Choosing the right communication network for your project

Written by Emilie Lewis Laurberg

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to clarify the importance of choosing a suitable communication network for an organization. There exists several different communication network structures and hierarchies. To chose the right network structure it is important to understand the benefits og disadvantages of each different type. In terms of types there exists a vast amount of combinations of communication network structures depending on parameters such as actors in the network, medias used, matter of centralisation, density, complexity and grouping. It is crucial to choose the best type of communication network for an organization im terms of avoiding fatal consequences and archieve the communication goals for the specific organization.

The structure should be chosen based on the strategic plan for the project/program/porfolio management, which can be dependent on e.g. the amount of innovation nedded in the organisation, how experienced the team are with working together and how many recourses are allocated to ensure good communication.

This article addresses the possibilities of analyzing the type of network structure in an organization. Optimizing the desired flow of information in a organization in regards to the organisational structure and strategy, to make sure the decisions, scope etc. gets around to the actors involved.

Big Idea

Communication has always existed in organizational structures, since it is crucial for the decision making and for the learning in the organization. Communication is the process where one or more persons or groups send or exchange information. The number of communication methods have increased due to the development of new communication technologies. Not only the structure of the communication network is important, but the communication media plays a crucial role in the efficiency of the communication. This is because there has been an increase of communication media types but also by opening up for using another form of content. When interacting with other people it is common to experience that the language used face-to-face is different than if the same information should be published in a report. This supports the meaning of different medias used when communicating, which will be discussed in the section regarding richness of information

Communication process

Figure 1: The elements of a typical two-way communication process with possibility of feedback between actors. To compare with the description of the communication process, Actor A acts as the original sender and Actor B acts as the original receiver (own figure based on knowledge from and ).

In the communication process the actors involved can be labelled either sender, receiver or both, as seen in figure 1. Between the sender and the receiver the message will be moving throug a media of a chosen type. Communication is either one-way or two-way depending on the possibility for the original receiver to send back a message to the original sender, which is called feedback. The model in figure 1 shows a two-way communication process, where feedback is allowed. The process of communicating follows the structure explained below:

For one-way communication:

1. The sender must encode the message
2. The media for transmitting the message must be chosen
3. The receiver must decode and interpret the message from the media

   For two-way communication the same procedure af for one-way occurs, but with additional steps:

4. The receiver encodes a feedback message
5. The media for transmitting the feedback message must be chosen
6. The original sender must decode and interpret the feedback message from the media

In figure 1 it is also seen that the media "box" is not strictly defined. This symbolises the noise that surrounds the specific message, and can be different things such as other people talking in the background, e-mails from other colleagues, body language of the sender etc.

Why the communication network is an important factor of project management

Every project is a temporary organization, in which a communication network will happen automatically. As stated in the sixth edition of the PMBOK Guide, "Communication develops the relationships necessary for successful project and program outcomes" , in which it is important to evaluate on. Emerged communication networks can reflect the hierarchy of the organization and vise vesa, thus it may be relevant to implement a formal communication network in terms of rules and structure.

To make the right decisions, to learn efficiently and to align the work tasks, it is important to coordinate internally. The more coordination that is necessary in an organization, the stronger the communication also has to be to avoid misunderstandings. These misunderstandings can e.g. be regarding crucial information in a project such as the deadline, the work load distribution in terms of who is responsible for what, and even the strategy can be skewed if the communication is not sufficient. The right use of communication can also prevent some amount of conflict associated with the internal organization culture. With more information traveling around the organization, the stronger the culture get, and the better the organization can be resistant to conflicts. The whole basis of the decisions depends on the communication, which means it is important that the necessary information is accessible for the decision maker.

10 Critical functions of communication described by
Convey information Creates basis for planning Formulates goals and KPIs Development of strategy Controls behavior Coordinates behavior Build up relations Develops culture Connects organizations in networks Present the organization to its surroundings

The goal for good communication:
The receiver should understand what the sender wishes the receiver to understand. To do so the sender needs to put himself into the place of the receiver and take some different aspects into account. First of all the language has to be commonly known between the sender and receiver, to gain a common understanding of the simple meaning of words and sentences. Secondly the communication media has to be something the receiver is comfortable with, to avoid insecurity in understanding the message. Lastly it is important to express the importance of the information given, so the message does not disappears. If the receiver receives too much information, e.g. in a large amount of different e-mails, telephone calls, letters or meetings, an information overload may occur. When information overload occurs, the receiver must either ignore some of the messages on purpose or by accident, since all the information cannot be perceived at once.

Communication network structures

Figure 2: Examples of common communication network structures; The circle, All channels, Chain network and The wheel (own figure based on knowledge from and )

Figure 3: Examples of communication network characteristica in terms of centralization and density (own figure based on knowledge from ).

