The Subtle Art of Communicating Risk

Lindsey Lorette

OGL 421: Project Risk Management

Arizona State University

February 2nd, 2022

Professor Matthew Rodgers

What role does communication play in project risk management? What is the PM’s role
in communicating and how can he/she do it most effectively?

Communication is essential in project risk management. As it was mentioned in

the reading material, “Communication is, without a doubt, a project manager's most
important job” (Rajkumar, 2010). Effective communication can either make or break the
success that the project manager has within the project. Communication goes beyond
the normal thought process within project management because it is crucial to the
project process. The project manager is in charge of ensuring that effective
communication is created, maintained, and adjusted throughout the project life cycle.
The project manager’s communication is most important with the team members and
the stakeholders. The project manager is tasked with identifying the communication
requirements, analyzing the 5Ws and 1H, identifying and accommodating the enterprise
environmental factors, and identifying organizational process assets as mentioned in
the learning material (Rajkumar, 2010). The project manager is also responsible for
analyzing the nonverbal communication within their project team and stakeholders. The
project manager can set themselves up for effective communication by using the
approach that I listed above when in the beginning of the communication planning
phase. The project manager can ensure that the communication for the project is most
effective by using the knowledge from the learning material regarding effective
communication in risk management. The project manager can also ensure that the
communication is most effective by analyzing the risks associated with the project
communication. This is where project communication planning and risk management
planning come together. Communication is just as much a risk within the project as
scope creep. A project manager can be successful with this as long as they take the
time to identify and analyze the potential communication channels, risks, and obstacles.

There is a new feature that a stakeholder wants to introduce to your project. This
particular feature will greatly impact the scope and timeline of your project, so you are
reluctant to accept it at this time. You would like to propose that this feature be
revisited at a later time. Create an email to the stakeholder that nicely explains your
position, and proposes a solution.

To: Stakeholder Email

Subject: New Feature Requested

Body:
Good Afternoon Mr/Ms. Stakeholder,

Our project team has been working around the clock to ensure a seamless production
of our project. We have accomplished many tasks within the project thus far that have
allowed us to stay on track with the project scope and timeline.

Firstly, we want to thank you for your support along the way. We appreciate your passion
for finding potential features that may accompany the project; however, based on the
particular feature requested, there are a wide range of project impacts that will occur if
this feature is adapted in the project.

The impacts that we face in adapting this particular feature are directly related to the
scope and timeline of the project. As we currently stand, adding the project feature that
was suggested is not in the best interest of the project’s completion at this time.

I will reach out to the project sponsors and analyze the milestone dates. We will review
this feature in accordance with maintaining the project scope and timeline that we
agreed upon during the initial planning process and SOW. We will determine whether
this feature is able to be added through a change control process or if the level of
impact is too high based on the organization’s goals for the project.

I estimate that this process will take upwards of two weeks. To ensure that we stay
aligned on the review of this feature, I would like to set up a virtual meeting via Zoom,
where we can discuss the findings. I have given intentional space within my calendar to
connect about this review. Please respond back with a date that would work for us to go
over this information.

Thank you!

Best,

Lindsey Lorette

Project Manager

Citations:

Rajkumar, S. (2010). Art of communication in project management. Paper presented at

PMI® Research Conference: Defining the Future of Project Management, Washington,
DC. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.