Chapter 2: Literature Review:

2.1

Introduction:

This chapter is providing information about communication management in

any organisation. There are many researches made regarding the
communication management and significance of communication
management was represented in different ways from different authors. The
combined results can provide key importance of communication
management in any organisation. Beside the importance of communication
management, there are many factors involved in communication
management. There are many factors which are directly related to the
entities of organisation and affect the performance of any organisation. This
chapter is summarising these key factors that are bringing barriers in
communication management system of any organisation. There are many
problems regarding the communication management, this chapter is
focusing on the technological issues in any organisation. There are many
recommendations and importance of different technologies such as
corporate website, social media network, web meeting, email memos and
virtual rooms. These technological solutions are improving the
communication of entities in any organisation. These are the fastest and
cost effective methods used for communicating with each other and provide
different options to stake holders and employees to promote their business
all around the world.
2.2

Communication Management:

Communication is the nervous system of an organisation. It keeps the

members of the organisation informed about the internal and external
happenings relevant to a task and of interest to the organisation. It coordinates the efforts of the members towards achieving organisational
objectives. It is the process of influencing the action of a person or a group.
It is a process of meaningful interaction among human beings to initiate,
execute, accomplish, or prevent certain actions. Communication is, thus,
the life blood of an organisation. Without communication, an organisation is
lifeless and its very existence is in danger.
According to Kerzner (2001), there can be many definitions of
communication in any organisation such as an act or instance of
transmitting information, exchange of information, technique for expressing
ideas effectively and a process by which meanings are exchanged between
individuals through common system of symbols. In addition to the definition
of communication management, the Project management institute
standards committee (1996) defined it as :
Project Communications Management includes the process required to

ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination,

storage, and ultimate disposition of project information
White and Chapman (1996) introduced into this communication system
both human (the persons horizon of experience, thoughts/feelings, the
acts of encoding/decoding) and interpersonal feedback elements, as
illustrated in Figure 1. Since that time, an array of human filters that are
influenced by the person horizon of experience (such as motive, affect,
attention, knowledge, attitudes, values, and beliefs) have been specified.
Although the social context affects these human filters, the larger social
context is not directly addressed in these approaches.

Fig 1: Technical sender receiver model (White and Chapman, 1996).

2.2.1 Communication Principles:
The following guidelines outline the preferred way that communication is
developed and delivered. They are assumptions that govern how
communication activities take place.
1. Tailor communications to discreet audiences according to needs
analysis.
2. Design communication using fact-based information and deliver
openly, regularly and in a straight forward manner.
3. Ensure communications contain consistent core messages.
4. Deliver face-to-face / one-on-one where messages contain job
sensitive information (i.e.: an individual job will change).
5. Continually reinforce the business reasons for change.
6. Consistently ask for feedback and involvement, and acknowledge
same.
7. Evaluate at pre-determined points to ensure message is understood.

8. Pursue communication opportunities at involvement activities (focus

groups, BPT workshops, training sessions, etc).
9. Consult with Corporate Communications through various phases of
the project to ensure communications related decisions meet with
corporate approval and fit within company protocol and standards.
(Spanos et al. , 2002).
2.2.2 Modes of communication:
Communication during projects can be of many different types such as oral,
written and non-verbal. Oral communication is mainly utilized in face-to-face
meetings or over the telephone as well as in group meetings and affords a
lot more flexibility to the speaker, such as the ability to communicate not
only with voice but body language, attitude and nuance. The subtle nuances
that can be communicated during verbal communication are not present
during written communication. Written communication, on the other hand,
is usually more precise. It can be sent through correspondence such as
memos, letters or notices. It can also be sent via Email or the project
management information system. The key to making written
communication more effective is to first grab peoples attention, and then
give them a reason to want to read the rest of the communication. (Mehta,
2011).
2.3

Factors involved in Communication management:

There are many factors involved in communication management system.

The individuals of any organisation are responsible for communication in
their organisation. Ghoshal and Bartlett (1990) reported findings from an
empirical study of 66 North American and European multinationals
indicating that subsidiaries with higher levels of inter unit communication
was more effective in the creation, adoption, and diffusion of innovations. In
their study of global new product development teams, McDonough et al.
(1999) correlated team performance with the use of multiple
communication mechanisms what they called an affiliated set,
consisting of phone, fax, e-mail, teleconferencing, and company databases.
While communication patterns in product development depend on the
nature of the project and the organizational structure executing it, distance
also plays an important role. The barriers to technical communication
management imposed by distance between team members have been
studied so extensively as to be accepted as an axiom in social theory.
(Sosa et al., 2002). Moreover the authors categorised the two major factors
for communication management system that are communication drivers
and communication barriers as shown in the figure below.

