Communication Management using Service Blueprint
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Abstract
Communications management is the systematic planning, implementing, monitoring, and revision of all the channels of communication within or between an organization, it also refers to the dissemination of new communication directives connected with an organization, network, or certain technology.
In terms of Project Management, Communication Management is grouping processes based on the requirement to meet the information needs of a project and relevant stakeholders. The Pulse study also revealed that the most crucial success factor in project management is effective communications to all stakeholders.
Communication and group interaction are commonly cited regarding the quality, effectiveness, and satisfaction of group decision-making. This is where the question arouses, mostly, it is seen that the organization’s effectiveness and efficiency are evaluated high or as referred to as thriving in the market when all internal departments work in alignment, have transparency and subtle engagement considering the certainty of work culture in cross-departments. However, few of the organizations tend to hardly perform or to refer to the term surviving or die slowly in the market, considering the terms as depicted in the efficiency vs effectiveness matrix.
For successful overall management, a communication management plan must be developed. A study by the Project Management Institution (PMI) reveals that inadequate communication is responsible for one-fifth of project failures. It has to be done in such a way that it is closely aligned with organizational strategy, governance management, and portfolio performance management. Part of the communication management process is to select the most effective communication strategy. In order to make the communications/flow of information throughout the functional departments more stable and transparent, the respective article discusses the scope, applicability, theoretical practices, and limitations of the Service Blueprint model.
Service Blueprint is leveraged to understand cross-functional relationships and make front and back-stage processes more aligned. In a retrospect, it also helps visualize the relationships between different service components; people, props (physical or digital evidence), and processes that are directly tied to touchpoints in a specific service lifecycle.
Communications Management
Communications Management in the context of the project focuses on developing a strategy by establishing effective communication between the relevant stakeholders, it also focuses on performing the activities to adhere to the formed communication strategy. It also falls in a retrospect, considering an effective and efficient flow of information as an outcome. It employs the process required to ensure timely generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrieval, and disposal of project distribution.
This integral part of the process can therefore be briefly classified into respective parts;
- Communications planning - Information distribution - Performance reporting - Managing stakeholders
These processes communicate with one another contributing to the success of project communications management, considering each process including a certain group of individuals based on the project requirement. The art of communications is a broad subject and it involves a substantial body of know-how as represented in the respective schematic.
The individual components in the communications model are supposed to be considered primitive when discussing communication on the project level. The corresponding model illustrates ideas or information as sent and/or received between two individuals or a group of individuals.
Communications planning
Planning communication is the process of developing an essence of a legitimate approach, accordingly, plan for communication activities, depending on the requirement of the project, its stakeholders, and the available organizational resources. When a controversial project is been worked upon, the solution can seldom be strengthening the communications with relevant stakeholders. Whereas the project might not even change significantly from its original plan, but mere communication with stakeholders can often work out as the deal-breaker which embarks the project to succeed. PMBOK dictates that standard communication needs such as progress updates, investor circulars must be initially identified, and their content must be planned out in advance in the form of a Communications Management Plan. For managers to plan and map the projects in the early phase, distinct tools and models are used to create a layout to maintain smooth communication throughout the timeline by leveraging performance indicators like; requirement gathering and analysis, stakeholder assessment matrix, project scheduler, portfolio register, Gantt Chart, etc.
Information distribution
Once done with creating the plan, it has to be pursued. Therefore, during the project execution phase, managing communications can stand as a major factor between a successful project and a failed one. Information distribution indulges in making information available to the relevant stakeholders in a certain period. Information distribution also involves implementing the Communications Management Plan, as well as acknowledging the impromptu requests for information. The process of creating, manipulating, and recording the communications is an important part and a major aspect in terms of project management, which thus requires perpetual support from the monitoring entity, may that be a Project manager (PMBOK). A few driving key performance indicators could be; communication technology, communication tools like presentations, feedback, peer reviews, performance management information systems, project scheduler, etc.
Performance reporting
Referring to other classified concepts, communication, and its management are important and constitute the overall success of a project, whereas a presence of an entity or governing body that strongly controls the flow of information is responsible for monitoring the activities which support as an essential piece of a puzzle. The performance reporting process associates the assortment of standard data, disposal or performance information to the stakeholders.
