Communications Management
As mentioned in my previous post, effective communication is part of the overall plan for management of the Enterprise Architecture.
A communication plan should be developed to outline what gets communicated to whom and who is responsible for the communication. This plan should remain a living document, and as such should be updated on a regular basis to reflect new stakeholder groups, new information needs, and new communication strategies. It is important that the Enterprise Architecture Program be held accountable for implementation of this plan, and that the Enterprise Architecture Committee regularly review implementation progress with the Program Director
For example, what information gets communicated to the Vendors, System Integrators, partners, even for that matter competitors with whom you may be working on a collaborative project?
Sponsor Meetings – regular meetings should be established with sponsor to ensure they are aware of project status. Frequency should be based on project size and turnaround time. The larger the project, the more infrequent (monthly) the meetings should be. Format of agenda should be consistent.
Team Meetings – regular meetings should be established with project team to ensure tasks completed, that they are aware of important deadlines etc.Agendas should be developed and minutes should be completed with action items.
Point of Contacts – POCs should be identified for major groups (i.e. IT, testers, business areas etc). The POC is responsible for ensuring their area is aware of information relating to them.
This communications plan is based on the following principles:
| Principle | Corresponding Plan Features |
| Communication strategy and communicators must have credibility with audience | · Ensure plan is followed to the extent resources allow
· Ensure information is accurate and timely (no “shelf-ware”) · Incorporate learning back into the plan on a regular basis |
| Favor strategies that involve the audience over strategies that only inform them | · Review plans, status reports, and architecture elements in face-to-face meeting settings
· Encourage feedback and interaction · Make sure every communication tool includes a feedback/contact mechanism |
| Favor face-to-face communications over remote, indirect, or electronic communications | · Review plans, status reports, and architecture elements in face-to-face meeting settings
· Encourage feedback and interaction |
| Avoid information “overload” | · Tailor communications to the stakeholder group
· Only communicate as often as the stakeholder group is ready to be involved and act on the communications |
| Use communications strategies to manage audience expectations | · Include workplan and release plan in communications
· Be clear about when decisions will be made |
| Respect the fact that architectural information is inherently inter-linked; make sure information is stored in one place (avoid redundancy and associated maintenance burden) | · Leverage Web presentation technologies whenever possible
· Choose repository solution that facilitates common storage and inter-linked web presentation |
| Support balance between making decisions in a timely fashion and permitting adequate feedback to promote sound decision-making | · When presenting materials for stakeholder review, establish a fixed review deadline beyond which “silence indicates consent”
· Ensure that review period is adequate · Target review (and direct follow-up) for key stakeholders on each issue |
