15th January 2008, Monetical Limited, Cambridge, the provider of a management consultancy service enabling self evaluation and performance optimisation of software engineering, delivery and support activities, announces that it has signed an exclusive agreement with communication expert Dr Richard Blundel, who is a Senior Lecturer at Brunel University and author of Effective organisational communication: perspectives, principles and practices.

Richard has steered the definition of the Monetical’s Communication Audit Module, helping it become the most focused tool available today enabling software and IT organisations to self-evaluate their own performance against best practices.

One of the key challenges for managers is how to maintain effective communication, both within their own organisation and across its boundaries. While this is true of all organisations, we know those firms responsible for software engineering or the delivery of growingly complex software or IT projects operate in a particularly demanding communication environment, including multi-location, virtual team-working and multi-cultural/multi-language environments as a result of outsourcing and the forming of strategic partnerships.

Monetical's Communication Audit Module provides software and IT organisations with focused, practical feedback on their current communication performance. It features an easy-to-use 'checklist' interface that can be tailored to meet the specific requirements of your organisation. In particular, focuses on measuring the quality of communication with reference to characteristics such as participation, forum/environment, recipients, format and content documentation and publication. Preconfigured information provides the facility for comparison over time and for 'benchmarking' against other users. This audit module helps diagnose potential problems, identify practical solutions and develop a greater awareness of communication issues throughout the organisation.

Monetical's Founder, John E. Abram commented, ‘we are delighted to be able to provide our clients with a cost effective means to evaluate their own capability in this important field’. Adding, ‘we believe the ability to evaluate how communication is influencing performance is important, especially in an environment where organisations have seen bottom line financial savings as a result of outsourcing, but have experienced weaker overall project performance. Incorporating Richard’s expertise provides our clients with the necessary means to identify critical communication challenges and overcome them.’

Richard noted, 'It has been really interesting to collaborate with Monetical on this project, and to translate some essential principles of effective organisational communication into such a dynamic and innovative work environment. I think there is enormous potential for performance enhancement as managers and project teams can use this software to 'build in' some structured reflection on their communication practices, while still remaining focussed on immediate priorities.'

Based in Cambridge UK, Monetical Limited is the provider of a management consultancy service backed by a network of leading subject matter experts to address the increased complexity of software and IT project engineering, delivery and support activities. Its unique expertise and analytical capabilities empower software and IT organisations to optimise their performance in an increasingly complex business environment. Monetical helps small and medium-sized businesses to gain cost-effective access to a wealth of industry expertise by providing tools which enable them to compare their own operational and commercial performance against best practice. For a comprehensive description about Monetical and its solutions, visit www.monetical.com or write to info@monetical.com .

Richard Blundel is a Senior Lecturer at Brunel University and a member of Brunel Research in Enterprise, Innovation, Sustainability and Ethics (BRESE). He has a background in public and private sector organisations, with roles including market research analyst for a small IT sector consultancy and corporate affairs manager for a large industrial company. Richard’s expertise lies in the role of inter-organisational networks in facilitating technological and organisational innovation, emerging models of entrepreneurship, and the growth process in firms and networks.