects Best Practices by incorporating an executive summary as well as a color coded dashboard to visually show the status of the project. Both features give executives a quick update at a glance. The same template includes sections which are typically needed for weekly status meetings so the working team has the needed specifics to discuss the project, make changes as necessary and plan next steps for action.

Color Coding

The dashboard concept, headlining the report, simply uses three traffic colors, that is, red, yellow, and green “lights” to immediately convey the status of the project’s scope, schedule, cost, quality and risks. The project manager can assign a percentage to each color that changes as the project moves forward. For instance, you may choose yellow for up to a 10% variance and red for a 10% to 20% variance.

Key Performance Indicators

While using a color dashboard is one way to provide an instant view of the health of the project, an effective status report also needs to present an evaluation of some key performance indicators (KPIs). You want to be able to measure and monitor earned value metrics such as schedule variance (SV), schedule performance index (SPI), cost variance (CV) and cost performance index (CPI). Again, the objective is to convey the status of a project and not get too involved in Earned Value Management (EVM). A detailed EVM analysis, separate from the status report, can expand on any problems or issues with the project. Your organization will likely have additional KPI's to be included in your status report.

Ideally, the KPIs list becomes a wrap-up, allowing the reader to flip to the bottom of the last page for a topline assessment of the SV, SPI, CV and CPI figures.

Other Sections to Include

A good project status report should include sections such as work completed last month, work planned for next month, a list of open risks or red flags and change requests, along with a section that outlines deliverables and milestones. You can determine how much detail management in your company/organization prefers. Always be aware that management has a lot of balls to juggle so the more efficient you can be in presenting the status of your project, the better impression you make. However, if events like inclement weather or an unexpected glitch in software has affected the schedule, you need to inform management and briefly explain what impact the problem will have on the project.

Avoid Over Kill

A good length for a status report: only a few pages. You want to cover the main points but shorter is always better. That’s why, once you have the data and information recorded, you would be well advised to do a final check to make sure the report is written as concisely as possible. Too long in any communication means it will likely not be read and all your efforts will be wasted.

We have a free Project Status Report Template available for download under the Project Monitoring & Controlling section of our website. The template comes with a guide to each section and allows you to modify the report to your particular project and organization. Be sure to check out all the project management tools available to you on our site.

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Communications Management Plan - A Step by Step Guide

One of the best ways to learn is by doing. This applies not only to everyday life, but also to project communications management. This step-by-step guide is meant to be used in conjunction with our Communications Management Plan Template. By following the steps outlined below, and using our communications management plan template you'll find that developing the communications management plan for your project is quite easy and can be accomplished with little stress.

Step 1: Review the PMBOK

Read through section 10.2.3.1 of the PMBOK (Communications Management Plan). Either print this section or make a copy and keep it on your desk - this way you can refer back to it often. The PMBOK is the industry standard for project management and is extremely useful in detailing the requirements for project communication as well as other project areas. A thorough review of the applicable PMBOK section should precede work on any project management process area.

Step 2: Determine Stakeholder Communication Requirements

Refer to the Stakeholder Register and Stakeholder Management Strategy if you have them (these should have been created during the project initiation process). This step requires more than just creating a list of stakeholders. There are several key considerations to account for during this step of the communication management plan. First, you must ensure ALL stakeholders are identified. Many projects fail to do this only to discover it later which results in project gaps, document changes, etc.

Another key part of this step is determining all of the stakeholders’ expectations, interests, and influence within the project. If a stakeholder’s expectation is that this project should not result in any changes to his/her work but you know it will, then this is where discrepancies like this must be identified and resolved. Likewise, stakeholders will have varying degrees of interest and influence on a project. All of these characteristics should be captured and documented in the Communications Management Plan section “Stakeholder Communication Requirements”. Specific communication methods, preferences, and frequencies for each stakeholder should be documented in the project’s Stakeholder Register as an Appendix or attachment to the Communication Management Plan.

Stakeholders include: management, customers, PMO, project team, business partners, program manager, portfolio manager, project sponsor, etc.

Step 3: Determine Level of Detail for the Plan

The Communications Management Plan can be either a stand-alone subsidiary management plan or a section contained within the project management plan. Several determining factors will help you to determine the scope and level of detail for your Communications Management Plan.

◉ Size of Project - larger projects which span a longer timeframe tend to have more communication requirements.
◉ Complexity of Organization - for instance, a highly political environment within the organization has very specific communication needs for the project to be successful.
◉ Number and Location of Stakeholders – project’s with a high number of stakeholders and/or stakeholders from a wide geographic area may require more detailed planning of communication management.

