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Introduction

Organizational success depends strongly on the right information getting to the right persons at the right time.

Communigram is a new approach to organizing the transfer of information in organizations through communication. It focuses on people and the information they create and brings all the details concerning information flows together in one spot. Since it is easy, even intuitive to understand, the Communigram helps people gain a comprehensive overview on which information is needed, who is to work with whom to create this information, and finally, who this information needs to be communicated to.

Communigram is a toolset that allows you to plan and orchestrate the work of many people inside and outside your organization. Coupled with the Business Communication Engineering methodology, it covers three very important aspects of organizing teamwork:

  • Plan - Communigram allows you to plan the work between people in a smart way: by visually drawing the communication and collaboration links between them (who needs to communicate with who to produce which information, and to whom does this information need to be communicated to), and then helping you figure out the time aspects as well (when)
  • Collaborate - Once the work is planned, it comes to life through an interactive "myCommunigram": each person gets an overview of all activities she is involved in and who she needs to work with to produce information, gets access to all relevant documentation, and starts communicating with the right people to coordinate work, produce results, and warn others when difficulties occur
  • Manage - Communigram translates many aspects of the Business Communication Engineering methodology into software, such as the early-warning system using traffic lights, and the Dynamic Workflow between Suppliers and Clients.

Communigram Concepts

A Communigram basically consists of rows, columns, dots, and arrows that describe the communication flow in a project or process. In our definition, a project and a process are to a large extent synonyms for the entity regrouping many activities to reach a certain goal. However, processes are by definition repetitive, while projects are by definition unique. Projects can however have parts which are similar to previous projects, i.e. that projects follow a ?template? that is more or less repetitive and therefore can be considered a process. In this context, projects can be understood simply as instances of a process.

Rows

The rows of the Communigram show Which information is elaborated in the organization. Each row displays a task or group of tasks. Normal tasks are shown as white rows (except milestones, which are special tasks and are therefore shown in gray), while groups of tasks are shown as colored rows.

Columns

The Columns of the Communigram show Who communicates With Who to elaborate information. Each column represents a resource or a group of resources (workgroups, departments, sites, ...). Resources are the entities of the organization which create information. These entities are primarily the people of the organization. However, machines or buildings may also be considered resources.

Resources may be grouped into resource groups, i.e. workgroups, departments, or similar entities. Such resource groups may be further grouped into larger groups.

Dots and Circles

At the intersections of each row and column, the resources participating in the elaboration of the information in response to the objective may be defined. Resources can participate in tasks as simple participants, as responsibles, or passively ("keep informed").

When a resource participates in a task, this is shown by a small dot. When several resources participate in a task, the communication between these resources is shown by a horizontal line.

To ensure that work is effectively carried out, a responsible is defined for each task. Responsiblity for a task is shown in the Communigram by a large dot. Each task can only have one responsible. A group of task also has a responsible, which is depicted by a large circle.

Certain resources will need to be kept informed when a task is carried out, but do not carry out actual work. This type of passive participation in a task is indicated through a small circle.

Arrows

When the objective of a task has been met, the results are transmitted to other tasks which need this information as an input (To Whom). This communication of information from one task to another is shown in the Communigram as an arrow. By definition, these arrows are drawn between the responsibles of two tasks.

Scheduling

Based on the arrows in the Communigram and the durations of each deliverable, the project can be scheduled (When). Considering that each deliverable can only be elaborated once all incoming deliverables (arrows) are available, the scheduler calculates the dates in the Communigram.

Note: the dates in the Communigram cannot be changed by hand. They are calculated by the scheduler. If you need to define specific dates for certain deliverables or milestones, use the constraint function (see "Using Constraints to Fix Dates").

Expanding and Collapsing

The line of a subproject may be collapsed to hide its underlying tasks. Higher-level subprojects may be further collapsed to hide their underlying subprojects. Much like the lines of subprojects, the columns of resource groups may also be collapsed to hide their underlying groups and resources. In this manner, Communigram provides a very compact overview of the organization's projects and resources, and the communication behavior which is expected of them.

When rows or columns are collapsed, the dots and arrows of the Communigram are compacted in a logical manner. For example, any resource which participates in one of a subproject's tasks (or is even responsible for one) is also considered a participant of the (collapsed) subproject. This means the dots of a column (large or small) are "inherited" by the higher-level subproject when it is collapsed, producing a series of small "participant" dots. The responsible of the entire subproject however (the large circle) turns into a large dot when collapsed. Similarly, when a resource of a department participates in a task or is responsible for it, the department is also considered a participant or a responsible, and thus receives a small or a large dot, respectively, when it is collapsed.

Furthermore, the communication flows between the processes and resources are automatically redrawn following the same expand/collapse logic. Therefore, whenever there is a communication flow between tasks of two different processes, a communication flow will also be shown between the processes when one or both of the processes are collapsed. With its innovative logic, the Communigram allows you to zoom in to reveal the details of your processes and departments, or zoom out to gain a comprehensive overview of your organization, without losing the communication links between them.