Imagine a project without any type of communication. Or imagine a project with all the electronic tools and documentation available but people not reading, writing or talking. Only one more… Imagine a project in a vacuum, against a white background where all team members and stakeholders are on the same thinking and communication level. Yeah, right…

Whether it is a guy extending or building your house or your team members falling foul by not letting you know the difficulties they are experiencing with developing a certain software

module, it will be the delivery of the overall project that will take a knock and result in the main user being unhappy.
Communication within a project and between a project and functional environment seems to always be an issue and will lead to trouble and/or project failure.
Most articles focus on the Project Manager and although a PM is a focal point to develop a communication plan or strategy, the responsibility of ‘good communication' lies with the whole project team.

Now, what is good communication? Well, is there a good and bad communication? As defined by Wikipedia (and others), communication "… can be perceived better as a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings or ideas (energy) towards a mutually accepted goal or direction (information)."

We live in an information and communication age and any information needs to be communicated in order to be effective whether it is using electronic systems or verbally.

1.       Communicate, communicate and communicate!

As I have mentioned earlier, Project Manager needs to have a communication plan/startegy whether developed by him or her, or procedures from the functional business or methodology. This will form the basis of all communication within the project context.

A number of techniques can be used including face-to-face, telephone, meetings, workshops, email, reports, presentations and we should know when each of these is appropriate.

All team members are communicators and responsible for correct information dissemination.

Project team or the business need to know that they have a duty of communication and only by passing the information they might create awareness.

2.       Yes, but… - Feed back!

Project communication should be regular and consistent and it can take many forms: meeting notes, risk and issue logs, status reports, emails, verbal feedback.

Due to so many distractions, filters and noise for it to be effective we have to receive feedback. Imagine speaking to your friends at a party and them looking at you blankly without nodding, disagreeing or expressing their thoughts. You would think that they're not listening to you and are not interested and registering what you have just put through.

We are all individuals who perceive things differently.

Yes, if we look around we still find one-way communication like the road signs for example, but although informative (at times) thanks to the GPS technology this soon could be a thing of the past and we could again be surrounded with beautiful nature…

What I'm trying to say here is that when something is communicated, the communicator should receive feedback from the recipient which will confirm that the message has been received correctly.

And since we are all individuals, further clarifications might be required as what we transmit is often not received the way it was intended. This is due to the barriers and ‘noise' that the message gets affected by. These could be language, different time zones, cultural/psychological differences (country, company, group), views and opinions, technical expertise or technology used, etc.

3.       Me?... – It is your responsibility!

PM is the coach, the leader, the glue that holds everything together. It is the responsibility of a project manager to lead by example, communicate and feed back. It is his or her responsibility to make the team aware of their responsibilities of which one is communication and what consequences and impact poor communication will have on the project and subsequently their roles, resumes and life…

Programme manager, project sponsor and project manager are accountable for creating clear paths of communication with stakeholders and using them.
Communication with stakeholders should be managed via stakeholder management plan and adhered to. Some relationships are sensitive and can only be maintained at high-profile level. This is a responsibility of management.

Project and business team members have a responsibility to follow the communication plan. They should contribute to the project success ensuring that correct information is provided to the right people in a timely manner and that they receive and provide feedback as required.

Senior managers should be aware that changes to policies and procedures might have a great impact on related projects and they should be communicated to all stakeholders and project leaders in good time. Feedback should be received before major steps are taken.

If the strategy of the business is not aligned with that of the project (and vice-versa) changes that are not communicated properly could damage the business, project or relationships.

A little trick you might want to remember…

Do not hide away or delay communication. Keep in touch. As long as the client, stakeholder or your superior is being updated on the progress or problems you are experiencing, even if you are significantly late, keeping them in the loop will do some damage control and decrease negative impact. You can manage the other party by communicating. Remember that projects have deliverables that need to be produced to schedule.

