Purpose: The purpose of this document is to outline the processes and steps followed by all the project members

for defining and implementing the communication requirements for the TAMU Online Food Services project. It deals in communication requirements based on roles (sender), segregation of information to be communicated, mode of communication, time of distribution and receiver of the information. This will provide coordination of project related activities and convey important information to appropriate people on time. This outline deals in the steps involved in internal and external communication through various types of project meetings and other modes of communication. As the website deals in Dinning services of Texas A & M University, there will be a lot of communication involved between the development team and the university relations department. So, this plan for communications will go throughout the life of the project and will be updated if there is any change demanded by any stakeholder. This plan also defines the roles of stakeholders like IT Manager, Business Analyst, Webmaster, customers and all the people involved in this project. Roles: Project Sponsor (Formal Communication) The project sponsor in this case is Finance department of Texas A & M University. The head of the dining department will act as the project champion facilitating the funding process. This person is responsible for the acquiring the funding of the project and is ultimately responsible for its success. The Project Sponsor, who is the head of Finance department, is at the executive level. So, communications should be carried out in a detailed format through meetings involving presentations, unless the Project Sponsor requests for just a summary analysis. Project Manager (Both, Formal and Informal Communication) The Project Manager has overall responsibility for the execution of the project, hence will need detailed communication. The Project Manager will need the minute details for assignment of day to day resources, and reports on the projects results and metrics. He will be the primary communicator for the project, distributing information according to this Communications Management Plan. Project manager will be involved in a much formal way of communication as he will have information about all clients involved. Other people involved for this kind of formal communication will be business analyst, technical analyst, and client executives.

Customer (Formal Communication) The customer in this case will be the dinning department of Texas A & M University and will review prototypes, approve of designs, take daily/weekly/bi-weekly feedback and finally accept the final project. As they will accept the final deliverable of this project, they will be informed of the potential schedule changes and delays when needed. Project Team (Both, Formal and Informal Communication) The Project Team will comprise of all persons like web developers, quality analysts, system administrators and others involved in making the project functional. The project team needs to have a clear understanding of the work to be completed and the framework in which the project is to be executed. They will be involved in detailed level of communications with the Project Manager and other team members on a daily basis. Staff has been provided with communication devices like desktops, laptops and smart phone (in case of people at higher level) to ensure that the team members can be reached for important communication. These devices will enable communication through daily standup meetings, email, phone calls, WebEx sessions and group calls. IT Manager (Both, Formal and Informal Communication) The IT Manager will be responsible for communication of tasks related to technical aspects, such as designs. He will be involved in taking care of communication related to design implementation and also in giving feedback. The Technical Lead will require close communications with the Project Manager and the whole team. Meetings: This meeting can be done offline and online making usage of various devices provided. The outputs of these meetings will record in form of MOMs (Minutes of meetings). A sample template for such a MOM will be: Project Name: Project members attended: Clients attended: Agenda: Issues discussed: Duration: Actions closed from last meeting: Corrective Actions to be taken: Follow up: Concerned people

Status Reports: Representative from process group will participate in the daily meetings and fill timesheets to report the level of task completion. It will help in comparing the status of project with the planned dates for the project. Similarly, the project manager will create detailed reports and dashboards with various charts to track and communicate project progress to higher management and clients. A sample of timesheet entry will be: Project Name Project ABC Module Name Module xyz Task Description Install lastest patch on system and test the fixed defects in the new iteration. Task Type Testing/Devel opment Expecte d Hours 4 Actual Hours 3.5

Information collection and training records: Any Knowledge Transfer/Training session or discussion with client representatives should be documented. This kind of document will be useful for new people joining the project. Template will be: Project ID: Training Date: Participants: Supervisor (Conducted By) Purpose: Feedback/Evaluation: Duration: