Project communication

[nrawat]

The purpose of combining the WBS and OBS is to be able to show the organisational links that are vital for project task completion (Gray and Larson 2005, 103). Bringing together people who come from different areas of the organisation is involved and therefore it is likely that there will be issues which arise in this process. As per Gray and Larson (2005, 207) the design of a common OBS itself is such that it involves allocation of responsibility in a hierarchical pattern in ‘successively smaller and smaller units’ (see Appendix B). The concept of allocating responsibility for each task can create confusion amongst team members. Team members may not have a clear understanding of what their roles are or some may even tend to blame others for tasks that have been left incomplete (Lock 2007, 46). A well defined responsibility matrix as seen in Figure 1 helps in clarifying the task each team member is responsible. It also allows everyone involved in the project to agree on their assignments and more importantly it helps clarify the extent or type of authority each team member has in performing a task (Gray and Larson 2005, 107).

It is also important to define and create a plan which will act as a communication guide throughout the life time of the project. Strong communication lines are obviously important because it is vital to communicate not only within the project team but also with people outside the team which includes stakeholders (Nokes and Kelly 2003, 246). Thus, project communication falls into two essential categories which include external communication which involves communication between the project team and stakeholders and internal communication which involves communication between members of the project team (Dallas 2006, 95). Managing both is equally important.

However, it is even more important to consider a strong focus on inter-communication when people from different areas of the organisation come together or people who possess high authority. It is likely that conflicts may arise due to power gaps, cultural differences, incompatible views and even factors that are uncontrollable and unexpected (Binder 2007, 62). Clarity is important when communicating within the team and being concise and providing clear updates about the status of the project is crucial when communicating with stakeholders (OGC 2002, 41). Both can be facilitated by having a well defined communication plan shown in Figure 2.