If you have a small project and your organization isn't very complex in its communication requirements then your communications management plan can be a section within your project plan. If you go this route be sure at a minimum to include:

◉ Communications management approach
◉ Stakeholder communication requirements
◉ Stakeholder register (from project initiation)
◉ Roles and responsibilities
◉ Project team directory
◉ Communication matrix
◉ Guidelines for meetings

Most large and complex projects will require that the communications management plan be developed as a subsidiary management plan which can stand on its own. Because of the size and complexity, these communications management plans often require more detailed planning and documentation. If you require a more detailed subsidiary communications management plan, you should include the following at a minimum:

◉ Communications management approach
◉ Communication constraints
◉ Stakeholder communication requirements
◉ Roles and responsibilities
◉ Project team directory
◉ Communication matrix
◉ Communication flowchart
◉ Guidelines for meetings
◉ Standardization of communication
◉ Communication escalation process
◉ Glossary of communication terminology
◉ Sponsor acceptance of the plan as a subsidiary/stand-alone plan

The level of detail for the communications management plan can be discussed or summarized in the “Introduction” section. Information pertaining to the level of detail will also be present in the “Stakeholder Communication Requirements” section of the plan as well as the Stakeholder Register.

Step 4: Determine Communication Constraints

All projects are subject to various constraints which must be identified and managed effectively to ensure project success. The communication management plan is no exception as often times a project’s communications are subject to various constraints. These constraints may be financial (i.e. project’s budget allocated for communication), time-dependent (i.e. adhering to schedule regarding project communications), or deal with other factors. Other communication constraints may include what types of technology are available for communications, any internal or external regulations and policies, or legislation that may require communications to be handled in a certain manner.

Communication constraints should be identified during the project’s planning phase and every effort must be taken to ensure all constraints are identified and documented. If any constraints are missed then it is likely that they will become evident later in the project’s lifecycle and impact the project’s triple constraint (time, cost, and scope). All identified communication constraints should be contained in the “Communication Constraints” section of the Communication Management Plan.

Step 5: Determine Information to be Communicated

This step may seem simple and self-explanatory, but on many projects, there are either significant gaps or overlaps in information being communicated. There are many questions that need to be answered such as, “who needs the information?”; “how often do they need it?”; and “what information do they need?”. Small projects allow for more simplified communication without having to provide extreme detail in the planning. However, large and complex projects, which usually have many stakeholders with differing interests and influences, require very thorough and detailed planning.

For large and complex projects it is usually helpful for an organization to provide standard documents and templates for use in formal communications because it simplifies the communication process and provides a level playing field and promotes understanding of what is being communicated. There may be standard status reports, meeting agendas, meeting minutes, gate reviews, or other documents which provide consistent format and content. Depending on the complexity of the project and the stakeholder communication requirements the standard documents may need slight modification and a determination of the level of detail communicated must be made. However, the organizational standards should contain most of the key information that needs to be communicated for the project.

Determining the information that needs to be communicated is the result of determining stakeholder communications requirements as well as what the organization’s internal communications requirements are. This should provide what needs to be communicated, to whom, and how often. This information is then documented and presented in the “Communication Matrix” and “Standardization of Communication” sections of the Communication Management Plan.

Step 6: Determine Methodology for Communications

Now that we know what needs to be communicated, to whom, and how often, we must determine how we are going to communicate the project information. Much like the other steps in completing the communications management plan, this step largely depends on the size and complexity of the project. Small project communications with few stakeholders may only require periodic meetings, emails, and phone calls. Large and complex projects again require much more detailed planning. Different types of communications may also require different methods of communication. For instance, project status meetings may be most effective in a face-to-face environment. However, some stakeholders may be located in different geographic regions so the result may be a face-to-face meeting with a video-teleconference capability where distant stakeholders have the capability of seeing briefing charts and participating in the conversation. Communication methodology is dependent on the technology available to stakeholders as well.

There are many means for communicating project information. Some of these include email, phone calls, face to face meetings, data bases, web/internet portals, video-teleconferences, organizational shared drives, or various other technologies and applications. The project team must consider what methods are available to all stakeholders and plan appropriately so pertinent project information can be communicated to everyone involved.

Communication methodology is included in the “Communications Management Approach”, “Stakeholder Communication Requirements”, and Communication Matrix” sections of the Communications Management Plan. Additional detail may be included in the project’s Stakeholder Register.

Step 7: Develop Flow Charts for Information Flow

It should be clear by now that large and complex projects require detailed planning to avoid communication gaps and overlaps and to ensure that project information is distributed in a timely and effective manner. A common tool which helps illustrate and describe how project communications should work is the flow chart.

The communication flowchart should describe the paths of both formal and informal communications. These paths should include any necessary reviews or authorizations which must occur prior to information being distributed (i.e. sensitive or classified information). The flowchart should also include any events which may trigger or result in communications. For example, a monthly project status meeting may trigger and agenda or presentation to be distributed beforehand and meeting minutes or changes in documentation to be communicated afterward. As projects grow larger and more complex, the flowchart helps manage communication by providing a visual diagram of communication flows.

The flowchart should be included in the “Communication Flowchart” section of the Communications Management Plan.

