Professional Oral Communication II: Developing Planning Strategies

Intended Learning Outcomes. Students should be able to:

plan and conduct a simulated technical team discussion according to the roles assigned to them, drawing on the materials produced for the earlier presentations
use Gantt charts to plan a project centered around the given topics.

Managing the Project Resources

Identifying Project Roles and Responsibilities

On every project, there are a variety of different tasks and responsibilities that need to distributed in order to make the project mangeable. Distributing these is generally the job of the project manager/team leader, who not only needs to be aware of the different resources required in order to be able to carry out the project, but also of the different areas of expertise that each individual team member brings into the project. This knowledge should enable him/her to assign suitable tasks or even management roles to the team members.

Based on your earlier planning and the ideas that you may have developed from your simulated meetings with the client, rethink the distribution of roles and (sub-)tasks for your projects.

Managing the Work Flow

Assigning different roles to the members of the team obviously isn’t enough in planning and shaping a project. On top of this, the team (leader), following any potential timelines already provided by the client, needs to draw a realistic timeline for the project, determining the stages the project might be separated into. These stages may often involve different forms of research, the acquisition and testing of potential materials or other resources for the project, designing initial prototypes/plans/blueprints, to delivering a final ‘product’. Some of thes stages may be dependent upon the completion of earlier stages, too, while some may simply be able to run in parallel and can be started immediately.

Very often, a work flow schedule is drawn up as the result of a technical discussion in order to identify and plan the start and end dates of the project, and to be able to monitor its activities. This work schedule can be displayed in the form of a Gantt chart, which represents a form of concise and easily interpretable summary of the overall workflow of the project, even if, of course, on cannot represent all the necessary information concerning the project in such a format.

Read through the Wikipedia page on Gantt charts and answer the following questions:

Elements in a Gantt Chart

There are many different forms/variants of Gantt charts. In general, a Gantt chart is constructed with the horizontal axis representing the complete timeline of the project, broken down into increments (days, weeks, or months). The vertical axis represents the individual tasks that make up the project.

sample Gantt chart

For a team project, resources information is often included to indicate which team member(s) in a team is responsible for a particular task or number of tasks. No matter whether it is an individual project, or a team project, in a Gantt chart you should find different bars representing the duration of the different tasks in the graph area, each indicated by a start and an end date. When a Gantt chart is used as part of a progress report for an ongoing project, you will also find the status of each individual item indicated on the horizontal connectors.

On a large project, it is quite common for some tasks to depend on the completion of one or more other tasks. In such cases, the dependencies are generally marked by an arrow connecting one task to another.

Look at the sample Gantt chart above and identify the different elements.

It is important to note that there is no single best way of constructing a project schedule. If you look at the examples provided on this page, you will notice that there are different types, serving different purposes. You need to choose whatever’s best for your own purposes on a particular project, and it may also be advisable for you to consult your supervisor to see if he/she has any particular preference.

Software

There are many different project management applications available that incorporate facilities for generating Gantt charts. The following table lists some freeware programs that offer standard project management features such as task and resource scheduling and tracking, charting, project and task breakdown into sub-projects, sub-tasks and dependencies.

Software	Description
OpenProj	OpenProj is a Java-based open-source project management software similar to Microsoft Project. Can open existing MS Project files and is interoperable with Project, Gantt Charts and PERT charts.
GanttProject	GanttProject is a cross-platform desktop tool for project scheduling and management. It runs on Windows, Linux and MacOSX, is free and its code is open source.
Gantter	Gantter is a free online management tool. Because it’s web-based, you don’t need to install any software on your hard drive for it to run (Of course you still need to have a web browser). Provides integration with GoogleDocs.

Your instructor is going to demonstrate some basic functions of GanttProject. Based on the discussion in the previous two sessions, create a Gantt chart for the project you have been working on. Your Gantt chart should show the tasks and responsibilities of each individual member, the starting date/week and finishing date/week of each of the tasks.

Writing a Meeting Summary

After a meeting is over, it is useful to keep a written record of it so that group members, as well as other concerned parties, can have a list of the decisions made and the tasks assigned to different participants of the meeting in black and white. In fact, such a written record is quite common in the business world, very often takes the form of meeting minutes.

