magnus919_agent-skills/technical-project-management/references/control-and-communication.md

Project control and communication

Use for recurring reviews, executive updates, disputed status, or escalation. Basis: C02 documents weak oversight and stale planning evidence; S06 places reporting, issues, and decision-making within project control. This cadence is a suggested lightweight adaptation, not a prescribed standard.

A minimum viable review

Use an existing team cadence; default to an async weekly project review with live discussion only for decisions or unresolved conflict. High-risk work may need more frequent review. Never delay material bad news until the next meeting.

1. Read accepted milestones and new evidence since the last review.
2. Compare baseline, current forecast, and deadline. Ask what remaining work changed.
3. Inspect blocked/aging dependencies, current issues, and leading risk signals.
4. Review capacity and cost exposure, including unplanned work displacing commitments.
5. Identify decisions due before the next review, available options, and consequences of waiting. Ask the authorized owner rather than assembling consensus by default.
6. Issue a concise update and record the next evidence checkpoint.

Status semantics

Agree thresholds for this project. A useful starting vocabulary is:

• On track: current evidence supports the approved commitment within tolerance.
• At risk: a credible threat needs mitigation or decision; commitment not yet lost.
• Off track: forecast breaches tolerance or acceptance cannot be met as agreed.
• Unknown: evidence is missing, contradictory, or stale enough to affect judgment.

Report by dimension when necessary: schedule green, quality unknown is not an unqualified green project. Do not average away a failed critical dependency. Keep the assessment's as-of date and evidence. A ticket marked done without acceptance is a discrepancy to resolve, not an excuse to claim delivery.

Risks, issues, assumptions, decisions

A risk is an uncertain event; an issue has occurred or requires resolution now. When a risk materializes, link it to the issue and activate the response. Each risk needs an impact, owner, signal, mitigation, contingency, and review trigger. A probability-impact score helps sorting but does not replace judgment about severe outcomes. Record assumptions with an expiry or invalidation event. Decisions need options, authority, rationale, and affected commitments.

Communicate at the audience's pace

For an expert TPM or sponsor: lead with what changed, impact, recommendation, decision required, and latest useful decision date. Link detail. For a team new to project management: pair each request with the reason it helps their work. Neither audience needs a glossary appended to every update.

For conflict, separate facts from differing objectives. Show at least two feasible options with who benefits, who bears cost, and what becomes impossible. Escalate when the relevant decision rights are absent or contested. Do not manufacture agreement or silently reassign ownership.

Edge conditions and exit

A request to "make the report green" does not change evidence. Prepare a truthful report with recovery options. A user asking to send it is a separate external action; apply authorization before posting. Avoid individual productivity rankings from commits, tickets, or time online. These measures do not establish performance.

Complete when the user has the update or decision brief, each material uncertainty is visible, and next actions have accepted owners or explicit ownership gaps.