PMP Practice Questions #56
Your project has encountered unforeseen delays, necessitating significant adjustments to the project schedule. The project team is geographically dispersed and operates across various time zones. It’s imperative to communicate these schedule changes effectively to ensure all team members are aligned and aware of their revised responsibilities.
Which approach should you use to communicate these schedule changes most effectively?
A) Draft a comprehensive email detailing the new schedule and the reasons for the changes, and send it to all team members, expecting them to review and acknowledge the updates.
B) Update the project schedule on a commonly accessed project management platform, and send a notification to the team members to review the changes at their earliest convenience.
C) Arrange a series of live virtual meetings, segmented by team or time zone, to walk through the revised schedule, allowing team members to ask questions and provide immediate feedback.
D) Create a short video presentation of the schedule changes and share it via email and on the project portal, inviting team members to send their queries or comments via email.
Analysis
The project has experienced unforeseen delays, necessitating significant adjustments to the schedule. The team is geographically dispersed across various time zones, presenting a challenge in communicating these changes effectively. The goal is to ensure all team members understand their revised responsibilities and are aligned with the new schedule. The focus of this analysis is on selecting the most effective communication method to convey critical schedule changes to a diverse, virtual team.
Analysis of Options:
Option A: Draft a comprehensive email detailing the new schedule and the reasons for the changes, and send it to all team members, expecting them to review and acknowledge the updates. While email is a direct method of communication, it lacks interactivity and may lead to misunderstandings or assumptions. This method might not be effective for conveying complex or critical information like schedule changes. So it not ideal due to potential misinterpretation and lack of interactive engagement.
Option B: Update the project schedule on a commonly accessed project management platform, and send a notification to the team members to review the changes at their earliest convenience. This approach uses a combination of push (notification) and pull (team members accessing the platform) communication. It’s better than just an email but still lacks real-time interaction for immediate clarification and feedback.
Option C: Arrange a series of live virtual meetings, segmented by team or time zone, to walk through the revised schedule, allowing team members to ask questions and provide immediate feedback. This option provides an interactive platform for communication, allowing for immediate questions and feedback. It accommodates time zone differences and ensures that all team members can participate in a live discussion about the changes. So, it is effective due to its interactive nature and ability to address immediate concerns and feedback.
Option D: Create a short video presentation of the schedule changes and share it via email and on the project portal, inviting team members to send their queries or comments via email. This method is more engaging than a simple email and provides visual and verbal explanations, which can be more effective than text alone. However, it still lacks the immediate interactive element of live discussions.
Conclusion : Option C, arranging a series of live virtual meetings segmented by team or time zone, is the most effective approach. It leverages the interactive nature of live meetings to facilitate immediate understanding, clarification, and feedback. This method effectively tackles the challenge of communicating critical schedule changes to a geographically dispersed team, ensuring all members are aligned and aware of their revised responsibilities.
PMP Exam Content Outline Mapping
| Domain | Task |
|---|---|
| Process | Task 2: Manage communications |
| People | Task 11: Engage and support virtual teams |
Topics Covered
- Communication Management Plan
- Communication Methods (Push, Pull and Interactive)