We often say ‘communication at this or that organisation/company/project is bad' while we ourselves do not do our best to improve it. Start with yourself. Become a better communicator and your project or organisation will benefit too.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/project-management-articles/project-communication-is-the-key-3-areas-for-improvement-2523679.html

About the Author

Project ICT Manager, IT Consultant

Imagine a project without any type of communication. Or imagine a project with all the electronic tools and documentation available but people not reading, writing or talking. Only one more… Imagine a project in a vacuum, against a white background where all team members and stakeholders are on the same thinking and communication level. Yeah, right…

Whether it is a guy extending or building your house or your team members falling foul by not letting you know the difficulties they are experiencing with developing a certain software

module, it will be the delivery of the overall project that will take a knock and result in the main user being unhappy.
Communication within a project and between a project and functional environment seems to always be an issue and will lead to trouble and/or project failure.
Most articles focus on the Project Manager and although a PM is a focal point to develop a communication plan or strategy, the responsibility of ‘good communication' lies with the whole project team.

Now, what is good communication? Well, is there a good and bad communication? As defined by Wikipedia (and others), communication "… can be perceived better as a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings or ideas (energy) towards a mutually accepted goal or direction (information)."

We live in an information and communication age and any information needs to be communicated in order to be effective whether it is using electronic systems or verbally.

1.       Communicate, communicate and communicate!

As I have mentioned earlier, Project Manager needs to have a communication plan/startegy whether developed by him or her, or procedures from the functional business or methodology. This will form the basis of all communication within the project context.

A number of techniques can be used including face-to-face, telephone, meetings, workshops, email, reports, presentations and we should know when each of these is appropriate.

All team members are communicators and responsible for correct information dissemination.

Project team or the business need to know that they have a duty of communication and only by passing the information they might create awareness.

2.       Yes, but… - Feed back!

Project communication should be regular and consistent and it can take many forms: meeting notes, risk and issue logs, status reports, emails, verbal feedback.

Due to so many distractions, filters and noise for it to be effective we have to receive feedback. Imagine speaking to your friends at a party and them looking at you blankly without nodding, disagreeing or expressing their thoughts. You would think that they're not listening to you and are not interested and registering what you have just put through.

We are all individuals who perceive things differently.

Yes, if we look around we still find one-way communication like the road signs for example, but although informative (at times) thanks to the GPS technology this soon could be a thing of the past and we could again be surrounded with beautiful nature…

What I'm trying to say here is that when something is communicated, the communicator should receive feedback from the recipient which will confirm that the message has been received correctly.

And since we are all individuals, further clarifications might be required as what we transmit is often not received the way it was intended. This is due to the barriers and ‘noise' that the message gets affected by. These could be language, different time zones, cultural/psychological differences (country, company, group), views and opinions, technical expertise or technology used, etc.

3.       Me?... – It is your responsibility!

PM is the coach, the leader, the glue that holds everything together. It is the responsibility of a project manager to lead by example, communicate and feed back. It is his or her responsibility to make the team aware of their responsibilities of which one is communication and what consequences and impact poor communication will have on the project and subsequently their roles, resumes and life…

Programme manager, project sponsor and project manager are accountable for creating clear paths of communication with stakeholders and using them.
Communication with stakeholders should be managed via stakeholder management plan and adhered to. Some relationships are sensitive and can only be maintained at high-profile level. This is a responsibility of management.

Project and business team members have a responsibility to follow the communication plan. They should contribute to the project success ensuring that correct information is provided to the right people in a timely manner and that they receive and provide feedback as required.

Senior managers should be aware that changes to policies and procedures might have a great impact on related projects and they should be communicated to all stakeholders and project leaders in good time. Feedback should be received before major steps are taken.

If the strategy of the business is not aligned with that of the project (and vice-versa) changes that are not communicated properly could damage the business, project or relationships.

A little trick you might want to remember…

Do not hide away or delay communication. Keep in touch. As long as the client, stakeholder or your superior is being updated on the progress or problems you are experiencing, even if you are significantly late, keeping them in the loop will do some damage control and decrease negative impact. You can manage the other party by communicating. Remember that projects have deliverables that need to be produced to schedule.

We often say ‘communication at this or that organisation/company/project is bad' while we ourselves do not do our best to improve it. Start with yourself. Become a better communicator and your project or organisation will benefit too.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/project-management-articles/project-communication-is-the-key-3-areas-for-improvement-2523679.html

About the Author

Project ICT Manager, IT Consultant