In many organizations there is in one way or another a resemblance between the communication network structure and the formal structure of the organization. Two concepts of communication structures that are often mentioned are vertical communication which is hierarchical and horizontal communication which moves between equal actors.

Vertical communication

An example of a vertical communication structure is seen in figure 2 as the Chain network. A benefit of vertical communication is that the message can be transformed and translated into something more understandable for the sender. For a person high up in the hierarchy it may not be known what information is important to the regular employee, and in this way a direct message could easily be misunderstood, which in this way can be avoided. A challenge in vertical communication is that the message can be distorted when moving through links up and down the hierarchy. If an actor higher up in the hierarchy sends an information through a manager to a regular employee, the manager may omit details to spare the receiver information they think is not needed. This can either happen by accident or if the manager has another agenda than the sender. It can also happen if the manager has a different understanding of the strategy than the sender e.g. if the manager is specialized in some way. The more links the message must go through, where each link is on a different hierarchical level, the bigger the risk of a distortion of the original message.

Horizontal communication

Examples of flat communication structures are seen in figure 2 as The circle and All channels, where all actors are equally important in their communication. A benefit of flat communication is the mutual respect in the relation between the sender and the receiver. This may result in a better way of understanding each other which again results in a better interpretation of the message as intended. A challenge in flat communication is the higher possibility of information overflow due to the many links between the knots.

When analysing communication network structures it is interesting to examine the following characteristics:

1. Centralisation
2. Density
3. Complexity
4. Grouping

Two important elements used in the characteristics are the knot and the link. The knot symbolises the place or point where information is either recieved or sent from. A knot is in many cases a person who receives information and can send it to someone else. Who the information can be sent to depends on the links in the structure. A link is the route the information can travel. Only if there exists a link between two knots information can be shared between them. It is important to differ between one-way and two-way links when analysing or structuring a network. One-way links are more typically found in vertical communication whereas two-way links are commonly used in horizontal communication. In figure 2 the knots are represented by persons and links are represented by lines.

Communication network structure characteristica

Centralization	Density
Centralized: An example of a centralized network is The wheel seen in figure 2. A centralized communication network is by Oxford Reference described as "A communication network in which one group member has access to more communication channels than any other and therefore tends to process more information than the peripheral group members" . A centralization typically more hierarchical and can be beneficial when the work tasks are simple and can be based on routines. Furthermore centralization can ensure every actor in the network has the same knowledge, but information will always have to pass one single knot. To centralize a communication structure a system such as a PMO system can be implemented (for more information see article Optimizing a company and it's PPM with a PMO system) Decentralized: Examplex of decentralized networks are The circle and All channels seen in figure 2. Decentralization invites to faster communication and can reduces the amount of mistakes and misunderstandings when the information is complex. Decentralization enables direct communication which is a benefit when working with a project without fixed procedure because this often leads to an increased amount of questions concerning different parts and actors. In decentralized networks the decision making process is usually out delegated, and furthermore this type of structure often requires a larger amount of self-management than centralizations does. Decentralized networkds makes it possible for employees to go directly to their closest leader in smaller groups. This is like in a centralized network, but with several smaller centers instead of just one. This could e.g. be a network structure with one manager, communicating with 5 sub-managers, each communicating with 5 empoyees. This is a hierarchical type of network. Decentralized communication networks comes in deifferent shapes and styles	Strong links: Strong links require a large amount of resources allocated, thus it have to be considered if the value of strong links compensate this. An example of a network with strong linkgs is seen in the model Centralized with strong links in figure 3. A few strong links can act as an internetwork and be very reliable in regards to receiving and understanding messages, but they can also result in a blindness for new information from the outside of this strong internetwork. Weak links: With a great amounk of weak links information can travel in any desired direction. A network with many weak links are seen in the model Decentralized with weak links in figure 3. This result in a larger amount of stimuli for the actors involved and a possible information overload. Weak links encourages to a more innovative work atmosphere, since every new idea can be presented for everyone in the network very easily. NAVN writes about how many weak links are more efficient than few strong links, mainly based on the fact that stronger links require more recourses, which should be kept in mind if the organisation has chosen to allocate only a low amount of recources .
Complexity	Grouping
Many links/knots: , Distributed network structures makes it possible for all actors in the network to communicate directly with one another. An example of a distributed network with many links and knots are seen as the model Decentralized with weak links in figure 3. A benefit of a complex network is that the information from one peripheral actor does not have to go through a "central" actor as in the centralized or decentralized networks to get to another peripheral actor. A challenge with complexity is that if one peripheral actor has given a piece of information to another peripheral actor, the other actors will not neccessarily know. This means if a third actor, no matter the "status" in the network, has to find the exact same piece of information, he or she has to search for it to get it without knowing where it is to be found. This is a flat type of network where hierarchical status does not neccessarily matter. With a great complexity comes a larger risk of information overflow. Few links/knots: With only a few links and knots the network structure is kept simple. Here the risk of information overload is smaller, but this structure type does not facilitate innovation as much as a complex network structure due to less unexpected inputs.	Defined groups: Several smaller interconnected groups can exist within a single communication network. Each group has it's own set of rules and norms, making it crucial that the actors connecting the groups are on the same wavelenght to ensure a common understanding between the defined groups. Undefined groups: With undefined groups a mass communication may occur, with a minimal connection between the sender and the possible many receivers.