One of the benefits of having a written record of the meeting/discussion is that we can avoid future disputes due to a different understanding of the agreements reached in the meeting/discussion. When a meeting summary/minutes is/are written, they should be distributed to the members as soon as possible so that they can check and see whether the summary is different from what they have remembered from the meeting. And if so, further clarifications may be in order.

While you may find some that people use the terms interchangeably, in our unit, we treat meeting summary and meeting minutes differently because the term minutes often implies a fixed format. In an informal discussion, meeting minutes may not be necessary, but nevertheless an informal summary will avoid possible disputes about the agreements/arrangement made in the discussion.

Guidelines for Writing a Meeting Summary

In most formal and corporate meetings, the rules for writing minutes are rigorous, and the minutes have to be submitted in a fixed particular format. Semi-formal and informal meetings have a varied and less rigorous way of keeping meeting records. In general, the basic principles are the same, though.

A Short Summary of the Meeting Agenda

As a meeting summary serves as a record of the meeting and is meant to be referred to at a later point in time by members of the group, as well as other concerned parties who may not have attended the meeting, it is important to include a summary of the agenda so that people reading the summary will know what the meeting was about.

Basic Information on the Meeting

The basic information on the meeting includes the names of the attendees, the chairperson, the venue, and the time of the meeting. The inclusion of such information depends on the nature and the size of the meeting, as well as what is the intended function of the meeting record. If the record just serves as a reminder of what decisions have been made in a small group (e.g. 2 or 3 people) so that the members in the groups can use this as a basis for carrying out their assigned tasks, such information may not even be necessary. If the record is meant to be read by the supervisor, or if some members are absent during the meeting, then the inclusion of such details may also make sense in a less formal meeting summary. Your instructor will tell you whether you should include such information in your assessed meeting summary.

The Body of the Summary

The body of the summary is the actual record of what took place at the meeting. You do not have to note down everything that is said. The most important function of the summary is to record the topics of the discussion being carried out. In particular, you need to keep a record of the points that were raised in the discussion and the major decisions regarding these points. You also need to mention the motions that were passed, as well as who passed them. In the body of the summary, you may also want to include the agreed actions, the persons responsible for them, as well as their deadlines.

Layout and Structure of the Body

Headings help readers skim for the information they need. Here is a template you may consider using, but this is by no means the only approach to a meeting summary.

Topics & Decisions
Actions Agreed Upon

Responsibilities Assigned
Deadlines

Next Meeting

Date and Time
Location
Agenda

The following is an example of a meeting summary.

Group Meeting #1

March 22, 2011

The first meeting of the Tung Ping Chau Marine Park project was held in the general meeting room, Kowloon office, on Tuesday, March 6^th, 2012, at 6:00 p.m.

Present at the meeting were the following members:
Steven Poon (Chairperson)
Michael Lim (Networking)
Susanna Chow (Environmental Assessment)
Brian Tong (Budget and Finance)
Sandra Sin (Software)

Presented below is the summary of the meeting, organised by agenda items.

Welcome and Meeting Objectives

Steven Poon opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and explaining the objectives for the meeting, namely, to review the specifications required by the client, to respond to needs raised by the client, and to evaluate different solutions to the problems.

Review of Previous Meeting

Steven briefly reviewed the requirements and specifications provided by the client at the previous meeting, which consisted in background information on the island and the environmental limitations for the implementation of new technologies. The background information includes:

Infrastructure development to date,
Purpose of the project,
Environmental impact concerns
Initial requirements.

Steven then introduced Michael Lim, who is the Project Team’s networking engineer.

Presentation of the Proposed Networking Solutions

Michael delivered a brief presentation providing basic information about how the network installation should be conducted, and how a site survey was used to provide data for his needs analyses. He explained how Network Monitoring Units (NMUs) were used to predict where the blind spots would be with each of the router alternatives in place. He noted that the network coverage of some of the proposed router units might look small, but this was because much of the transmission power was used to penetrate some harder-to-reach areas on the island. Some units would see greater coverage than others.

To give the members an idea of how a comprehensive coverage on the island might be realised with a combination of different routers and repeaters, the network engineering team prepared a graph with a map overlay that gave examples of different scenarios. The graph was distributed to each member at the meeting.

