Good morning, today we will take a look at the third task of the 2019 version of the new syllabus "People"-the last part of supporting team performance.
The new version of the syllabus describes this task as follows:
Support team performance, which is more clearly described in the decomposition of tasks, mainly including evaluating performance, developing team members based on performance, solving problems encountered by the current team, and verifying the results of performance improvement, these are related to the field of resource knowledge . Then let's break it down to see:
3. Determine the appropriate feedback method
This part of the content is actually to discuss the feedback method for the problems and performance in the project, and it is the basic requirement for communication, so this part of the content corresponds to the field of communication. The feedback method should be analyzed and judged according to the actual requirements of the team, so this part involves planning for communication, generating a communication management plan, and determining the appropriate communication and feedback methods.
PMBOK describes the communication management plan as follows:
The communication management plan is an integral part of the project management plan. It describes how to plan, structure, execute and supervise the project communication to improve the effectiveness of the communication. The plan includes the following information:
Communication needs of relevant parties;
Information to be communicated, including language, form, content and level of detail;
Reporting steps;
The reason for posting the information;
The time limit and frequency of posting required information, confirming receipt, or responding (if applicable);
The person responsible for communicating relevant information;
The person responsible for authorizing the release of confidential information;
The person or group receiving the information, including their needs, needs and expectations;
The method or technology used to transfer information, such as memos, emails, press releases, or social media;
Resources allocated for communication activities, including time and budget;
As the project progresses, such as changes in the community of related parties at different stages of the project, update and optimize the method of communication management plan;
General glossary;
Project information flow chart, work flow (may include approval procedures), report list and meeting plan, etc .; constraints from laws and regulations, technology, organizational policies, etc.
The communication management plan also includes guidelines and templates for project status meetings, project team meetings, web meetings, and email. If the project wants to use the project website and project management software, then they must be written into the communication management plan.
This part describes the content of the communication management plan in great detail. It is recommended to read this part in detail. However, in order to quickly grasp the importance of the communication management plan, we also need to remember the following parts:
Improper communication planning may lead to problems: delay in information transmission; transmission of information to the wrong audience, insufficient communication with relevant parties, and misunderstanding of relevant information.
In other words, if any of the above problems occur, you need to check the communication management plan to determine whether the communication problem comes from planning or execution.
Exercise
Example 5. Which of the following indicates the lack of a communication management plan?
A. Project related parties accepted the meeting notice, but did not participate
B. The project sponsor approves the project scope statement but does not express their concerns about a key assumption
C. The project sponsor complained that they did not receive weekly status updates, although the project manager claimed to have sent these updates via SMS
D. Because an unexpected event could not be identified as a risk, the project schedule needs to be postponed
This question is more clearly used to test the situation of improper communication planning or lack of planning.
[Analysis]: Answer C. This question exam planning communication management output-communication management plan. Planning project communication is very important for the final success of the project. Improper communication planning may lead to various problems, such as delays in information transmission, delivery of information to the wrong audience, insufficient communication with relevant parties, or misunderstanding of relevant information. The content described in option C indicates that the information is not in place and the communication management plan should be reviewed first.
Example 6. A related party from an internal department complains that it has received too many emails related to the project buying strategy sent by the project manager.
What should the project manager do?
A. Review the communication management plan
B. Review related party participation plan
C. Implement conflict management strategies
D. Implement related party management strategies
There may be many problems with communication, including sending wrong messages.
[Analysis]: Answer A. This question exam planning communication management output-communication management plan. Planning project communication is very important for the final success of the project. Improper communication planning may lead to various problems, such as delays in information transmission, delivery of information to the wrong audience, insufficient communication with relevant parties, or misunderstanding of relevant information. Therefore, when the relevant parties complain about too many emails, indicating that there is a communication problem, you should first check the communication management plan to determine whether it is a communication planning problem, and then make follow-up measures.
Example 7. The new project manager realizes that the project team and project stakeholders are not aware of the project status, and the project manager is confused because emails have been sent to these two groups every day.
What is the cause of this situation?
A. Team members have received too many emails to read and missed some important updates
B. The communication management plan lacks sufficient details on how to contact project stakeholders and team members
C. The project stakeholders are not clearly identified in the project stakeholder analysis
D. Incorrectly defined participation plan
If it can be determined that it is a communication problem, then in the final analysis it is still a problem in planning.