Application

" Project Communications Management includes the processes necessary to ensure that the information needs of the project and its stakeholders are met through development of artifacts and implementation of activities designed to achieve effective information exchange " says the sixth edition of the PMBOK © Guide.

Planning the structure

Elements that beneficially could be implemented in a communication plan are the following :

• Transmitted information type in terms of content, language and level of detail
• Reason for importance
• Frequency of messages and feedback to be sent and received
• Responsibility distribution in matter of sending and receiving messages
• Recources allocated for communication activities in terms of time and budget
• Overview of the information flow in the project

Furthermore states that what is important to consider in effective communication management is:

• Communication structure models
• Media type
• Laguage and expression style
• Management of meetings and presentations
• Facilities for communication

Media influence

Depending on the type of media chosen, the information can be more or less “rich” .

Rich vs. poor information

Rich information	Poor information
A lot of signals can be transmitted at the same time	Only a few signals can be transmitted at the same time
Fast feedback	Slow feedback
High possibility of using natural spoken language	Low possibility of using natural spoken language
Can be personalized in a high degree	Can only be personalized in a low degree

If the communicators know each other well, the message can be understood correctly with the use of poor information, since the communicators know how to interpret the few signals transmitted. On the other hand, if the communicators are not used to each other, rich information is needed to make sure the message is understood correctly, since the interpretation experience has not yet been built.

In one end of the richness scale we have face-to-face communication as the richest and formally written texts and documents as the poorest. Between the two ends of the richness scale we have Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Different medias suits different types of messages. ICT corresponds the types of media where both the amount of signals sent, the possibility of a fast feedback, the possibility of using a natural language and the degree of personalization is more variable. ICT covers medias such as e-mail, chat, common databases, online meetings and virtual conferences. ICT medias are fast to use and can easily spread information out to a lot of actors, but this can also lead to an information overload as described above, which is not desirable.

Further reading on the richness of a media is found in the article Choosing the appropriate medium (oral – written – hybrids).

Virtual work groups:

The new ICT has made it possible for organizations to create virtual working groups, where the need of being physically in the same space and time is no longer required.

Benefits:

• Members of the working group does not have to be present, meaning it is possible to corporate with important people e.g. specialists in other countries or from other departments located far away

Challenges:

• If the members of the group are not used to working together, misunderstandings might appear easier
• If the work load distribution has not been clarified, conflicts may appear
• The group is naturally more fractured, creating a larger risk of conflicts
• Conflicts are more often suppressed since it is easier to neglect when not facing each other, resulting in larger conflicts when finally dealt with
• The lack of social contact and personal interaction in e.g. coffee breaks result in a generally larger working dissatisfaction

Evaluation of communication network structure

To test if the chosen communication network is better or worse than previously, regular assessment methods such as KPIs (see article Potentials of Key Performance Indicators) can be used to evaluate on.

Limitations

There is no final "opskrift" on the perfect communication network structure, since a great comumnication network depends on the right combination of e.g. culture, available comunication medias, facilities and other factors mentioned previously in this article. The chosen combination of the described characteristica for your communication network, in terms of centralisation, density, complexity and grouping, should therefore be revised every now and then, because smaller changes in the organisational structure, wuch as changes in the actors, politics or new technology can affect the efficiency of the communication network.

See also

Constructive communication on how constructive communication is beneficial for dealing with conflics in project work.
Managing “emails” on how to avoid email and information overflow.
Perception filters on message interpretation.
Choosing the appropriate medium (oral – written – hybrids) on the differences between medias and also on the richness of a media.

Annotated Bibliography

Jacobsen, D.I. & Thorsvik, J. (2014). Hvordan organisationer fungerer, Chapter 8. 3rd edition.

This chapter investigates general communication in organisations. It why it is important to be aware of communication, clarifies the understanding of what is meant by communication, defines the communication process, evaluates on media types and structures.

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