Fig 2: Factors influencing communication management system (Sosa et al.,

2002).
Kinicki and Williams (2008) believe this to be true because, the people
actually involved with the product or service are in the best position to
detect opportunities for improvements. This being said, they should also be
the most important aspect of any change to the organization. Therefore we
can split the factors in two categories which are communication drivers and
communication barriers.
2.3.1 Communication Drivers:
Following are the factors that are helping to adopt different changes for
improving the performance of any organisation. These factors are the part
of any organisation but with the help of these factors, one can achieve the
most successful communication management system.
2.3.1.1

Committed Leadership:

The leadership plays a vital role in communication management system

and manage all the issues that are beneficial for the performance of
organisation. According to Burke (2008); [Leadership] is usually associated
with the behaviour of senior executives. Whereas individual needs are
focused on the extent to which ones needs are met on the job. Not many
change interventions focus on the actual employee adding input into the
organization and/or the change taking place. As he also (2008) states,
leaders do make a difference, especially in terms of organizational change
but they are only part of the process. Change affects everyone, so everyone
has to affect change. It is the individual employee that will have the most
impact on if change will be effective.
2.3.1.2

Informed Stakeholders:

Encouraging stakeholder participation and commitment to the change, by

employing open and consultative communication approaches to create
awareness and understanding of the change throughout the organisation.
Stakeholders must be clear about their contribution to the desired
improvement. If the change vision is not clear or shared, commitment is
unlikely, and change efforts will be short-lived at best and will likely fizzle
out.

2.3.1.3

Aligned Workforce:

Identifying the human impacts of the change, and developing plans to

align the workforce to support the changing organisation.
In the final analysis, change is successful when it becomes
institutionalised and part of "the way we do things around here," and like
other processes, benefits from ongoing monitoring to ensure continuous
improvement and relevance.
2.3.1.4

Planning:

Developing and documenting the objectives to be achieved by the change

and the means to achieve it.

Setting a clear vision for the change which is aligned with the
organisations vision and mission
Documenting the case for change, and
Developing the change plan.
2.3.1.5
Defined governance:
Establishing appropriate organisational structures, roles, and
responsibilities for the change that engage stakeholders and support the
change effort.
2.3.1.6

Communication Context:

Fundamentally it is people who make change happen - nothing moves

forward without engaged, motivated stakeholders. Stakeholders are the
people that are directly involved in and affected by the change project.
Typically they are the organisations workforce or those whose interests
may be positively or negatively affected by the change including other
agencies with whom the changing organisation partners, service
providers, vendors, or the public.
An organisation needs to engage its stakeholders, in order to implement
changes effectively. To do that, stakeholders need to understand the
reasons why the change is happening and its benefits. They also need to
have an opportunity to express their views and contribute their own ideas
about how it might be implemented. Even if the change is non-negotiable,
cooperation and collaboration to achieve the change is more likely if
stakeholders are involved and kept informed. Experience shows that
approaching change in an open and consultative manner assists in more
effective implementation.
Accordingly, it is important that everyone in the organisation and those
interacting with

the organisation, both internal and external stakeholders, are kept

informed and provided with messages and information that allow them to
feel engaged, thus paving the way for involvement and adoption.
2.3.2 Communication barriers:
There are many barriers in communication management system that may
be due to many reasons such as cultural differences, language
differences, level of awareness, listening abilities, conflicts and
technological issues. These barriers can be categorised into four major
communications and issues during these types of communication are as
follow.
2.3.2.1

Listening barrier:

Employees should learn the techniques of better listening in order to

maintain good relation with those who deal with the organization. Poor
listening is perhaps one of the most serious barriers to effective
communication. Poor listening can generate costly accidents and cause
misunderstanding and rumours in an organization. (Weihrich et al, 2005).
2.3.2.2 Downward Communication:
Communication downward (i.e. from superiors to subordinates) may
breakdown because of poor organization, confusion about the message
being transmitted or for personal reasons. If the channels of
communication are inefficient or insufficient, the organization is at fault.
Confusion will also occur if the superior manager is incompetent and
issues instructions, which cannot be understood because they do not
make sense. Poor personal relations between superior and subordinate
will cause a breakdown in communications because of mutual suspicion or
because of their different backgrounds.
2.3.2.3

Upward Communication:

Communications upward (from subordinate to superior) may breakdown

for the same reasons. An additional consideration is that the subordinate,
because he wants to hide his own errors on the errors of a fellow worker,
or because he does not want to bother his boss with a problem he thinks
he can handle himself, may give incorrect information for his superior to
act on (BPP, 2000).
2.3.2.4

Horizontal communication:

Horizontal communication (i.e. between people on the same hierarchical

levels, perhaps in different department) may cause breakdown of
communication because departments are geographically separated with
inadequate communication links. There is no formal organization for the
cross-fertilization of ideas and opinions between departments, the

organization is too centralized and insists on all such negotiations being

made at top management level, or/ and because there is a poor informal
communication structure.
2.4

Improving Project Communications:

Youve seen how a good communication is vital to the management and

success of information technology projects. It is also explained above the
importance of project communication management, which can ensure that
the essential information reaches the right people at the right time. Some
of the areas to be considered for improving project communications are:

Communication skills to resolve conflicts

Developing better communication skills
Using templates for project communications
Developing communication infrastructure (Goudar, 2008).

