Articles To help Project Leaders
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|  | | | Wayne Botha at Westchester chapter of PMI |
We held a very successful event at Westchester PMI Professional Development Day this past weekend. I presented on the topic of communication.
As often happens, the presenters learns as much, or more, than the audience. When a few people seriously discuss a topic, the mastermind principle takes effect and the combined result is better than any of us can create on our own. Communication is so important to project managers that I devote an entire topic to the subject in my book "Beyond The Certification".
Here are some of the tips which came out of the session, that will improve your communication:
1. If you have a strong accent and are frequently in team meetings where people don't understand you, then partner up with someone who understands you, and can "interpret" for the team. This takes an understanding partner and team, but it works well when your interpreter paraphrases key points, which then helps everyone communicate.
2. Another way to compensate for accents, is to supplement your spoken words with written communication. Send agenda and other documents for the meeting before the meeting, to allow project team members and sponsors to prepare for the meeting. Follow up with detailed notes, soon after the meeting.
3. Take notes in the meeting, so that participants can see the notes being taken and immediately question what is written versus what they understood from hearing you. This is easy now, with web conferences and participants can have a window open that displays the notes, in real time.
4. Don't drop bombs in email. Deliver bad news in person or through a phone. Never in email.
5. We have far too many communication channels, which reduces communication. Project managers are bombarded with emails, instant messages and teleconference calls while trying to lead projects. Instead of trying to jump between communication channels, we need to stay focused on communicating effectively by tailoring our communications to the recipient and providing relevant information to the person who will receive it.
6. Project leaders receive emails that run the gamut. Some have no clear action step, some are badly written and some provide too much detail. You need to educate the people that send you email how to improve their email etiquette so that they can help you to spend less time on email and get them the results they desire.
7. When meeting with people who are strong in one language, but weak in another, use the language that everyone is strongest in. For example, if the majority of your team is strongest in Spanish, then communicate in Spanish for the key points and translate the result of the discussion to English for the other team members.
8. When you are unsure that the message is being communicated, get into dialog and get feedback. For example, if I ask you to "provide me with the project plan" and you don't understand why I am making this request, then say "Please help me understand why you are requesting to see the project plan." This opens dialog and will reduce assumptions around my intentions. Similarly, when you ask a team member to create a new feature for your product, you can conversationally say "Just so that I am clear on this, what are the next steps you will take?"
"The problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred" (per George Bernard Shaw). Your task as project leader is to find pragmatic ways to ensure that communication takes place and strip away any illusions.
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