PMP Certification: Project Communications Management Tips


Project Communications Management is the seventh knowledge area of project management.

It creates a communications management plan, gathers and disseminates project information according to the communications management plan, and verifies that the communications activities are completed in line with the plan.

Based on chapter 10 of PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition, here you will find:

  • project management graphic of Project Communications Management, a quick reference guide to its definition and processes
  • Project Communications Management WHATs, WHYs, WHENs, and HOWs — by Project Communications Management processes

Read on!

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Project Communication Management Tips

by Project Management Process Group

1. Plan Communications Management

  • Communication Lines. On the exam, synonyms for communication channels.
  • Effective Communication Vs. Efficient Communication. The communication activities are effective when they provide the information in the right format for the intended audience at the right time. The communication activities are efficient when they provide the appropriate information – and only that information – at the right time.
  • Focus of Communications Management. The whole knowledge area focuses on project manager and stakeholders — including the project team members, who need to know who gets what information and when.
  • Para Lingual Communication. On the exam, a kind of nonverbal communication used to transmit a message above and beyond the spoken words. It deploys vocal quality, loudness, tempo, facial expressions, and gestures.

2. Manage Communications

  • Active Listening. It occurs during verbal communication, when the project manager or a stakeholder gives a lot of feedback to the speaking counterpart.
  • Control Over Communication Artifacts. A project manager should be in control of the whole communications process, rather than of every communication artifact, i.e., presentations, reports, or texting.
  • Types of Communication. 4 main types of communication for the exam: formal written – e.g., reports, informal written – e.g., texting, formal verbal – e.g., presentations, and informal verbal – e.g., brainstorming.

3. Control Communications

  • Manage Communications Vs. Control Communications. The Manage Communications process enforces the communications plan. The Control Communications process investigates if the communications plan is right and it may foster changes to the plan.
  • Project Manager’s Time Spent Communicating. 90% of a project manager’s job is communication. Of this 90%, 50% of the time is spent on communicating with the project team members.
  • Project Plan and Documents Updates. There is no fixed list of what project managers may change as a result of the Control Communications process. Be it, e.g., the stakeholder management plan, human resource management plan, or issue log, what gets changed depends on what they find out.


Tips Info
Tips Info

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