2.4.1 Communication skills to resolve conflicts:

It is crucial for project managers to identify and resolve any kind of
conflicts in projects. Conflicts could be due to project priorities, technical
issues, project issues, personalities, staffing, procedures and process.
There are five basic modes for handling conflicts as mentioned below:
Confrontation Mode: When using confrontation mode, the project
manager will directly face a conflict using a problem-solving approach that
allows them to work through the disagreements. This approach is also
called as problem-solving mode. It is a win-win situation mode and is the
most favoured mode used for conflict resolution.
Compromise Mode: With the compromise mode, the project manager
uses a give and take approach to resolve the conflicts. In this both the
parties will bargain and search for solutions that brings satisfaction to
some extent.
Smoothing Mode: With the smoothing mode, project managers will
place emphasize on areas of agreement and avoid areas of disagreement.
Forcing Mode: With the forcing mode, project managers will force their
viewpoint. It is a win-lose situation and managers who are autocratic in
nature favour this mode.
Withdrawal Mode: With the withdrawal mode, project managers will
withdraw from a disagreement. This approach is least desired.
Research has indicated that confrontation mode is most widely used for
conflict resolution followed by compromise mode. Successful project
managers are less likely to use the other 3 modes for conflict resolution.

2.4.2 Developing better communication skills:

Most companies spend a lot of money in conducting technical trainings
and give less importance on soft skills training like communication
training. It is quite rare to find information technical professionals with the
ability to apply both good technical and communication skills.
Communication skills are the key to advancing their careers especially if
one wants to be a good and successful project manager.
Communications skills training include role-playing activities in which
participants learn concepts such as building rapport. It takes leadership to
help improve communication in employees. Senior management shouldnt
let their employees write bad documents, sloppy reports, give horrible
presentations or conduct meetings with no proper agenda/objective. Often
people complain about the time they waste in unnecessary or poorly
planned and poorly executed meetings. Meetings conducted with the
team or client can be made effective by following some simple guidelines
as listed below:
Define the purpose and outcome of the meeting
Determine who should attend the meeting
Provide an agenda to the participants before the meeting
Prepare handouts, visual aids related to the discussion if required before
in hand and distribute to the participants
Execute the meeting professionally
Build relationships (Goudar, 2008).
Senior management should expect high expectations and be a role model.
Organizations should allocate time and budget for conducting trainings,
provide staff to assist in relationship management and include time in
projects to have informal meetings with clients to help develop
relationships. Like any other goal, communication can be developed better
and improved with proper planning, support, and leadership from senior
management.
2.4.3 Using templates for project communications:
It is important to prepare and store project related templates and
guidelines for common project communication items such as project
charter, project description, status reports and so on. Good documentation
from previous projects could be a good source. It will be helpful to people
who are not experienced and new to projects and also for people who are
not good at documenting.
To make it even more convenient to use templates, the organization
should provide the facility of templates being available online. The team
should understand the senior managements, or stake holders or
customers documentation expectation for each particular project. Hence

if required, session should be given to the team to provide awareness

about the templates, the documentation standards to be used and the
availability of documentation guidelines.
2.4.4 Developing Communication Infrastructure:
A communication infrastructure is a set of tools, techniques and principles
that provide a foundation for the effective transfer of information among
people. Tools include e-mail, project management software, fax,
telephones, online chat, videoconferencing systems, teleconferencing
systems, document management software and so on. If the project team
is not co-located (which is increasingly common) video conferencing is
good, followed by phone calls. After that, Instant Messaging (IM) has its
place, and then comes email. Email is asynchronous, meaning that it
works in one direction at a time, and whilst it has its place, especially
when working across time zones, it should not be the primary
communication method.
Techniques include reporting guidelines, templates, meeting ground rules
and procedures, emailing guidelines decision-making processes, problem
solving approaches, conflict resolution techniques, and root cause
analysis. Communication is a two way street, and the PM needs to ensure
that traffic flows freely in both directions. Listening and observing nonverbal cues is at least as important as talking, and this highlights the need
to actually see team members. Particularly at launch, it's a good idea to
get everyone together. Personal contact helps build relationships that
lubricate the flow of information.
As the project progresses, the PM should monitor the status of each
activity, specially those on the critical path. It's essential that he get early
notice of any possible problems so that he has the opportunity to take
corrective action before the situation deteriorates any further. The best
way to learn about problems is through informal face-to-face
conversation, which is easily achieved while "Managing By Walking About"
(MBWA). Seriously, the PM should make a point of walking through the
team office on a daily basis and chatting with everyone to ask how things
are going. Principles include providing an environment for open dialogue
using straight talk and following an agreed upon work ethic.
Lastly, to mention it is challenging at times to install a well coordinated
and effective project communication system. The vital job has to be
planned meticulously to be efficient enough for the short time. Better
communication capabilities are necessary for successful results of the
project. Make sure to give due attention to communication tool, medium,
responsibility, goals, recipients and regularity. It's not essential that all the
information pass through the PM, in fact to avoid delays it's probably best
that it doesn't, but to stay in control he or she must be able to tap in to
these flows.

Remaining Topics to be covered:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Role of Corporate website

Role of Social media
Role of other technologies
Implementation issues
Critical evaluation of data
conclusion

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