How do you determine which documents are necessary for project communication?

Concordo que projetos completos exigem documenta??es mais detalhadas. No entanto tenho percebido que o nível de detalhe nas documenta??es tem diminuído com o passar do tempo e a evolu??o das metodologias de desenvolvimento. A falta de documenta??o ou documenta??o incompleta dificulta a Manutencao dos Projetos/Sistemas que equivale a 70% do ciclo de vida do software. A facilidade da manuten??o de sistemas, na minha vis?o é diretamente proporcional ao nível da qualidade da documenta??o. Além disto, recomendo que a documenta??o seja atualizada conforme o projeto evolua durante o ciclo de vida de desenvolvimento ou de manuten??o.

Determining the necessary documents for project communication depends on your organization's guidelines, which vary by project complexity, lifecycle, contract type, and team composition, including vendors. Initially, start with the recommended documentation and continuously assess their actual usage and impact on the team and stakeholders. Tailoring these documents based on real-world consumption and feedback is crucial. A common mistake is attempting to finalize all communication documents at the project's . Instead, regular evaluation and adaptation of documentation strategies are essential to ensure effective project communication. This approach encourages flexibility and responsiveness to the project's evolving needs.

Complexity is definitely one of the main aspects to consider for a project. Large enterprise scale projects would require multiple artifacts, ranging from consolidated project plans across teams, multiple contract schedules, an overarching business or system specification, approved solution architecture docs, consolidated test plans, test results, risk registers, detailed budget plans, timesheets, etc. These may have further additions or removals depending on whether the methodology followed is agile, lean, or waterfall. For smaller scale projects, it would still benefit the teams to have the above artifacts, but it should be noted that you would have a smaller team so maintaining such artifacts would be difficult.

Keeping it crisp and objective, any project must have following documents to explain/justify to stakeholders. 1. What 2. Why 3. How 4. Timelines 5. Owners with RACI detailing

1) Develop a comprehensive communication plan outlining the project's communication objectives, stakeholders, channels, and frequency 2) Conduct a stakeholder analysis to identify all relevant project stakeholders. 3) Define the appropriate communication channels for different types of information. 4) Consider any legal or compliance requirements that may dictate the types of documents that must be communicated. 5) Establish feedback mechanisms to gather input and insights from stakeholders. 6) Clearly communicate project milestones, deliverables, and associated documents to keep stakeholders informed about progress. 7) Include documents that capture lessons learned throughout the project. 8) Periodically review the communication plan

The methodology is an essential factor. The approaches can be related to upfront and comprehensive documentation and plans where waterfall is concerned or iterative in adaptive in an agile context, or a hybrid of both. It is also essential to know what your stakeholders and customers are most attuned to as it may end up being a separate project just to accustom them to a given methodology. That being said, an inherently agile company should not move to a waterfall approach just for a given stakeholder as it may be detrimental to their life cycle. This is where hybrid approaches may work better and provide a safe journey for all involved.

Following my first Agile Project Management courses at Stanford, I have been convinced that for software project management, Agile methodologies are far superior to Waterfall. Agile project management methodologies excel in software project management by fostering adaptive collaboration, iterative development, and continuous feedback, enabling teams to swiftly respond to changing requirements, enhance product quality, and deliver value to clients more efficiently than traditional, rigid approaches. What you won't find in online advice columns or documentation on Agile is that it all comes down to which software you choose for your company. For a small startup, I prefer Trello (which integrates with Slack). Notion is also growing on me.

Let's say, it depends on: - complexity - project methodology (agile, waterfall, ....) - culture of the organisation - level of trust/politics Anyway, it is key to create the minimal set of documentation so that it's clear for everyone participating in the project on what are the goals and deliverables.

Methodology of the project which clear up the dependency between teams, kind of deliveries, who should understand full information and who need to get a final state of the project in certain time manner, this is what helps to create a communication plan

The project methodology usually refers to an established framework that one needs to refer or reference .. the work products would tell the story about methodology used... be it waterfall or agile the key is to capture and document use requirements (or user stories) in sufficient details that can be related to functionality or feature .. --> the QA or testing to demonstrate that the feature or functionality is working as desired .. the specs or design documents are sort of internal to the project team

- Frequency of communication: Depends on stakeholder needs and project phase. More frequent communication during critical phases. - Channels of communication: Tailor communication channels to each stakeholder's preference (email, meetings, project management tools, etc.). - Transparency and honesty: Openly communicate challenges, risks, and changes to manage expectations and build trust. - Proactive communication: Don't wait for stakeholders to ask questions. Anticipate their needs and provide regular updates.

In my point of view determining necessary documents for project communication depends on various factors like project size, complexity, stakeholders involved, and the preferred communication channels. Starting by identifying key stakeholders and their information needs, your communication documents must be tailored accordingly to ensure clarity and transparency throughout the project lifecycle.

