Part 4 - Communications makes or breaks your program

Communications are critical to successful program management

One area that is often overlooked is a comprehensive approach for communication that supports program management. We touched on it earlier in the scope checklist and by exploring a more detailed version of a checklist on communication; you’ll be on your way to keeping everyone informed and on the same page.

Communication covers many aspects of the program and the lifecycle of program management. I once worked on a program where we were behind schedule, over cost and under so much pressure; I thought everyone would be fired. Instead, we had a program manager that was up front and made sure to over communicate to all the stakeholders on a regular and frequent basis. No one ever had to wonder or ask about status because he made sure everyone knew the most current status. Rather than being punished for the program being behind schedule and over cost he was given an award for how well he communicated and eventually completed the program. This goes against many program managers’ instincts when they find themselves in this situation, which is why it’s so important to have this outlined from the beginning.  

Having a checklist that covers your plan and the frequency of communication will keep your program running smoothly. I’ve worked on programs where the team members didn’t know the status, so when they were asked and couldn’t articulate it, the credibility of the program was questioned.   As a manager, I would ask myself, if the team members don’t know the current status, then how could I expect the program to be successful?

Use the checklist at the beginning of this post to keep your team members informed and develop your plans so that your program runs smoothly.

Communication Plans

Communication is the “life blood” of any program. Perform and do everything right, yet, neglect to keep everyone in the communication loop, and your program most likely will fail. It’s more than just the myopic results that are achieved; it’s how well everyone was informed and kept up to speed on the program that matters. Did they understand the issues as well as the results? Did they participate and contribute or did they sit on the sidelines?

Communication should blend into your company’s culture. There are some norms that surround communication and as the program manager you should be aware of what they are so that you communicate effectively. Develop a plan for communication that addresses the cultural norms of the organization.

Develop your plans for how to communicate with your stakeholders. Plan your meetings well in advance so that everyone can work the calendar to attend. Determine the topics and agenda that you will present to this group.

Develop a plan that will be used throughout the program lifecycle for communicating with your team. It should specify the frequency of the meetings, the artifacts that support the meetings and tracking the action items.

There are points in the program where you will want to seek outside help in terms of a review or an audit. It should identify best practices and compare the results with a gap analysis so that continuous improvement will be built into your program management.

Recurring Meetings

Self-audits are an excellent way to measure how well your processes are being applied in the day-to-day management of the program. Again, the simple checklist can be the perfect tool for you to perform the assessment and identify risks. Team members can use customized checklists that can be used to help guide them as they support the program and provide artifacts that will be used to identify improvements and best practices.

Focus on keeping stakeholders in tune with the program and try to exceed their expectations. Leverage their participation and depending on the size and complexity of the program, you may want to select several members from this group to form an advisory group that can help you work through the more difficult areas of the program.

It’s critical that your team has the current program status and understands the plan at any point in time. This requires a structure and the right tools to enable them to participate at the right level. Depending upon the project management tool you select, you may have a client for their smart phone so you can obtain status as well as push information to them when needed. At a minimum, a weekly meeting and actions from that meeting are communicated to the team.   As we’ll discuss later, the focus on the milestone plan and the applied hours for team members is critical to help you remain on schedule.

Change management is often overlooked or seen as a distraction for program managers. The key to managing change is to document the baseline and identify changes to the baseline. A log for all changes needs to be managed for the duration of the program. As changes are identified they should be reviewed by the stakeholders at a regular scheduled meeting or if needed an ad-hoc meeting to address urgent requests. Each change must be considered against the original scope and the impact for costs and schedule quantified.

Managing your executive’s expectations is an important part of any program. Depending upon the scope and size of the program, consideration should be given to only the ones that would require executive visibility. This meeting is to inform and provide updates. It’s not a decision-making meeting in most forums, although there are exceptions that will have to be considered. The meetings typically are scheduled for an initial review, a mid-point review and final to close out the program.