Assignment # 4: Communication Strategies
BUS 517 – Project Management
9/2/2012
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A technical team member has requested a transfer due to project team conflicts.
1-Explain the nature of the situation and its potential impact to the project’s success.
Java Net management structure:
JavaNet is owned and operated by the owner who serves as the project manager. The company,
being small in nature requires a simple organizational structure implemented by
the owner by making all of the major management decisions in and monitoring all other
business activities.
The staff consists of six part-time employees working thirty hours a week at $10 per hour. In
addition, one full-time technician employed to work forty hours a week at $30.00 per
hour who is responsible to mentor the work of others and ensure compliance with requirements
and high level of quality control. This simple structure provides a great deal of flexibility and
allows communication to disperse quickly and directly. Because of these characteristics and the
project manager dependency on the technician, there could be coordination problems could
result from the absence of Java Net technician.
The most important team member at JavaNet project is the Network Technician. He/she is
responsible for analyzing computers and network related problems reported by end-users,
diagnosing the most effective method to resolve the problem and implementing the solution; in
addition to installing and troubleshooting the District’s Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area
Network (WAN), data communications and microcomputers. The network
technician plays a key role in JavaNet operation, java net without a technician the project
operation will completely stop because, without a technician no one can install the hardware,
software, and parts repair. The absence of Network Technician leads to lack of technical expert
which will increase project risk to include jeopardizing the quality of the products and services
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of the project, affect project scope, cause delays in meeting project schedule objectives, increase
project cost designated to resolve human resource’s shortage and lack of technical
expertise and major change to human resource plan and conflict resolution and team building
Strategies
2-Prepare a communication strategy to appropriately manage each of the three (3)
Situations you selected.
Conflict can have paradoxical effects on decision making and project outcomes. Conflict
can improve teams’ decision quality, as well as their understanding of, and commitment
to, decisions reached, which aids implementation .However, conflict can also degrade
decision making process when it distracts team members from the essential issues of the project.
This paradox exists because of the nature of the conflict the team experiences. Specifically,
conflict is multi-dimensional, and exists in both constructive and destructive forms. Constructive
conflict occurs when team members debate differing perspectives about the tasks at hand.
JavaNet communication strategy. To understand conflict further, the situation must include
elements of interdependence, emotions, perceptions, and behaviors. Conflict can be constructive
and healthy for java net project. It can aid in developing individuals and improving the project by
building on the individual assets of its members. Conflict can bring about underlying issues. It
can force the project team to confront possible defects in a solution and choose a better one. The
understanding of real interests, goals and needs is enhanced and ongoing communication around
those issues are induced. In addition; it can prevent premature and inappropriate resolution of
conflict.
Constructive conflict occurs when people change and grow personally from the conflict,
involvement of the individuals affected by the conflict is increased, cohesiveness is formed
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among team members and a solution to the problem is found. However, if conflict is not
managed properly, it can be detrimental to java net by threatening organizational unity, business
partnerships, team relationships, and interpersonal connections. Deconstructive conflict
occurs when a decision has not been found and the problem remains, energy is taken away from
more important activities or issues, morale of teams or individuals is destroyed, and groups of
people or teams are polarized.
3- Determine how an improvement to the communication strategy may prevent similar
problems in the future.
When a team gathers for any reason, there is the potential for conflict. The role of the team
leader is to employ various conflict resolution strategies to help turn the energy fueling the
conflict into a productive force rather than a destructive one. A good team leader has to
understand and use a variety of team conflict strategies that will vary depending on the situation
and depending on who is involved in the conflict.
In this case if java net project could understand the kind of conflict occurred between the team
members and build up a good communication strategy between the team members by
understanding the team cultures and trying to find the major problems that will cause the team
conflict and solve it, that will avoid all kind of conflict between the project team and make the
project deliver on time without any problems.
Follow up with Java Net team after meetings and events. Send out announcements that call out
exceptional work done by team members so the entire group can share in the excitement. If
someone within the team receives a promotion or is made a project lead, the communication can
let the rest of the team know the new chain of command. Have frequent one-on-one meetings so
individuals can have face-time with the project manager. This will give them an opportunity to
air grievances they might not otherwise call out in a group.