My preference is to orchestrate your tools to provide stakeholders real time information on status, risks, etc. my advice is to get everything out of documents and into tools and use something like PowerBI to bring it all together in real time reports created for your different stakeholders.

Power/Interest (P/I) Mapping is always one of the most valuable tools on my tool belt in project management for effectively managing stakeholder expectations. By plotting stakeholders on a matrix based on their power and interest, project managers gain a nuanced understanding of each stakeholder's influence and level of engagement. This allows for tailored communication strategies, prioritizing efforts towards high-power, high-interest stakeholders, and mitigating risks associated with those who may wield significant power but have minimal interest, thereby enhancing overall project success and stakeholder satisfaction.

My preference is to guide all stakeholders through basic documents that facilitate communication, agreement, and alignment. Additionally, customer habits also play a determining role in this

To be transparent and well organized, stakeholders should be aware of the communication they will receive during the project life cycle. This will help them to be informed about the project within predefined periods and ad-hoc communication to be handled when needed.

My personal opinion reg. the communication - set up regular Calls with a clear focus and agenda. That makes life so much easier and there is always a touchpoint

I have observed a few beneficial considerations for project communication plans include: 1) Education with each stakeholder to comprehend the purpose and meaning of each communication plan document. 2) Add a RACI attribute (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed) to all activities within the plan for stakeholders to understand their action for activities. 3) Obtain signoff of the project communication plan with key stakeholders upon completion at mutually agreed phases of the plan.

The biggest challenge in the industry is time management. With back-to-back project meetings, one is left with no time to catch up on emails (to read the communications) and work on project deliverables. It is therefore recommended to have daily brief project status meetings so that all can communicate their issues. Project Steering Committee meetings can be less frequent, based on the seriousness of the project. What lacks is someone following up on the action items, as people forget due to other priorities in the project.

- Involve stakeholders in developing the communication plan for buy-in and clarity. - Regularly review and update the plan as project needs evolve. - Use visuals and data to enhance communication effectiveness. - Seek feedback from stakeholders on the communication approach.

Hop on a call with your stakeholders and ask whether they see any value in your shared documents. Ask about their needs, what would make them successful, and how you can help. Be Lean with documentation. Feel free to modify the look and form of your documents if needed to meet your Stakeholders' needs.

This is a piece, whereby everyone puts it at the back of their mind. Documents needs to be regularly updated. If there is no follow up reviews. Don’t start in the 1st place. Erroneous documents result in a lot of quality topic. Be sure to practise a review process to ensure documents are updated and document correctly.

O processo de revis?o e feedback de documentos é essencial para garantir a qualidade e relevancia dos materiais de comunica??o do projeto. Ele ajuda a determinar quais documentos s?o necessários para transmitir informa??es importantes e a assegurar que atendam aos padr?es e expectativas das partes interessadas. Para gerentes de projetos de software, essa habilidade é crucial, pois a qualidade da comunica??o pode impactar diretamente o sucesso e a satisfa??o do projeto.

- Establish clear document review guidelines and deadlines. - Provide constructive feedback, focusing on specific improvements. - Utilize document review tools and software for efficiency. - Encourage open communication and discussion during the review process.

1. Establish a feedback loop for document reviews to ensure accuracy and relevance. 2. Actively seek input from team members and stakeholders to refine and enhance communication materials through constructive feedback.

One of the biggest cause of project management failure is to not reviewing and updating the initial guidelines time to time that was set in the beginning/planning phase. Often the bigger projects/programs change their course multiple times and it is important to review our initial strategy and documentation needs and do a course correction so that it stays relevant and important.

Depending on your business needs, there win be several templates that you can start with. ChatGPT is a great resource as well. In my opinion, the most effective way to communicate status is the one that puts pertinent facts with the right level of details and helps identify the risks and deviation from project goals. Normal tendency is to overstate the positives and subdue the negatives. Such a practice ultimately hurts the project.

One lesser-known method in software project management is the "Rubber Duck Debugging" technique. It involves explaining your code or a specific problem to an inanimate object, like a rubber duck. Articulating the issue out loud often helps programmers identify and resolve issues more effectively by prompting a deeper understanding of the code, uncovering overlooked details, and facilitating a mental shift that aids problem-solving. While seemingly unconventional, this method has proven to be surprisingly effective for many developers.

A project can be complex during implementation but that should not be confused with stakeholders' engagement. A project can be simple, but the impact so far reaching that several stakeholders need to be kept informed and updated. Always consider who does your project impact and that will guide you in the communication plan. Communication plans are always domain specific. For example, if the project you are doing impacts the service staff, you cannot expect the service staff to sit down in front of a computer and read your updates. There needs to be a different communication method to those most impacted by your project. Adjust accordingly.

La regla más básica que se debe cumplir en cuanto a documentos para comunicar es la de menos es más. La comunicación cara a cara es base de la agilidad. Por lo tanto, buscaremos los mínimos documentos posibles para cada caso.