Reference no: EM133167627

Read the opening case on page 390 of the text. Design a communications plan for the team. There is a template below.

Opening Case

Peter Gumpert worked his way up the corporate ladder in a large telecommunications company. He was intelligent, competent, and a strong leader, but the company's new fiber-optic undersea telecommunications program was much larger and more complicated than anything he had previously worked on, let alone managed. This program consisted of several distinct projects, and Peter was in charge of overseeing them all. The changing marketplace for undersea telecommunications systems and the large number of projects involved made communications and flexibility critical concerns for Peter. For missing milestone and completion dates, his company would suffer financial penalties ranging from thousands of dollars per day for smaller projects to more than $250,000 per day for larger projects. Many projects depended on the success of other projects, so Peter had to understand and actively manage those critical interfaces. Peter held several informal and formal discussions with the project managers who reported to him on the program. He worked with them and his project executive assistant, Christine Braun, to develop a communications plan for the program. He was still unsure, however, about the best way to distribute information and manage all of the in- evitable changes that would occur. He also wanted to develop consistent ways for project managers to develop their plans and track performance without stifling their creativity and autonomy. Christine suggested that they consider using some new communications technologies to keep important project information up to date and synchronized. Although Peter knew a lot about telecommunications and laying fiber-optic lines, he was not an expert in using information technology (IT) to improve the communication pro- cess. In fact, that was part of the reason he had asked Christine to be his assistant. Could they really develop a process for communicating that would be flexible and easy to use? Time was of the essence, as more projects were being added to the fiber-optic undersea telecommunications program every week.

Communications Management Plan

1. Introduction

2. Collection and filing structure for gathering and storing project information

3. Distribution structure (what information goes to whom, when, and how)

4. Format, content, and level of detail of key project information

5. Production schedule and resources for producing key project information

6. Technologies, access methods, and frequency of communications 

7. Method for updating the communications management plan

8. Escalation procedures 

9. Stakeholder communications analysis