Communications Requirements Analysis
Posted by Babou on May 27, 2008
Effective & efficient communication planning is important for project’s success & its vitality can not be overstressed as considerable number of projects failed due to poor communication plan & process.
Effective communication – providing the information in the right format, at the right time, and with the right impact.
Efficient communication – providing only the information that is needed.
A crucial element of planning the project’s actual communications, therefore, is to determine and limit who will communicate with whom and who will receive what information. Thorough analysis of communication need is the first step towards better communication planning.
Communications Requirements Analysis
Objective of this tool/technique: determining information needs of the project stakeholders
It is defined by: Type, format & value of information needed
It uses:
* Stakeholder information (like stakeholder register, stakeholder management strategy)
* Roles & responsibilities of project team, internal/external stakeholders & management
* Organization Chart
* Information on the stakeholders’ location (helpful in determining communication technology/methods)
Communication channels : Communication channels are the distinct paths of communication that is possible between project stakeholders for information distribution path. Knowing complexity of communication channel gives a better control over information distribution & hence better communication planning.
The total number of potential communication channels is n(n-1)/2
where n represents the number of stakeholders.
So, higher the number of stakeholders, more complex the communication channels are.
