Question

The project monitoring and controlling phase is where most of the resources are employed for project execution, and it is essential that the project execution happen strictly according to the project plan. Projects often experience changes during the execution because everything cannot be anticipated. However, Suburban Homes has an excellent track record of completing projects on time and within the budget and delivering its products to the customer s satisfaction.

With its plans to expand operations to other states, Suburban Homes is acutely aware of its inadequacies in new working environments and with new stakeholders. Specifically, it is more concerned with risk management, change management, quality expectations, and communication issues. Suburban Homes has requested to review and modify its existing project management practices and processes. They want to use your comprehensive understanding of the importance of project baselines for scope, cost, and schedule. They also want to use your knowledge of project control, progress reports including earned value analysis the importance of communications, and change control. Specifically, you are requested to develop templates and checklists to do the following:

Develop a communication (formal and informal) plan with details about frequency, intended receivers, and medium of communication

Answer 1

In any organization, making a change which improves a process whether it is radical or incremental in nature is very important. Projects are a method which can help in ensuring the changes are done in a documented manner which will help the stakeholders to track and monitor the teams are working well towards getting the solution. Standard Project guideline template handbooks define project as “units to identify long term solutions by use of temporary efforts allowing high level of freedom”. Projects help put the wish list items, long term plans and high impact solutions into action and improvements can be made to get the necessary stakeholder benefit.


In any project, one of the most important phases is the control and monitoring phase. In this phase, teams looks for further enhancements and areas which might cause any unexpected issues. Even though the projects undergo rigorous testing there will always be unanticipated changes on the go-live of project. The given case also talks about a similar situation. Suburban homes has a track record for completing the projects on time and in satisfying the customers.
To ensure on further expansion to other regions, Suburban homes can maintain the same quality and track records many changes need to be done in the way they are operating now. For discussion, let us assume they are using a waterfall methodology for delivering the projects. During any project a proper governance mechanism is very important. A proper governance team should be set up to ensure the project is tracked regularly and required support is taken to ensure the project completes on time. For this there should be a proper communication strategy and plan. Regular meetings and cadence should be provided so that all the stakeholders are transparent with the project progress.

In any project communication, following areas need to be addressed and captured;
• Vision and objectives of the project
• Scope and timeline of completion
• Governance teams and dedicated members
• Summary of what was completed, what is planned, risks involved and support required

Weekly governance meetings should be done formally and regular internal meetings should be done informally to ensure everyone is on the same wavelength regarding the project. A project communication should have :
• The summary of project
• Estimated time of completion
• Status as of today
• Delay in project
• Reasons for delay
• Support required

All these are basic fields which needs to come out in any communication to the teams. The main objective of this would be to ensure every stakeholder is kept updated regarding project status, identify the potential roadblocks and support required to overcome them, provide structured feedback to members and ensure all are focusing together to complete the project.

The communication mechanism can be of following types:
• Weekly governance meetings
• Daily catchup meetings
• Weekly Email reports
• Major milestone meetings
• Daily reports (email/tool)

Using these aspect Suburban Homes can identify the areas which give the best optimal solution to their needs.