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4-In the event that the communication strategy does not resolve the problem, suggest a
backup plan that might be implemented.
If the communication strategy doesn’t resolve the problem Java Net has to find other ways to
solve the problem such as;
1- Increase the technician salary.
2- Offering a time off or vacation time for the technician.
3- Get outsourcing such as; sub-contracting or hire a temporally technician until the project
gets done on time.
4- Let the technician give a training program to any other employee have a good idea about
networking so can take over him temporally before the technician leave.
One of the project team members wants to take a week’s vacation during a major holiday
season and at a time when critical project deadlines are imminent
1. Explain the nature of the situation and its potential impact to the project’s success.
In this situation the potential impact to the project will be defiantly negative because, when java
net project started, the project team structure for each phases of the project phases was build up
with a certain amount of project team, so if the project ended up of short of one, the team
member that will make the project time line increase, according to that the project budget will
increase because, there is overtime has to be given to other team members to get the work done
on time, also that will impact the project scope and that will also put too much heat on
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the other team members because they will work more hours, and also the job will be so
demanding for the other team members that will make the team members start complaining about
the work over load and start asking for vacations or sick leave so, in this case the project
deliverables will not deliver on time.
2-Prepare a communication strategy to appropriately manage each of the three (3)
situations you selected.
Java net project communication plan is designed to keep the entire internal and external project
stakeholders who can impact and are impacted by the project informed about project status.
The communication plan must address all internal stakeholders to include project team members,
project management office (if any), and department involved. The communication means used to
deliver the message of the one of the project team members wants to take a week’s vacation
during a major holiday season and at a time when critical project deadlines are imminent, could
be in email, memo or conference call to discuss new approaches. The internal stakeholders must
adjust project human resource plan and resource matrix to reflect the adjusted.
Organizational structure of the project, better approaches to enhance project team interactions,
and better conflict resolutions. The internal stakeholders must modify project cost management
plan and project schedule management plan to reflect any adjustment to the project cost resulting
in adding new resource, adjustments to project milestones (schedule) or any scheduling
compression techniques to be used. The project manage must communicate to external
stakeholders about any of the changes above provide them with corrective actions and modified
project management plan, hear their feedback and any recommended actions or hold conference
Call/meeting to resolve any foreseen issues.
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3- Determine how an improvement to the communication strategy may prevent similar
problems in the future.
Java Net project teams are all about endless stream of meetings, appointments, events and
deliverables. Keeping it all coordinated is increasingly a dead-end pursuit. Online Project
Calendar gives the project manager the power to revolutionize the way everyone in the project
team works. With Online Project Calendar, it's easy to keep track of all important events of a
project from one place to ensure a better project management among teams.
Projects calendar is an easy way to securely and quickly organize meetings, events, schedule
appointments, manage deadlines and more - all with a browser from the desktop. A shared
online project calendar is easy for the entire team to stay on schedule, remind the team on
upcoming events, vacations and make everyone in the project more productive.
Key Business Benefits of a Project Calendar
1-Organize team meetings and keep the team informed.
2-Share your project calendar with everyone in the team.
3-Stay up-to-date on appointments, vacations time through automatic reminders.
4-Keep all your deadlines coordinated from a single place ("projectconnections,”).
4-In the event that the communication strategy does not resolve the problem, suggest a
backup plan that might be implemented.
If this situation occurred the project manager has a to make a schedule compress to cover the
escape of this team member by, giving overtime for the other team members or hire a
temporarily employees to cover the employee want to take a vacation or get a out sousing help
such as; a qualify sub-contractor to finish this team member job until he/she gets back. In this
case that will impact the project by increase the budget, time line and recourses were not
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considered in the project scope and project implementation.
Risk assessment has not been reviewed since the beginning of the project.
1-Explain the nature of the situation and its potential impact to the project’s success.
