Kathy Philangam ’14, IT442, Bryant University
April 11, 2014
Treat project management communication as if it is with your significant other.
Communication is the foundation that upholds our relationships not only in our everyday lives but especially in project management.
Anthony Robbins, a well-known motivational speaker, proclaims “to effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” Robbins helps us understand why effective communication is a vital key for success in project management. “A good communication process keeps stakeholders engaged and project teams motivated” (PMI, 2013a).
Many projects are often cross-functional involving people from different departments like accounting, marketing and IT for example. Projects involve stakeholders that view things differently. When communicating with a stakeholder, you first need to take into consideration the background of where the person is from. Each stakeholder has their own agenda and goals. In order to get support from each stakeholder, you need to alter the communication of what is being said to meet the different agendas. “People hear only what they want to hear…[you need] to determine what they need to know, what they want to know, and what information you want to tell them” (Biafore).
The same mentality is used in relationships. Like your significant other, you need to be convincing and find common ground to build upon your relationship. Generally, the accounting and finance departments are more likely to support a project that brings in more revenue while marketing would support a project that strengthens the brand of the company so emphasizing these points need to be made clear.
Many people tend to overlook the importance of communication in project management often wondering why so much time is spent on verbal and written communication instead of actually working on executing the project. In order to complete something, knowledge and motivation must be present.
Communication is important for helping define the requirements of a project, understanding what needs to get done and motivating to accomplish it. Companies who realize the strength of communication are 1.7 times more likely to outperform their competitors financially (PMI, 2013b).
Just like any relationship, the better the communication, the more likely the outcome will be positive. Communication is fundamental in paving the direction of where a project is headed. Every phase, process, as well as constraints in project management are dependent upon effective communication. Updates, changes and status reports should be communicated to all stakeholders regularly during the entire project.
Effective communication establishes well managed projects. According to the PMI, highly effective communicators met original goals 80%, were on time 71% and within budget 76% of the time while minimal communicators met goals only 52% of the time, on time 37% and within budget 48% (2013a).
Poor communication paves way for disaster and unsuccessful projects. “One out of five projects is unsuccessful due to ineffective communications” (PMI, 2013b). Communication in these projects were unclear, which leaves people confused with scope and problems arise, wasting time and money.
So how do you achieve and manage effective communication? You must come up with a good communication plan, build trust in your relationships and know when to use the right methods of communication.
A good communication plan consists of forming a clear contact list of who to notify from each part of the project to ask questions and determining when those people are going to communicate so everyone is kept up to date with project statuses and no surprises are dropped (Michalski). Building trust creates more open and honest relationships; determining needs and requirements can thus be achieved more easily. As stated earlier, you need to know what to say to each different stakeholder. You also need to determine which method of communication will help get the point across.
In order for any relationship to work, communication needs to go both ways. If you do not understand the intended message, keep asking questions until you are sure you interpreted the message correctly.
Whether it is the status of a relationship or of project management, communication determines whether it will work out (be successful) or not (a failure).
Treat project management communication as if it is with your significant other.