Bill Dow and Bruce Taylor have worked four years to bring us the "Project Management Communications Bible". This book about the most important aspect of Project Management will be available in the first quarter of 2008 and will contain over 1200 pages! Wow. I had a great chat with both of them about their upcoming book, the past and future of Project Management, and a lot of other great topics.

How To Write 1200+ Pages…

Bas: There was one thing that amazed me a lot, how do you write 1,200 pages about project management communication?

Bill: It was actually very easy. We actually had to cut down on some of the tools because we started out with 107 communication tools, and if you do an average of about five pages per tool, and the way weve written the book - we have a section that shows how the tools are used on the nine Project Management Institute knowledge areas. And each tool we felt would cover basically the scope, the planning and that type of thing.

Bas: You follow the structure of the PMBoK as basis for your book?

Bruce: Yes, basically that is the framework of our book.

Bill: Our book consists of three sections. The first section is more of the ˜touchy/feely communication like the conflicts, communicating in different cultures, communicating in a virtual environment and all of that kind of thing that can be done with or without a project. It is your overall communication - this is the introductory part.

The second part of the book was broken into the nine knowledge areas. And the third part of the book took the processes, the planning, execution, control, and the closeout. We put the tools across those as the tools that you would use during the different processes.

Bas: Before we go into the structure of the book, why did you decide to write this book? Why about project management communication?

Bill: One of the biggest needs that we found was that there just wasnt anything out there. We have been associated with a local university on their advisement board, and one of the things we were involved with was their course reviews and what materials they offered in their courses.

When looking at one of the communication courses that they offered, they just struggled to find the right material. So, Bruce and I were board members and decided to get together to compile a communication book that would really help the student and help the project managers communicate.

Bruce: We had a meeting with Wiley, one of the larger publishers, and they bought the idea and the rest is history - we put it all together.

Bas: How long did it take?

Bill: It was about four years.

Bas: These techniques - did you use them all yourselves?

Bill: Yes, I can speak for myself - these are tools and techniques that I use on a regular basis. Bruce, have you?

Bruce: Same here, when I am on a project - we dont necessarily use all of the tools. You wouldnt use all of the tools, even on a large project. Ive been on a $1.2 billion highway project in the state of Washington and I would say that we used about 40% of the tools that are available. Its similar to when you are using a scheduling system - its got all kinds of things of which your project may only utilize 15-20% of the capability of the scheduling system.

You use different tools on different types of projects. It depends on if the project is time drive, or cost driven, or if it is quality driven.

Bas: We were talking on a very important subject. If you write a book of 1200 pages or more - how do you address the fact that you need to make an assessment of situations that will determine which tools you will use. Does the book take this into account?

Bruce: We divided it up into the size of project. If you were on a small project, you would use these 25 tools, etc. If you were on a medium project you would use these other tools, plus the tools on the small project, and if you are on a large project, you have the option of using all of the tools. It also depends on the type of project that you are on.

Bill: Thats another very import part of this book is the relevance to all kinds of industries. Its not an IT book, its not a construction book. The most generic thing we could do was discuss based on the size of the project. A small construction project would be a huge software project. We really had to keep this generic

Bas: Okay, so you kept this industry neutral.

Bill: Right.

Project Management Differences Between Industries

Bas: So you have an IT background, and Bruce has an oil rig background?

Bruce: I have had such a diverse career from construction and software and pharmaceutical and nuclear power, and I worked off the coast of Norway for a little while on the oil rigs in the North Sea. Literally, Ive worked on almost every kind of project you can think of around the world.

Bas: I am curious, is there something like a generic project management? Is every industry the same thing in regards to project management?

Bruce: Well, you would use the same tools across the industry. You would use some type of a cost control system, and some kind of a scheduling system no matter what system you are working on, the tool adapts to the project.

Bas: What is your favorite communication technique you have listed in the book?

Bill: Bruce and I debate this all the time, Ill start. The best tool in this book in my opinion is a project calendar. This is just a generic project calendar as a word document that outlines the phases of your project. It is absolutely an amazing communication tool - I carry it with me and say to my customer: Here is my development schedule, heres the testing, here are the holidays, and here is the overlap.

The ability for the customer to touch and feel the schedule in their hand and see exactly what is going to happen just makes it an amazing communication tool. Its so simple and so basic - its a tool Ive used for ten years or so and I absolutely love it.

Bruce: My favorite tool is the all encompassing work breakdown structure because it defines all the work on the project from the highest level down to the lowest level. If somebody needs information, the work breakdown structure has all of this information located in one spot.

Bas: Is there a technique which you would say is really obscure?

Bruce: One of the most obscure would be what you call a Spider chart or Radar chart. It is used for specific information to show and display. It is a good communication tool.

Theres a lot of obscure tools there if you use the word obscure in the sense that you dont use them very often, or they are used for very specific applications.

Bas: And if I use the word as in ˜never seen that before?

Bruce: Yeah, I think we have a couple surprises in there. A couple of tools that are new. One of them is a matrix that we have come up with that shows the communication requirements for each individual person. There are a few new concepts in there that I think benefit some of the larger projects.

The Past Of Project Management

Bas: What in your opinion has changed the most in the past 30 years in respect to project management?

