Communication Project Visual

To address the theme of how to grasp and communicate the “big picture” (a higher level view of the project overall, rather than a lower level view of, say, tasks for team members) carry out research and, from your findings, draft clearly structured notes that explain the benefits of visual forms of communication compared to, say, text or speech.

Provide examples of the following visual forms of communication to show that you understand how they work and what information they contain:

• Lifecycle models

• Activity networks

• Mind maps

Give a written explanation of how each of these methods may be used to communicate key ideas in a project.

Task Objectives:

This task is about visual forms of communication. I have to state and explain the benefits of visual forms of communication compared to say, text or speech. Also I have to explain the following visual forms of communication with how they work and what information they contain:

• Lifecycle models

• Activity networks

• Mind maps

Beside all of these it's an important section to clarify the key ideas of all these forms of communication which may be used in a project.

Benefits of visual forms of communication:

• Visual communication (graphs, charts, and illustrations) often helps to make understand the key points to the reader or audience.

• It displays of data are to be truthful and revealing, then the logic of the display design must reflect the logic of the analysis.

• Clear and precise presentation and seeing

• The reader can turn to the texts referenced at the beginning of the chapter for a more thorough treatment of the use of visual aids in reports and presentations.

• It allows for ad hoc meetings letting anyone discuss urgent matters and take immediate decisions

• By letting person save time, resources and money, it improves the effectiveness of individual working day and quality of life.

Whether the other communication forms need long time and cost more money. Sometimes it is hard to make understand someone about any urgent matter in verbal or written communication.

Visual Forms of Communication:

Lifecycle models

• The lifecycle model describes the temporal, causal and I/O relationships between different lifecycle phases

• The lifecycle concept includes the concept of feedback (returning to a previous phase) as well as moving forward to the next phase

• In the past, the lifecycle concept was applied to the management of complex systems that had some sort of physical hardware as their end product, e.g., missiles, communication networks, spacecraft, etc.

• However, for hardware systems there is a tangible end product that can be measured and observed.

Benefits of lifecycle models

• Process awareness and understanding

• Order of global activities

• Improvement in product quality

• Reduction of software costs

There are different model of a life cycle. The most three common and efficient life cycle are following:

• Waterfall Life Cycle Model

• The V Model

• Spiral Life Cycle Model

Basic stages of a Lifecycle Model:

• Feasibility Study

• Requirement Analysis

• System Specification

• System Design

• Program Design and Development

• System Test

• Implementation

Use of Life Cycle Model in a project:

• Feasibility Study is done to define the problem or opportunity of a project and to enable the project Steering Committee to select from arrange of business and technical option, and to identify the project necessary to implement the chosen option. A requirement analysis.

Is stand for analysis of the current system and to produce detailed information concerning what the users would like to proposed system to do. System Specification is a stage that involves the production of a complete written statement of what the new system is required to do and to define the system that will fully meet the user requirements.

System Design produces a combination of both narrative description and diagrams tat detail all the processing and data elements in the project and their relationship. Here also described a revised cost-benefits analysis and payback schedule Program Design and Development

Is a process that produces the programs that compose the system based on the specification contained in the system design document. All programs, procedures and documentation are developed in this stage to accomplish the project. System Test is designed to fully test the system against its original specification both unit and integration testing should have been carried out during the previous stage. Implementation: There are two possible ways to implement the project. Here it is chosen that which ways will be best for the business and which will be more cost effective. Those ways are “big bang” approach (mean a sudden and once-only change-over operation) and another one is “pilot” approach (that means the new system will implement simultaneously with the existing process).

Activity Networks

An activity network consists of

• Activity nodes

• Connectors

• Dependencies

Basic terms of the Activity Diagram:

• Activity - part of the project represented by an arrow or line

• Best Estimate(B) - earliest completion time

• Expected Time(ET) - the average duration time

• Earliest Finish Time (EFT) - the earliest point, relative to the start of the project that the activity in question can finish.

• Critical path(CP) - the most time consuming path through the diagram with no slack time

• Earliest Start Time(EST) - earliest possible time for an activity to begin.

• Network - the project shown graphically

• Latest Start Time (LST) - latest time an activity can begin and still be completed before the next activity.

This Diagram shows the following

• Critical Path: A-B-H-I-J

• Overall Time to finish: 28 Days

• Floats: c=11, D=2, G=15, E=11, F=2

Use of Activity Network in a project:

• Identify all activities and relationships among all the working module.

• Sketch the diagram to state the days may be taken to complete.

• Estimate the times for each activity, or node, in the diagram.

• Determine the critical path.

• Evaluate the diagram for milestones and target dates in the overall project.

• Given the following formula, data, and diagram, determine the critical path and the expected time of the project.

Time is represented in days

ET = 4(M) + 1(B) + 1(W) / 6

A = 2, B = 3, C = 1, D = 4, E = 3, F = 2, G = 2, H = 1, and I = 3

Mind Map

A mind map consists of a central word or concept; around the central word.

Functions of Minds Map:

• Note taking

• Creative Writing & Report Writing

• Meetings & Think Tanks

• Giving a Talk

• Business Planning

• Project Management

Concept of make mind map:

Mind mapping (or concept mapping) involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and related ideas which radiate out from the center. By focusing on key ideas written down in one's own words, and then looking for branches out and connections between the ideas, It is just mapping knowledge in a manner which will help one to understand and remember new information.

Use of Mind Map in a project:

At an early stage of planning, one can start with a central idea and then draw branches of related ideas from the center. By using lines, colors, arrows, and branches to show connections between the ideas generated on him/her mind map. These relationships may be important in developing his/her project such as finance and marketing.

Conclusion:

By completing this task I gain and acquire knowledge about visual communication and its benefits over others types of communication like-oral, written etc. This task taught me how to implement the visual communication medium in a project with forms of life cycle model, activity network and minds map.

References:

• Books:

• Managing Business Project(NCC Education Second Edition)

• Business System Analysis(NCC Education First Edition)

• Web site:

• http://www.elix.com.sg/edesk/Articles/mindmap.html