Getting the Message

We communicate with each other all of the time.  And there is no shortage on the different ways we can transmit our message.  We use texting, email, post on blogs and social media, have phone conversations or leave a voice mail, and interact face-to-face.  When we are communicating with each other, how do we know we communicating effectively and sending the right message?

This week we had to observe a piece of communication in three different modes: email, voicemail, and face-to-face.  The scenario is that Jane needs Mark’s report so she can extract the date she needs to finish her report and meet her deadline.  She is asking Mark when will he send the report to her.  Below is how I interpreted the different messages.

Email

Jane’s email was clear on what she needs from Mark.  The way the message is written shows that she is empathetic to his busy situation but at the same time there still is a sense of urgency for him to send the report or at least the data she needs to finish her report.

Voicemail   

Listening to the voicemail, Jane sounds frustrated that Mark has not completed his report.  Even though she acknowledges he has been busy, her hurried speech gives a tone of frustration and urgency.  Her message was clear in what she needs had a professional tone.  I think the way Jane says how she ‘appreciates his help’ sets a tone of ‘hey, we’re on the same team so let’s get this done’.

Face-to-face

The face-to-face communication is very different from the previous two modes.  Jane's tone seems laid back and doesn’t express the urgency as the other two methods.  Along with that, the encounter seems very informal.

Communicating Effectively

As you can see, the same message can be interpreted in different ways depending on tone and other characteristics.  In project management, communication is a key component for success.  Portny, Kramer, Mantel, Meredith, & Shafer, (2007) state that effective communication is key to successful project management- sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner (p. 357).  In this case, I thought the email was the best method that got the message across.  When using written communication, Dr. Stolovitch names five things it should include (Laureate Education, n.d.):

- Clear purpose

- State the situation

- Include possible solutions

- Specify the form that the response is required to take

- Keep tone business friendly and respectful

As the project manager, it is important that the communication is being received and understood.  There are many ways a message can be delivered.  We should be diplomatic when communicating but at the same time be firm when needed.  It is also good practice to keep a record of all communications just in case something gets questioned later on in the project.  Without effective communication, the project can suffer or the misinterpretation of a message could be problematic for those individuals.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (n.d.). Communicating with stakeholders [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Portny, S. E., Kramer, B. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., & Shafer, S. M. (2007). Project management. Chichester, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons.

Learning from Past Projects

After a project is completed, how do organizations go about determining what went right and what needs improving?  One close out activity that can be conducted is a project “post mortem” to determine lessons learned (Greer, 2010).

My first experience in the development of courseware occurred when I got hired on as a subject matter expert for a US Navy training project.  We had 18 months to develop seventeen task related training lessons.  Overall, the project ran pretty smooth.  Some things that attributed the project’s success were the project manager’s organization, communication among team members, and the quality assurance process.  According to Portny, Kramer, Mantel, Meredith, & Shafer (2007), effective communication is key to successful project management.  The PM kept the team informed of any information concerning the project and we kept the PM updated with the progress of the lessons being developed.  Along with that, the team members shared information and ideas with each other to resolve any development issues that came up.

The project manager’s organizational skills were helpful and he did not micromanage the team.  He delegated tasks and expected us to execute them.  If needed, he would do a follow up to ensure there were no problems in completing a tasks.  Once the first couple of lessons made it through the quality assurance/review process, they could be used as models for the follow-on lessons.  It was a slow start to get to that point, but once we got there the development moved pretty quickly and there were very few errors found during the review process.

I did experience one problem with this project.  As the ‘new guy’ and lead SME of the team, there were two other developers that had a hard time with making corrections or changes to their lessons based off my recommendations.  Don’t get me wrong, if it was a technical error, they fixed it; no problem. But if I recommended any kind of editing to the text or fixing something within a graphic, they would argue and tell me it wasn’t my place to make those recommendations.  I never put up too much of a fight over these instances because I knew during the review process the instructional designer or project manager would catch the same error and have them change it.  It was just frustrating to me that they would not make some simple corrections and save others some time and energy.

From this project, I learned that having a good project manager that is organized and communicates well can help in project success.  I also learned that you have to work with different types of people; some which may cause you frustration.  When faced with those situations, just remember that you are working toward the same goal of trying to produce an exceptional product.

Reference

Greer, M. (2010). The Project Management Minimalist: Just Enough PM to Rock Your Projects!. Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved September, 15, 2011.Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201740_02/MS_INDT/EDUC_6145/artifacts/pm-minimalist-ver-3-laureate.pdf

Portny, S. E., Kramer, B. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., & Shafer, S. M. (2007). Project management. Chichester, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons.