MSHU TODAY Svitlana O. Volkova, PhD. student Medical Equipment and Systems Department Mykolaiv State Humanities University svetik11@kma.mk.ua sveter11@yandex.ru Petro Mohyla Mykolayiv State University in consortium with “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” MODERN TOOLS OF COMMUNICATION FOR IT-PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS: PRACTICE OF ADAPTATION Agenda • Problem Statement • Organization of Communication • Necessity of Applying Communications • Communication Channels an Phase • Communication Planning • Communications Matrix • Relational Model: Project Communications • Communications Tools • Phone Communication • E-mail Communication • On-line Communication • Messengers Review • IT Project Interactive Communications • Conclusions and Useful Links Problem Statement • Today’s leading companies in the field of information technologies begin to create their branches in regions. They are specialized in software development and testing, technical support of software products and information consulting. • It is mainly explained by the less cost of labors in regions, than in large towns, and supplying of regions by graduated students with higher education with the high level of preparation in the field of information technologies. Problems of Communications • One of the reasons that decrease effectiveness of work of such virtual, territorial distributed projects commands is a geographical remoteness between participants, divergence of zones of times, and in the case of international commands linguistic and social-cultural factors. • Problems of providing an effective communications and firmness to the nascent conflicts in IT projects together with inadequacy of project information are three from six major reasons of failure of projects. • That’s why the task in relation to the synthesis of organization of communication process in a management IT-projects by the modern means of business intercourse with the use of progressive information technologies and search of facilities of design of situational relations is actual. Organization of Communications Communications Management The Project Management Institute (PMI) identifies nine knowledge areas in The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK): • • • • • • Project Integration Management Project Scope Management Project Time Management Project Cost Management Project Quality Management Project Human Resource Management • Project Communications Management (PC) • Project Risk Management • Project Procurement Management Project Communications • Project Communications Management includes the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrieval and ultimate disposition of project information. • The Project Communications Management processes provide the critical links among people and information that are necessary for successful Communications. (PMBOK Third Edition, p. 340) • Project Communications includes: • Communications Planning • Information Distribution • Performance Reporting Necessity of Applying Communications • IT responsibilities are not consistent • IT relationships with application users not always consistent • Implementation of systems at the local level may require political approval prior to use • Funding issues may significant lead time • Change complex management require can be Communication Channels Communications by Phase 1. Project Initiation • Develop Communications Plan 2. Project Planning • Refine Communications Plan 3. Project Execution & Control • Execute Communications Plan 4. Project Closeout • Solicit Feedback Communications Planning • Who? Who needs to know? • What? What do they need to know? • When? How frequently? • Where? Where are communications required? • Why? Why is this important? • How? How are they kept informed? What? • Tendency to send too much to too many very easy to do with electronic communications! Too much is as bad as too little - can't read everything. • Target your audiences and realize you may have more than one. Who? • Did you think of everyone? • If you are designing an application in this project, have you included the endusers in the early project communications? • If your end-user works for another organization have you also kept the IT people in those entities informed? When? • How often? • Morning & afternoon? • Day of week? • Day of month? • Different intervals for various teams • Weekly for team members • Bi-weekly for Middleman • Monthly for Why? • Curiosity? Good/bad? • Need to know? • Provide information • Prepare end-users for transition • Many reasons to share information Where? How? • Location for status meetings • Emails • Location for team meetings • Status reports • Locations for information: Network drive, website, internal or external, e-mail attachments, e-mail text • Phone calls • Meetings • Face to face, one on one • Press release • Other? Tools: Communications Matrix Audience All, Part of Team etc. Vehicle Conversation, Report etc. Frequency Monthly, Scope change etc. Medium Meeting, Hard Copy etc. Source PM, Weakly Report etc. Delivery by Team, PM, Customer etc. Date delivered As needed, every month etc. Expected Result Business impact of project etc. Relational Model: Project Communications Discussion of Communication Model • It is expedient to describe the hierarchy of connections as follows: • participants of the project –> technical leaders of groups –> leader of the project –> middleman –> customer. • Wide possibilities of the language of set theory allows to describe the presented model: Discussion of Communication Model • The types of possible models were explored and defined that relational model of organization of communications in the process of management of IT projects. • It is the complete visualized state of project and contains consequence relation and determines dynamic changes between the participants of project during its motion. • A developed model structure demonstrates the process of organization’s communications of workers of a company’s branch with guidance of main office and directly with customers which in the turn can be on other continent. • The main task is providing of connection of technical leader (TL) of project which works in the branch of company with the leader of project (PM), which is in a main office and with the customers of software product or representatives of customers. Phone Communications • Modern progressive information technologies are able to provide effective communications between the participants of project. For the complete or partial solving of this problem Web-technologies and videoconferences can be used. • In addition, organization of interactive intercourse can be carried out with the use of software, presented at the market of progressive informational technologies. IP-Phone organization • On functionality and principle of work it is possible to divide the programs into the network pagers, IRC-chats, Web-chats and combined programs on-line intercourses which allow holding conferences with the participants of project and communicating with the use of IP telephony. E-mail Communications E-mail Communication Tools: The Bat Evolutional Mail Etc. Basic recommendations: • Create the message • Timely • Accurate • As defined • Deliver the message • Accept feedback as input On-line Communications • • • • • Yahoo Messenger (http://messenger.yahoo.com), MSN Messenger (http://messenger.msn.com/), Mіranda. (http://mіranda-іcq.sourceforge.net), ІRC (http://www.mіrc.com/), RQ (www.rejetto.com/&RQ) and others. Basic Features of Messengers • Status Indicator • Contact List • Chat • Chat History (Log) • Integrity with others IM-networks (Int) • Conferences organization • IP-Phohing (VoIP) • Support of video communications (Web-camera) • Support of usual telephone calls (PSTN) • Files transmission (File) • Sending SMS (SMS) • Pictures or desktop Translation • Support of secure connection Messengers Comparison ICQ Miranda Skype Skype Contact List Yahoo Messenger Other on-line Communications IT Project Communications • Interactive communication and exchange with project documents with data that updated dynamically is carried out with the use of such software: software testing process control system (TestLink, RUP); reporting system about defects (Bugzilla, Trac, Mantis); system of testing results accounting (ProjectLocker, QADB); on-line communicational systems (Skype, ICQ, Yahoo); system of organization of correspondence (Outlook Express, Bat etc.). Comparison of Communications Conclusions • Developed relational model describes the main principles of organization continuous communication in the process of IT-project management and provides the use of modern IT. • It also provides the economy of project’s facilities and warns of rising conflict situations on project. For further information Useful Links: • NYS Project Management Guidebook • www.oft.state.ny.us/pmmp/guidebook2/index. htm • Management's Guide to Project Success • www.oft.state.ny.us/pmmp/managementguide/index.htm • Reference The Project Management Institute (PMI) PMBOK: • www.pmi.org Literature: • Project Management Body of Knowledge, 3 Ed. PM institute, 2004. • Nickson D., Siddons S. Project Disasters & How to Survive Them, 2005 • Kerzner H. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, Eighth Edition. 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This not only confirms our position as a market leader, but also attests to the wealth of experience we bring to any engagement. http://www.manager.net.ua/index.php?option=com_weblinks&task=view &catid=90&id=44 The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics [OUSD (AT&L)]. http://www.manager.net.ua/index.php?option=com_weblinks&task=view &catid=90&id=43 Sciforma Corporation provides advanced project and process management software Useful links • http://www.manager.net.ua/index.php?option=com_weblinks&task=view&catid=90& id=47 The STSC provides hands-on assistance in adopting effective technologies for software-intensive systems. We help organizations identify, evaluate and adopt technologies that improve software product quality, production efficiency and predictability. • http://www.manager.net.ua/index.php?option=com_weblinks&task=view&catid=90& id=46 StickyMinds.com, the most comprehensive online resource for helping you produce better software, offers an unrivaled scope of original articles from industry experts, technical papers, industry news, a searchable tools and books guide, roundtables. • http://www.manager.net.ua/index.php?option=com_weblinks&task=view&catid=90& id=45 We have consulted with many Fortune 500 companies and international companies across a wide range of industries. This not only confirms our position as a market leader, but also attests to the wealth of experience we bring to any engagement. • http://www.manager.net.ua/index.php?option=com_weblinks&task=view&catid=90& id=44 The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics [OUSD (AT&L)]. • http://www.manager.net.ua/index.php?option=com_weblinks&task=view&catid=90& id=43 Sciforma Corporation provides advanced project and process management software solutions and services to a worldwide customer base. • http://www.manager.net.ua/index.php?option=com_weblinks&task=view&catid=90& id=42 ProjectsAtWork.com features project case studies, interviews and interactive discussions, new tools and book reviews, expert columns and much more — it is editorial that addresses the challenges and issues that project teams and professionals face.