Project Communication and Documentation 203Communication and documentation are a natural combina-
tion. They bind the project together from start to finish, as the
backbone of sound project management.
Both are surprisingly difficult to do well without experience—
and some preparation. In my experience, one of the things that
separates effective project managers from relatively ineffective
ones is how much forethought(dare I say planning?) they put
into communication and documentation from the very begin-
ning of their project. This chapter is intended to help you plan
and execute communication and documentation effectively.
The Project Management Configuration Plan: A
Documentation and Communication “Road Map”
Even if your organization has documented project management
procedures, it’s likely that they’re not overly detailed. Even
worse, your organization may have no formalized procedures
whatsoever. Either of these situations is likely to severely ham-
per your ability to achieve project success.
To reduce confusion and increase control, you should con-
sider preparing specific guidelines around project management
procedures for every project you manage. I like to refer to this
set of guidelines as the Project Management Configuration
Plan—or PMCP. (Note: this is my term, as there’s no industry
standard term for this.) The PMCP is really a description of how
you intend to “conduct business” from a project management
standpoint. It is an excellent marriage of communication and
documentation—and an excellent way to communicate your
expectations.
A well-designed PMCP will address these (and many other)
questions:
Who should be involved in project planning?- What’s the preferred scheduling approach?
- What approach should be used in preparing cost and
schedule estimates? - What planning documents are expected to be produced?