Communications form the very core of any outsourced project and are many a time one of the prime cause of failure of an outsourcing initiative. This is especially so when there are multi site project teams that need to coordinate tasks & schedules, share source code repositories and review & resolve issues. C3IT has the following strengths in the communications area:
- Proven communication formats for all following project stages & activities
- Well defined Progress & Status reporting formats
- Standard requirement analysis and effort analysis formats
- C3IT’s very own web based Internet Project Management Portal – “TRACK PROJECT” – for online collaboration.
Project Communication Plan
A Project Communication plan is created and put in place at the onset of the project. This plan is approved by both Client & C3IT personnel and is tailored to the project schedule & deliverables. A sample communication plan is shown below.
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Information
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Responsible
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Distribution List
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Frequency
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Distribution Method
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Documents / Records
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Content / Purpose
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Weekly Conference
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Project Manager
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Onsite & Offshore Project Team
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Weekly
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Phone / On-Line
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Update On Offshore Team Progress.
Identify & Remove Bottlenecks
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Weekly Status Report
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Project Manager
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Project Director
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Weekly
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MS-Excel
Via Email
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Status Report
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Status, Issues, Milestones
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Management Review
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Project Manager
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Project Director
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Weekly
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MS-Word Via Email
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Project Plan
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Manage & Control Project Execution
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Change Control Process
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Project Manager
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Project Director, Team Members
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As Needed
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MS-Excel
On-line
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Change Request
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Document Defects And Enhancements
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To facilitate effective communication between the Client and C3IT team members, the following measures/vehicles are adopted:
- An Internet portal that allows document management, bug tracking, task scheduling/ tracking, and contact management is provided by C3IT.
- Biweekly project steering committee meeting and weekly technical team meetings are conducted to discuss status, potential issues, and other project related action items.
Frequency of steering committee meeting is adjusted based on Client’s need.
- Weekly status reports are made available to Client for tracking status of each task. Potential delays and reasons (if any) that may cause slippage in schedule is clearly indicated.
- Documentation, source code, and compiled code are exchanged via emails, Intranet Portal, or FTP (file transfer protocol).
- As needed, instant messaging vehicles (Yahoo, MSN, Skype etc.) are used among team members.
Communication Methods
While effective communication modes have to be used to maintain the flow of information between the two sides, efforts are always to use the most cost effective mode of communication to contain project costs.
To this effect, following modes of communication are recommended for various project activities:
- Telephone: Project Reviews, Issue Escalation
- E-mail: Project Status Reports, Clarifications
- Issue Resolution & General Status: Internet Messaging
- IM/Skype Voice Conference: Project Reviews, Issue Escalation
Cultural Match
C3IT’s offshore delivery model, exposure of its management team to diverse cultures and organization wide experience spanning almost 5 years, mostly with foreign clients, has sensitized our team very well to the cultural disparities and time-zone differences. In addition, we have accumulated a rich experience through our onsite deployment of resources and the knowledge/information brought back after the completion of the onsite engagement.
We ensure:
- Working across time zones and during Client daylight hours.
- Strict focus on quality & process, a key interest area for our Clients.
- Adherence to timelines and commitments.
- Personal likes/dislikes of the Client’s resources.
- Respect for religious sentiments.
- Follow communication protocols.
- Understanding towards finer aspects of life, etiquettes, positive attitude and right to privacy.
Delivery Model 