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Risk Assessment Meeting Guide

Introduction

The Risk assessment meeting is an important part of any project. Projects are launched to take advantage of opportunities and with these opportunities come uncertainty and risk. The project risk management plan addresses the process behind risk management and the risk assessment meeting allows the project team to identify, categorize, prioritize, and mitigate or avoid these risks ahead of time. The team uses this meeting to determine the probability and impact of each risk, determine if the risk can/should be avoided by making changes to the project, plan an appropriate response, and catalog risks and responses in the Risk Register.

The risk assessment meeting should be a formal meeting conducted during the project’s planning process. It is imperative that the project manager sends a meeting invitation and agenda to all attendees well ahead of time. This allows the meeting participants time to review what will be discussed and note any risks they may have already identified. At a minimum, the following should be invited to the risk assessment meeting:

◉ Project Manager: acts as the chairperson and facilitates the meeting
◉ Project Team: the project manager must assign members of the project team the roles of recorder and timekeeper
◉ Key Stakeholders: those identified that may bring value in the identification of project risks and/or mitigation and avoidance strategies
◉ Subject Matter Experts: those identified that may specialize in a certain project activity but are not formally assigned to the project but may add value
◉ Project Sponsor: may participate depending on the size and scope of the project
Although meeting times may vary, 2 to 3 hours is a good estimate depending on the project size.

Risk Identification

Before the risk assessment meeting the project manager will have compiled a list of risks from previous projects. These will be reviewed at the beginning of the meeting as a way to not only identify some common risks but also as a catalyst to get the participants thinking about risks.

While there are many methods for identifying risks, the Crawford Slip method is very common and effective. For the Crawford Slip method, each participant is handed a set of sticky pads on which to write their risks. The project manager gives the participants 10 minutes to write as many risks as they can on the sticky pads. Once the timekeeper indicates that 10 minutes have expired the project manager directs the participants to stop.

Each risk should be stated in a complete sentence which states the cause of the risk, the risk, and the affect that the risk has on the project (key words such as: “due to” or “because”). For example:

Name:
Cause: Because the implementation team is unfamiliar with the organizations' project management methodologies
Risk: time to implement organizations processes in the Project Management System may take longer than planned
Affect: causing delay to the schedule.

Categorize and Group Duplicates (Affinity Diagram)

Categorization makes it easy to identify duplicate risks and acts as to trigger for determining additional risks. After the 10 minute risk identification exercise the project manager will facilitate the team in the categorization of each risk. One effective method for this is to post the sticky notes on a large section of the wall where the meeting chair has posted categories onto sticky papers. The participants then put their risks on the wall beneath the appropriate category. As they identify duplicate risks they stick the duplicates on top of the other.

The project manager then discusses the risks identified under each category with the participants. As new risks are identified the meeting recorder writes them onto additional sticky papers. Once complete the category it falls under will be noted for each risk.

Qualify Risks (Assign Probability and Impact to Each Risk)

On a large section of wall space, the project manager will create an area to chart the risks according to probability and impact. Using sticky papers numbered from one to ten, the project manager will create a vertical axis for probability and a horizontal axis for impact.

The participants will post the risks onto the wall in an approximate location where the likely probability and impact for that risk intersect (subjective based on the person posting the risk). Once all the risks are posted the team as a group will review the location of the risks on the chart and make any final adjustments. Once the location for all the risks is determined the recorder will write the probability for each risk in the upper left corner of the sticky paper and the impact in the upper right corner. The risks which are located in the high probability and high impact area (upper right-most section of the chart) will be separated from the other risks for closer examination and planning. Only these risks with a high risk score will require additional work.

Determine Risk Response

For the risks which have been identified with a high risk score, the participants will determine the triggers or causes and identify responses. Responses may include: adding the risk to the project plan and scheduling for it; adding funding to the project (as a risk reserve) to mitigate any potential increase in costs, adding resources to the project (as reserve) to mitigate any potential shortage in assigned resources; developing a course of action for avoiding the risk; or accepting the risk.

After the Meeting

After the meeting the Project Manager will enter all the risks, probability-impact scores, and responses into the risk register (note that only the high risk score risks have responses). The high scoring risks will be added to the Project Management Plan. The Risk Register will also be included as an appendix to the Project Management Plan. Additionally, the risks with a high score will be added to the project schedule as a method to track the risk at the correct time. Although these risks are added to the schedule, the schedule itself is not necessarily changed. This step is to provide awareness and visibility to the participants of all high scoring risks throughout the project’s lifecycle.

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Six Sigma Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Explained For the Business Executive

Six Sigma Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a method used by professionals trained and certified in the six sigma process who are looking to help a corporation improve its overall functionality and productivity. The goal of a Six Sigma professional is to work with company executives to improve quality in areas that may be struggling. The problems could stem from such areas as customer service, job satisfaction on the part of employees, production rates, or utilizing modern technology.

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