[Analysis]: Answer B. This question exam planning communication management output-communication management plan. The two groups do not understand the project status, but the project status email has been sent to these two groups, indicating that there is a problem in communication. The communication in the project is done according to the communication management plan, so when there is a communication problem, you should first check Whether there is a problem with the communication management plan.
4. Verify performance improvement
The "performance" involved in this part can be understood as individual performance, team performance, and project performance. Personal performance and team performance correspond to the two knowledge points of personal and team evaluation and team performance evaluation, which have been described in the previous section (click here to view previous content).
The project performance corresponds to the content of the project management data and information.
PMBOK describes the content of this part as follows:
A large amount of data needs to be collected, analyzed and transformed throughout the project life cycle. Collect project data from various processes and share it within the project team. The data collected in each process is analyzed and summarized in combination with relevant background, and then transformed into project information. The information is communicated orally or stored and distributed in various formats.
Project data needs to be collected and analyzed regularly throughout the project life cycle. The main terms for project data and information are defined as follows:
Work performance data. During the execution of project work, the original observations and measurements collected from each ongoing activity. For example, work completion percentage, quality and technical performance measurement results, schedule activity start and end dates, number of change requests, number of defects, actual cost and actual duration, etc. Project data is usually recorded in the project management information system (PMIS) and project files.
Work performance information. Performance data collected from various control processes and combined with relevant background and cross-domain relationships for integrated analysis. Examples of performance information include the status of deliverables, the status of implementation of change requests, and the estimated completion of the project to be estimated.
Work performance report. In order to make decisions, raise questions, take action or attract attention, compile physical or electronic project documents formed by work performance information. Such as status reports, memos, argument reports, information notes, electronic dashboards, recommendations, and situation updates.
These three have a corresponding relationship. First, in the process of guiding and managing the project, job performance data was generated . The job performance data was analyzed through various monitoring and control processes to obtain work performance information , and the work performance information was integrated during the monitoring project work process to obtain Work performance report .
This part of the content can show the project information flow through the following figure:
Chart project data, information, report flow
That is to say, the premise of performance improvement is to first understand the current performance, identify gaps based on the comparison of the current performance and the benchmarks in the project management plan, and find ways to improve. It is precisely because of the circulation of these performance data, information, and reports that the performance of the project can be circulated to improve and make decisions based on specific performance.
Exercise
Example 8. A new project manager takes over the project after a certain stage of the project is finished. The new project manager suspects that there was a delay in the previous stage.
To confirm this, the project manager should review which of the following?
A. Lessons learned
B. Project Charter
C. Progress Performance Index (SPI)
D. Work performance report
There will be some ambiguities in this question. Some students may choose SPI, but the topic specifically emphasizes "previous stage", and SPI is the state value, which reflects the current state, and does not represent the previous stage, so it is not suitable.
[Analysis]: Answer D. This question test monitors the project work output-work performance report. Delays in work progress belong to work performance, and work performance is recorded in the work performance report. A work performance report is a physical or electronic project document formed by compiling work performance information for decision-making, action, or attention. Project information can be communicated verbally, but in order to facilitate the recording, storage, and distribution of project performance information, it is necessary to use physical or electronic project files. The work performance report contains a series of project documents designed to draw attention and make decisions or actions. Specific project performance indicators can be specified at the beginning of the project, and the implementation of these indicators should be reported to key stakeholders in the normal work performance report.
Example 9. Projects that have been on normal track for the first two months have begun to experience severe delays, and the project manager has identified major issues.
Where should the project manager record the status of the project to be reported?
A. Project schedule
B. Work performance report
C. Problem log
D. Meeting of interested parties
This question is relatively simple and belongs to the test question that can directly choose the answer.
[Analysis]: Answer B. The content of the performance report of this test. Work performance report. In order to make decisions, raise questions, take action or draw attention, compile work performance information and form physical or electronic project documents. For example, status reports, memoranda, argument reports, information notes, electronic reports, recommendations, or situation updates.
This issue introduces you to "Task 3-Support Team Performance", which involves a lot of content. I hope that the students who prepare for the exam can read it carefully.
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