Environmental Impact Report

Susanna Chow introduced the basic environmental protection requirements specified by the government. In particular, Susanna explained that trees needed to be protected and heavy machineries were not to be used as the routers and the network were installed on the island. It was agreed that a guideline was to be put in place before the commencement of the network installation. She also requested a copy of the layout plan of the locations of the proposed networking devices as soon as they were finalised.

Budget Planning

Brian Tong reminded Susanna and Michael that the budget for the networking project was HK$ 3,000,000, which was labour and equipment inclusive. Brian queried the availability of the breakdown of the costs, which had not been mentioned by Michael in his report. Michael admitted that his team was still in disagreement about the sourcing of the equipment, and would report to Brian in 2 weeks’ time.

Actions to be Taken

After discussing all the major issues, Steven assigned tasks to the different members. The work schedule and the parties responsible are summarised in the Gantt chart attached in the appendix to this summary. Michael was asked to finalise the network installation plan. As shown in the Gantt chart, the sourcing of equipment should be completed before Apr 30^th, as it is important that the equipment list be finalised before Mar 30^th. Michael would also finalise his network plan and communicate with Susanna as he did so, to make sure the environmental safety precautions are carried out properly.

The meeting ended at around 7:00 p.m., with the understanding that the next meeting would be held in a month’s time.

Language Used in a Meeting Summary

Reporting Verbs

In meeting records, we often find people’s names mentioned. When a person’s name is mentioned, the name is generally associated with a point that the person made or a task that this person has been assigned. It is thus important to note who made the points entered in the meeting record or who was being talked about for future reference.

A reporting verb is a verb that describe what a person was trying to achieve through his/her speech (i.e., his/her speech act), e.g.

said – simply saying something
reported – providing details of a past event or facts
commented – providing views on a particular issue

The following table shows different groups of verbs that can be used in different stages of a meeting. Try to identify which speech act they are intended to perform.

Introducing an idea

announced explained mentioned reported said stated	offered proposed put forward suggested tabled	believed expressed the opinion felt thought	raised the issue of referred to touched on brought up (e.g. the issue of...) pointed out
Expressing of views of ideas/opinions raised

argued against contended countered disagreed with disputed		accepted acknowledged admitted agreed conceded recognised
Drawing conclusions

received decided agreed was asked to was assigned to

Voice

Passive voice is occasionally used in records of meetings. It tends to be used to describe resolutions made collectively where names of individuals are not important.

The following table shows some use of passive voice to achieve different purposes:

Taking note of points raised
It was noted that	used when the group took note or listened but took no action
Reporting decisions
It was decided that	used after a vote
It was agreed that	used when there has been general assent
Reporting recommendations
It was recommended that	used when the group only has power to make a suggestion on a particular point
Deferring decisions
A decision was withheld pending clarification of	used when the committee was unable to reach a decision
It was agreed to defer a decision on	used when the group was unable to reach a decision
Assignment of duties
Mr. Lee was assigned to...	used when a junior member was told to carry out some action
Mr. Cheung was asked to...	used when a senior member had to carry out some action

Language Structure for Reporting

When a reporting verb is used, one or more of the following grammatical patterns can be applied.

Grammatical Patterns	Examples
Subject + reporting verb + that clause	John agreed that replacing the existing system with an entirely new one may not be a good idea.
Subject + reporting verb + to + infinitive	John offered to look into the existing system within the next couple of days.
Subject + reporting verb + gerund	Mr. Wong suggested taking the modular approach to the design of the system architecture.
Subject + reporting verb + a noun	Mr. Fung described the existing system being used in the company.

Note that some verbs can be used in more than one pattern while for some, only one pattern can be used. If in doubt, look up how the verbs are used by referring to the examples of their usage in a dictionary.

Each member of the consultancy team should create their own meeting summary, based on the technical discussions you conducted for units 6 & 7. Write the summary, including the Gantt chart you produced earlier, assuming the role of the project leader. Obviously, if you weren’t the project leader when the original chart was created, you need to demote the project leader and promote yourself to their posiition. As this is an individual assessment, while you can discuss the details to be included with your group mates, you each need to write your own personal version of the document. The summary should not only contain the Gantt chart for illustrative purposes, but also a suitable discussion that refers to the individual stages depicted in the chart, in other words, the chart should be suitably embedded in the summary. Submit your finished work to your instructor (as an email attachment or as your instructor has instructed) when you finish.