Introduction

Welcome new project managers to another part of your Agile story. Today we will be exploring the importance of effective communications in project management that really bring about your project success. This will help differentiate you from the other project managers when everyone is so focused on bringing about results that will be beneficial for you in the long run. Of course all of this may seem easy at first, but as you start experiencing many conditions in a project you will start to realize that this may become one of those moments where it is easier than it sounds.

Graphic courtesy of PPIA

The workplace is very different to navigate and especially in a new setting that you are unfamiliar with. Thankfully you are not alone in this manner and we will help to clear away most misunderstandings to help you grow to become a successful project manager. Of course there are several factors you have to consider in a project. We are breaking down some of the most common issues that will arise during this stage and the importance of it later on.¹

Planning Effective Communication

1. Individual and Group Communication: Most managers think that adding more people in a project will solve your problems, however, that is not the case and will in fact increase the failure rate of your project. There is more thinking that needs to go into communicating with a group of people or even individuals than emailing everyone or holding a virtual meeting. The most efficient way to communicate with a group may be through face-to-face meetings, some virtual, one-on-one or even through an email. Everyone is different and everyone is gonna have to work together to see what method of communication will work best for each other.²

Graphic courtesy of Lumen

1. Formal and Informal methods of Communicating: Knowing how to develop relationships between team members will be crucial for project success and how to navigate between informal and formal communication will help you get there. While formal communication will be good for project documentation, in the setting where you are trying to build a team that works well together, formal methods of communication will help build bridges and get everyone on the same page faster compared to reading detailed reports or emails that can be confusing for those not in the same field.

2. Distributing Information in a Timely and Efficient Manner: In regards to project management, it is important for everyone to be on the same page, as the project manager you cannot hide information about what’s going on for the project or how other team members are dragging the team down. Not only is this not efficient, you are creating a workplace where no one is happy or feels important in their work. By giving updates to the projects to the stakeholders and their expectations back to your team, you are developing effective communication between yourself and those around you. Do not let one person on your team become abandoned or feel alone in their work, a team becomes more than just a group of people toward a single goal.³

3. Setting the Stage for Bad News: No one wants to be the bearer of bad news, however, it is important that everyone knows what’s going on and are aware of anything that could affect the final outcome of the project so help can be provided. By communicating in a timely fashion with great efficiency, most problems can be resolved as easily as they appear or give other people time needed to pick up the pace. A “stand-up” meeting would require everyone to focus on the information that is being discussed and provide everyone a general idea on how well they are presenting their data.

4. Determing Communication Channels: When you know how many people are in your team, you can decide how many communication channels you need which would help you get an idea on how communication works. From the image below you can see that the more teams and people you have, the more complicated communication channels become, which is not good for your company. By keeping your team small, you are creating an environment for effective communications and allows for closer bonding between members that can increase productivity for your team.

Graphic courtesy of ResearchGate

These are some things you need to consider when you are trying to create an effective communication environment between your fellow team members. As a project member the benefits to this will outweigh the problems that could arise if they are not properly addressed. Human interpersonal relationships are difficult to handle but if you can manage this you will be able to increase the success for your projects and create an environment where everyone is able to say everything that needs to be said in your meetings. This is not an easy task or skill to learn when you can’t understand this from a book or words on a webpage, but by experience.

Conclusion

Overall, effective communication is easier said than done but the benefits from this by planning effective communications in the beginning will allow your team to become more productive and allow everyone to grow as a team. Hopefully, you learned a lot from this blog post as I did when making this one. Communication is key to the success of a project, but everyone is a person and that may require you to put more effort to grow connected with others than with a fellow co-worker. ¹

References