The iterative process involves the communications on the project level at the current point in the project, to be adequate. As part of the monitoring & controlling process group, the controlling manager must include communication control at regular status update points. At the same time, effectiveness analysis, quality control, scope validation, and the other project control items take place, the governing body must ensure that each stakeholder has received the appropriate amount of information and whether anything is needed to be updated (PMBOK). The performance reporting deals with the know-how of affiliated resources being used to deliver the project outcomes. A few random tools or Key Performance Indicators could be; assessing work performance data, enterprise environmental factors, organizational assets, change requests, issue log/register, stakeholder register, etc.
Managing stakeholders
Stakeholder management deals with managing the communications/flow of information to gratify the requirements, resolve issues if any with the relevant project stakeholders. Adaptive and effective managing stakeholders boosts the chances that the project shall remain on track, improving the ability of individuals to operate in harmony by limiting the interruptions during the project timeline. The governing body which is responsible for stakeholder management is the project manager. Relevant tools and design-based models to perceive the stakeholder management could be maintaining communications management plan, organizational process assets, improvising communication methods, project issue register, approved change requests, corrective measures, and adaptive actions.
Challenges in Communications Management
Communications Management ensures the flow of information concerning the project by respecting the assigned time with high priority. Communication is practiced both internally and externally amongst the allocated resources and other relevant stakeholders. These stakeholders are often responsible to influence the project outcome which shall make productive communication, most important part of the management considering a project’s perspective. However, there is a high degree of complexity and uncertainty while simply practicing communication and/or flow of information. The respective sub-sections touch the base in regards to the potential challenges in communications management may confront.
Complexity in Communications Mangement
One important factor about communication being an utmost priority is that oftentimes, the communication medium is not considered prior, which raises the chances of complexity in communicating among the cross-functional departments. Another important factor raising complexity while efficiently communicating is improper time management of resources. Considering the scope of the project, ‘n’ number of resources must be allotted to a certain timeframe, if these resources are unaware of project meetings, their milestones, and cumulative milestones, it would reflect a less productive outcome. Some areas of communication may need encouragement, whilst others may be excessive. Having an unrealistic count of meetings can sometimes result in nothing, which ultimately reflects in decreasing the productivity of the resources. Lack of knowledge transfer shall increase complexity in understanding and can lead to the waste of time if important information is not perceived by desired/targeted stakeholders.
One of the most potent and important factors could be discussed is that many communication management issues lie due to technological gap in the hierarchy and/or cross-functional departments, which naturally creates void due to technological intricacy. In order to confront such a scenario, the responsible resources shall be mandated to get trained and acquainted with the applicability and practicality of the corresponding tool or platform.
Uncertainty in Communications Mangement
Uncertainty is a state of limited knowledge, where it is impossible to exactly describe the existing state, a future outcome, or more than one possible outcome. Considering challenges in uncertainty shall help create a vast list, however, it can be handled by sheerly encountering the challenges. Potential challenges could be identified; one of them being, an unclear idea about cross-functional departments and/or transparency issues with the internal or external departments.
Uncertainty should be at its peak when a few departments, working on the same project shall have a communication void. This communication gap generally helps build an unclear decision gate for a few relevant stakeholders, leading to uncertainty considering timeline and promised deliverables. This mainly hampers the alignment on inter-department level work due to its non-regulated and non-monitored work culture. Another important factor that could lead to a higher degree of uncertainty is having an unclear idea or opinion about the workload of different stakeholders (internal or external) considering the designated task shall be done within a scope which reciprocates the unclear scope clarification.
Service Blueprint
Good governance is at the heart of any successful business. An organization needs to achieve its objectives and drive improvement, as well as maintain legal and ethical standing in the eyes of internal & external stakeholders, regulators, and the wider community. However, the service blueprint is one of the innovation tools which helps organization govern the processes appropriately.
The service process can be viewed as a chain or constellation of activities that allow the service to function effectively. Service blueprinting is a flexible approach that helps with the challenges of service process design and analysis. It is a powerful technique that can facilitate the detailed refinement of a single step in the customer process as well as the creation of a comprehensive, visual overview of an entire service process.
