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You have to understand the project thoroughly. All team members have to be

clear about what it is you’re building. There can be no question about vision.

When working on large projects, you must break the project into manageable
chunks and group similar phases or work efforts together. This assures
communication is targeted to the right team members at the right time.

In the case of geographically dispersed teams, you simply don’t have the
funding to fly everyone around the country so they can get together to work on

the project. Jim and his teams rely heavily on video conferencing, using instant
messaging software and voice conferencing to bring people together to discuss
drawings, design characteristics, and other components of the project.

You don’t need to be afraid of geographic boundaries when assembling people
with the skills you need. A little thinking outside the box might lead to a well-
formed, albeit dispersed, team. That being said, you, the project manager, are
the one who determines what will and what will not work as communication

methods for a given team.

The power of the Internet has greatly impacted the speed with which team
members can communicate and bring their projects to fruition.

Communication Triggers

There are several factors that may bring about the need to update stakeholders or
otherwise communicate new information to them. These communication triggers are

common on all projects and are mostly self-explanatory, so I’ll spend just a moment or
two briefly touching on each.

Audits Your organization may conduct audits of projects periodically to determine
whether they are receiving adequate value for the money spent and/or to determine
whether proper processes and procedures are followed. Audits may be conducted from
parties inside or outside the organization. This is one of many reasons to have your
project plan documented and to save important project artifacts to the project

repository.

Project Planning Communications occurs throughout the project planning process
and beyond. As I’ve discussed throughout the book, anytime you’re in the planning
stage, whether developing the charter, scope statement, budget, and more, you should
be actively communicating with your stakeholders and team members.

Project Change Anytime there is a scope, budget, or schedule change to the project,
it needs to be discussed and communicated with the stakeholders. Chapter 9 will cover
change processes in depth.

Risk Register Updates Risks are more likely to occur and have bigger consequences
earlier in the project. As risks occur or new risks are identified, the stakeholders should

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