The Art of Effective Communication in Project Teams

“The long-term success and sustainability of project teams require motivating behaviors from project managers”(Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton & Kramer, 2008, p. 310).  One major key to success is good communication or “sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner”(Portny et al., 2008, p. 367).  The chart below evaluates three different modes of communication for the same message as presented at this LINK 

in my graduate course studies this week.

Mode of Communication	My Interpretation of Message	Factors Influencing my Perception
Text Email Mode	Jane needs Mark’s report soon, but it is not necessarily an urgent priority.	-Text email let me take my own time to read or re-read the message. -There was no bolded or numbered specifics to the  task request. -The request gets a bit lost in all the words.
Audio Voice Mail Mode	A personal friend needs Mark’s report urgently.	-Tone of voice was personal and friendly, but a bit stressed and rushed.   -Wording was rapid and voice evidenced emotion that caught my attention.  Voice sounded very appreciative. -I had to replay the message, however, to discover what the actual request was asking for: ETA data.  That detail got lost in the rush of sound.
Video Face to Face Mode	A professional colleague requests Mark's ETA report as soon as convenient.	-Co-worker’s face to face presence and smile was friendly and subdued. -Eye contact was hard to ignore, but warm and not urgent.  Her in person presence distracted a bit from her message. -Tone of voice was sort of sing song, so the message did not feel super urgent.

Synthesis of Thoughts

For this particular message, the most effective mode of delivery for me was the audio mode in the voice mail.  That’s because I sensed both a sense of urgency and a sense of gratitude in the person’s recorded voice.  Both those tonal messages hit me more deeply than the other two modes because I felt an emotional connection to the person requesting the report.  This little message mode activity has taught me to carefully consider customizing all my communications according to task and audience in a project. “Communication can be formal or informal, written or verbal. Whatever form communications take, however, project managers should plan and prepare so their messages are received and correctly interpreted by project audiences”(Portny et al., 2008, p. 367).

I also learned that while email communications help people record, document and keep track of communications, a lot of the message can be lost inside a text paragraph. I realize that project managers cannot avoid this mode of communication, but I also now realize that selecting that right moment for a voice message can help to create a sense of friendly urgency when needed. “While managers today typically write fewer memos than 10 years ago, nearly all project managers must write some type of report on a regular basis – as well as dozens of emails each day”(Portny et al, 2008, p. 371).  That’s why I think we are lucky to have the podcasting tool for conducting team communications as well.

Our course text even provides an example of using podcasts for regular team communications on page 365, which can also be found at this LINK. This manager tools website provides many helpful and downloadable podcasts that deliver accompanying tools such as project delegation worksheets, meeting agenda templates and effective email outlines, all for successfully coordinating the behemoth of communications in any project.

References

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008).

Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects.  Hoboken, NJ:

John  Wiley & Sons, Inc.