IT Project Communication: An Investigation of Its Dimensions and Relationship to Project Success

Abstract

The critical nature of information flow as a precursor to project success has been affirmed by both scholars and project management professionals. The data analyzed in this study represent the perceptions of 91 IT project professionals regarding the importance of 18 different aspects of project communication to project success. The relationship of these data vis-a-vis project manager demographics and project/organizational characteristics is explored. Despite a relatively high level of agreement across the respondents regarding which communications are perceived critical to project success, there are clear project and stakeholder circumstances that warrant consideration. The data reveal both statistical and practical dimensions of communication that attribute importance to project success differently for internal as compared to external communication. Furthermore, the emergence of average project duration as a consistently strong correlate of perceived importance of communication to project success is an area of research deserving greater attention.