Communications
No better way to foul up a business relationship is poor communications. Realizing
that planning, maintaining and controlling of communication depend on:
- size of the engagement;
- project management methodology;
- organizational maturity on both sides;
- time zone differences;
- complexity of domain or technology;
Ainstainer Group takes the following steps to carry out an effective communication
and to prevent misunderstanding of a customer and a supplier. The main step in ensuring
solid communications is planning. The communication plan should outline all the
most important components of the process, media, participating parties, etc. Below
is an example of a simplified communication plan:
|
Meeting
|
Frequency/Schedule
|
Media
|
Participants
|
Runned By
|
Description
|
Duration
|
|
Daily status meeting
|
Daily status meeting
|
Skype
|
All team members
|
Team leader
|
For each team member:
- Status updates for the previous period (since last meeting)
- Tasks planned for the next period
- Any impediments associated with execution of the tasks going forward
|
< 30 Min
|
|
Weekly status meeting
|
Weekly, Friday at 17:00 AM (CET)
|
Skype
|
Project Manager Team Leader On-site team
|
Project Manager
|
- High-level status review
- For each project
- Status updates for the previous period (since last meeting)
- Tasks planned for the next period
- Any impediments associated with execution of the tasks going forward
|
< 1 Hour
|
|
Monthly status meeting
|
Last Friday of the month, 12:00 AM (CET)
|
Skype
|
All the team members
|
Project Manager
|
- High-level status review
- Other, as needed a. Specific Items / Announcements
- Q & A
|
< 1 Hour
|
Moreover, in Ainstainer we realize that communication is more than a process that
can be organized. It is about people and how they relate to each other. It encompasses
trust, respect, equality, and a lot more of the soft skills that are difficult to
convey over distance. One of the things our team takes into consideration is the
rule: there is a person at the other end of your email. We understand that organization
and planning is important, but it's the people part that needs to be taken care
of too.