Case Study: Improving Public Health Informatics

With the identification of the need for management of the information associated with the diseases and to improve the public health informatics, a project has been undertaken to implement an information system that will help easier management of the information associated with the County Health Department (CHD). One of the major aspects of successful implementation of a project is formulation of an appropriate communication plan that will ensure easier information flow and enhanced decision making [6]. The initial idea of the project was formulated many years ago which failed due to certain issues, one of which was presence of an ineffective communication plan. Communication plan is an important project management tools and therefore it should be efficient enough to ensure easier communication flow [1]. The report aims in assessing the current communication plan that is developed for the project and will compare it with the different project management practises.

The case study assessment section of the report will be discussing the effectiveness communication plan that is developed for the project and will compare it with different project management practises.

Communication plan is an important project management tool that is associated with every project [8]. Development of a communication plan is particularly necessary as it ensures that all the team members and the associated stakeholders are informed about the project progress and the issues in the project. Previously there has been an issue with the communication plan that has been developed for the project resulting in improper communication flow and project failure. Therefore the effectiveness of the communication plan that is developed for this project is needed to be evaluated.

The communication plan that is developed in this project is found to be complete and well structured. The roles and responsibilities of each stakeholders associated with the project in the communication process is correctly defined in the communication plan which is one plus point of the communication plan developed [3]. The channel of communication is also detailed in the communication plan which is another plus point as well. However, this communication plan that is developed is quite complex and lacks integrity. The communication channels are allocated on highest numbers to each stakeholder, which in turn makes the communication plan quite complex. It is seen that every stakeholders are given the responsibility of sharing the project status which is a significant drawback of the current communication plan. It would have been more fruitful it each stakeholders are given a separate responsibility to cascade the information to the entire project team. However, the communication methods that are chosen for cascading the information are found to be appropriate and effective. Thus it can be concluded that the current communication plan that is developed for the project has certain errors that can be rectified. Rectification of those issues will increase the effectiveness of the communication plan developed for the project. In the following section, the current communication plan is assessed on basis of the different project management practises.

As assessed in the previous section, it is seen that there are certain issues associated with the current communication plan that needs rectification. The current communication will be assessed on basis of the project management practises to determine its viability.

Current Communication Plan Assessment

One of the most important aspects of management of project is appropriate project monitoring ling with the tracking of the project progress [7]. A communication plan is necessary for dissipating the project status and the project progress among the team members. The communication plan that is developed is effective enough for cascading the required information among the team members and the stakeholders of the project [5]. Stakeholders are considered as an important part of the project management team. For ensuring full participation of the stakeholders in the project, it is necessary to keep them informed about the project status and reports. Thus a communication plan plays an important role in ensuring stakeholders’ satisfaction. However, for doing so, a communication plan should incorporate clear definition of roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder associated with a project.  

For ensuring smooth information flow throughout the implementation stage of the project, it is recommended that the communication plan is developed in the planning phase of the project. Project planning is an important aspect of project management and therefore development of the communication plan in the planning phase is essential.

Communication plans can be broadly classified into three groups that includes Informational communication plan, Mandatory Communication plan and Marketing communication plan [4]. The project that involves stakeholders from different sectors are recommended to involve an information communication plan for easier information flow among the team members. The other two types of communication plan would not be effective in this particular case scenario.

An informational communication flow is recommended because such type of project involves stakeholders from different sectors such as union, government agencies and so on. Regular communication among these stakeholders might be a tough task. This limitation can be eliminated by making use of an informational communication flow [2]. This type of communication flow will ensure that each stakeholders of the project are informed about every major details of the project and the project status. Thus the recommendation for making use of this type of communication plan in the project is justified.

Conclusion 

The report discusses a case study based on the development and implementation of an information system that will help in easier decision making and information management. The report further analyses the communication plan that is developed for the project and points out certain issues associated with the communication plan. The communication plan is further assessed based on the project management practises and it is found out that certain improvements are needed. The report recommends the use of informational communication in the projects that are quite different from the private organizational projects. The justification of the said recommendation is provided to establish the appropriateness of the recommended communication plan.

References 

[1] Davis, Kate. “Different stakeholder groups and their perceptions of project success.” International ] journal of project management 32, no. 2 (2014): 189-201.

[2] Anderson, Paul V. Technical communication. Cengage Learning, 2013.

[3] Heagney, Joseph. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom, 2016.

[4] Bourne, Lynda. Stakeholder relationship management: a maturity model for organisational implementation. Routledge, 2016.

[5] Harrison, Frederick, and Dennis Lock. Advanced project management: a structured approach. Routledge, 2017.

[6] Snyder, Jason, and Joo Eng Lee-Partridge. “Understanding communication channel choices in team knowledge sharing.” Corporate Communications: An International Journal 18, no. 4 (2013): 417-431.

[7] Szeberenyi, A. Project Communication Plan. No. AIDA-2020-MS4. 2015

[8] Kerzner, Harold. Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: a guide to measuring and monitoring project performance. John Wiley & Sons, 2017.