Risk is defined any uncertain event that can has an impact on the success of a project. To ensure
the successful execution of the project and meeting the project cost, schedule and quality
objectives, the project manager and the project team must develop Project Risk Management
Plan. The Project Risk Plan is part of the project management plan and aims at identifying
project risk (positive or negative), perform quantitative and qualitative analysis to determine the
possible preventive or corrective actions necessary to mitigate project negative risks and enhance
the impacts of positive risks. The risk management plan must be reviewed periodically to
identify new risks, review existing risks, identify new quantitative and qualitative analysis
methods to manage risk and review current risk mitigation techniques.
Not assessing the potential risks project periodically will affect the project performance in many
ways. First, not assessing the negative risks affecting project schedule such as delays in getting
supplies and equipments or delays in assigning resources due to inter-department conflicts will
lead to delays in meeting project milestones and schedule objectives. This delay will lead to
increase project cost or drastic modification to project schedule through using project
compression techniques and/or product scope . Second, not assessing risks may jeopardize the
quality of the product or service resulting from the execution of the project and may impact the
project scope.
Finally, not assessing project risks periodically may result in ignoring several positive project
risks that may help meeting project objectives.
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2-Prepare a communication strategy to appropriately manage each of the three (3)
As a project manager has to know that projects involve risks. Communicating those risks is a
special skill. People often share information about project risks ineffectually or not at all. As a
result, their projects suffer unnecessary problems and setbacks that proper communication may
have avoided.
A project manager has to be reluctant to deal with risk because the concept is hard to grasp and
may also feel that focusing on risks suggests he/she looking for excuses for failure rather than
ways to succeed. Communicate about project risks early and often. In particular, share
information with drivers and supporters at the following points in the project:
To allow team members to discuss potential risks and to encourage them to recognize and
address problems as soon as those problems occur.
To update the likelihood that identified risks will occur, to reinforce how people can minimize
the negative effects of project risks, and to guide the assessment of requests to change parts of
the current approved project plan.
Project manager can improve the risk-related communications with the project’s drivers and
supporters by explaining in detail the nature of a risk, how it may affect your project, and how
you estimated the likelihood of its occurrence. Telling people the current chances that certain
risks will occur, how you’re minimizing the chances of problems, and how they can reduce the
chances of negative consequences. Encouraging people to think and talk about risks, always with
an eye toward minimizing the negative effects of those risks
Documenting in writing all the information about the risks, project manager has to discuss this
information at regularly scheduled team meetings, in regularly scheduled progress reports and
stakeholders reviews, and in special meetings to address issues that arise.
3-Determine how an improvement to the communication strategy may prevent similar
Problems in the future.
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Risk communication is defined as any two-way communication between stakeholders about the
existence, nature, form, severity, or acceptability of risks. It is vitally important to understand the
basic concepts of risk communication and to ensure that communication among stakeholders is
integral to the risk management process.
Risk communication is the exchange of information and opinions concerning risk and riskrelated factors among risk assessors, risk managers, consumers, and other interested parties.
The goals of risk communication:
1-Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the risk analysis process,
2-romote consistency and transparency in arriving at and implementing risk management
Decisions.
3-Promote awareness and understanding of the specific issues of the risk analysis process.
4-Strengthen the working relationships and mutual respect among risk assessment and
management participants,
5-Exchange information among interested parties to risk analysis and management.
6-Ensure that project management plan is visit periodically and must include updates involving
project risk management plan.
4-In the event that the communication strategy does not resolve the problem, suggest a
backup plan that might be implemented.
Risk Options
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Risk mitigation measures are usually formulated according to one or more of the following major
risk options, which are:
1-Design a new business process with adequate built-in risk control and containment measures
from the start.
2-Periodically re-assess risks that are accepted in ongoing processes as a normal feature of
business operations and modify mitigation measures.
3-Transfer risks to an external agency (e.g. an insurance company)
4-Avoid risks altogether (e.g. by closing down a particular high-risk business area)
.
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References
Franka, A. (2005). Cyber cafés a how-to manual. Retrieved from August, 6 2012
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/storage/advfy/documents/cybercafe.pdf
Gray, C., & Larson, E. (2012). Project Management: The Managerial Process (5th ed.). Boston,
MA: McGraw-Hill.
Liu, I. (n.d.). chron.com. Retrieved Septemper, 2, 2012 from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-duties-small-business-owner-13882.html
projectconnections. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://projectconnections.com/