Bruce: That one actually is pretty easy. The major difference between 30 years ago is that we didnt have any plotters 30 years ago. The computer world has come to us. The automated technology that we have acquired in the past 30 years allowing us to make logic diagrams, print off large charts to explain what we are doing literally right now - the Skype telephone over the internet, and everything in-between. Thirty years ago we didnt have any scheduling systems like we have today, the critical path method, critical chain - all of those have come in over the past 30 years.

Bas: How do you see this trend impact communications for people that are managing virtual teams?

Bill: Well yeah, thats great that you covered that. Ive written an article on that and weve included it in the book. We cover a lot of aspects of virtual teams - we cover the basic techniques of ensuring that they are part of the time, getting out to do site visits, and a whole section covering this. We understand how important it is and that people struggle with it.

Bas: What is not covered in the book?

Bruce: Thats a good question. Well probably about 500 tools.

Bill: We dont go into a lot of areas about to manage your project, because we are generic across construction, and research, and software. We provide an opportunity and a one stop shop for a project manager to communicate better.

Bas: I understand it is from the outside in? The book is helpful to understand how to communicate with the project manager.

Bill: Yes, 100 percent. We actually want to change the thinking of the stakeholders, the customers, and the clients. We want them to really think about how they communicate, and what information they are getting back. One of the key things we mention is that almost every Friday you send out your status report. Well what if this status report provides no value to the customer? How about we sit down and think: What information am I getting and does this information work for me.

The Future Of Project Management

Bas: How do you see the developments of project management in the next decade?

Bruce: Well, Ill take a stab at that one. It seemed like when PMI first started in 1969, the membership went flat as far as growth. There was growth, but it was very slow up until about 1993/1994. Right in that time, the chart for memberships took off like a rocket. If you look at that chart, it looks like a hockey stick because it just takes off after being flat for so long. I see no end to that at the moment, it is still growing at a phenomenal rate. If you use number of members in PMI and you see it growing not just here in America, but all over the world. I can remember when someone would use the word Project Manager. And then you would have to stop and explain what that meant. Now, you cant read a paper with the word project manager in it. I think it will become more and more popular.

Bas: What has caused this?

Bruce: I think what has happened - is in 1993, Microsoft Project itself has got into the office and the average person could use a scheduling system. I think what will happen in the future is exactly the same thing that happened to excel when it first started out. Only the financial people used the spreadsheets, but today if you have a list of things you need to write out - the first thing you go to is a spreadsheet. I think what will happen in the future, and it is actually happening today - is people will say we need a plan, and will turn to the project management systems. Its a combination of utilizing the tools and then understanding the process in which those tools are utilized.

Bas: Bill, do you have something to add?

Bill: Yeah, I sure do. I think Ill stay a little specific to software, because that is where I have been involved. A couple of places where I see project management going in the future. First of all, I honestly believe that the concepts we put out in this book will change things. I think that if people adopt this book and start to really think about planning communications - it will actually change the industry.

Specifically in software, Im finding that the Project Management Institute and the PMPs out there are slowly becoming part of software projects. I think the industry, the customers, and all the good work the PMI has created with these formal processes will come into software. No longer will they take developers and testers and have them manage these projects, but true Project Management Professionals will bring much needed skills to the place.

Bruce: One of the things I think is extremely important Bas, and that is the planning of communication. What we hope to do with our book, is get project managers and stake holders conscious of doing planning upfront. Because, now - we just basically assume that the communication will go alright. Most project managers and projects just start out saying - okay, we are going to have a status report, and here is what we are going to put in the status report. Basically, choose the tools that they are going to use, and when they need another tool - they pick off another tool. What we would like to do is change that to the point of saying alright, plan your communication at the very beginning, and plan whether you are going to have risk management in there, and whats going to be involved, and whats necessary for the purposes of risk management, quality, and even procurement. All of the nine areas communicate with each other so that there are no surprises and so that everyone knows what every one else is doing. A simple tool is that a role matrix so that people know what job they are on. You can hang the thing up in the very beginning of the project and then add to that when people come onto the project. Small things like that will help.

Bas: Is this a problem with most projects do you think?

Bill: I do, I think people struggle on a continual basis on how to communicate properly, and I think they struggle with what report to use, which issue list, how to store issues, how to store risks. On a constant basis, and I hear all the time from (..) How can I communicate this more effectively? How are you storing your risks? I think it is a continual problem. From the start of the meeting, plan which tools you are going to use, and then throughout the project - review those tools and see if they still make sense.

We arent expecting that you use every tool, just pick the right tool for each project.

Bruce: We all assume we are going to communicate, so we dont really plan it. We just let it happen as we go through the project. An example would be the last July issue of the PMI magazine. They had a survey of 1007 project managers, and the number one problem out of nine problems of why projects fail was poor communication.

Bas: My personal experience, I must agree on that one by the way. I think its time for me to wrap thing up. Is there something you guys would like to add?

Bill: Just a couple of real quick things. We are including a CD of every tool in the book plus all the related data so they will instantly be available for you to use on your projects. We are also including learning objectives, chapter questions, and chapter answers.

Bas: So it can be used

Bill: Yes, so universities and colleges around the world can pick it up and begin to use it in their communication and other classes.

Bruce: We expect the book to be used in two different ways. One is by training and using it as a training book. The other is a project manager and stakeholders reference manual.