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Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!
Poor communication is one of the top ways to derail a project! Good communication includes identifying the right people and involving them up front, setting expectations, and providing timely and relevant status updates
What Defines Good Communication Content?
- Gets the reader's attention.
- Gets the point across in as few words as possible.
- Is tailored to the specific audience. Only give them what they need. Make it brief but relevant.
- Uses the medium that is most likely to cause the audience to read the communication. Consider organizational culture of the audience.
- Clearly spells out actions the audience needs to take, if any.
Common Problems, Warning Signs and Resolutions
Problem
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How it Happens
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Warning Signs
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Turning it Around
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Key Take Aways
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We didn't involve the right people
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- The people who can torpedo your project are not identified and managed.
- Individuals who can help with project issues are not consulted.
- There is no clear definition of who the customer is.
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- You are constantly getting questions from stakeholders that are not in your communication plan.
- Uninvited stakeholders show up at project meetings.
- Project issues are taking longer than expected to resolve.
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- Be open to adjusting your stakeholder list if you didn't involve the right stakeholders at the beginning of the project.
- Make conscious decisions about who should be involved and to what degree. Not everyone who wants to be involved should be involved.
- Get help from your project sponsor or other business owners
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- Know who your customer is and involve them up front
- Identify stakeholders who can torpedo your project and manage the relationship with them
- Don't try to do everything yourself; know who can help you get things done
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We didn't communicate what we were doing
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- Audience groups are not clearly defined
- You don't follow the communication plan
- Communications do not cater to the specific audience group
- The communication does not come from the right person
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- Your audience asks questions you have already communication
- You get lots of one-off questions and requests from people who are not in your communication plan
- You send requests to your audience but don't get any response
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- Redefine your communication plan as soon as you become aware there is a problem
- Communication is important! Follow your communication plan; don't let if fall by the wayside when 'more important' things come up.
- Make sure your communications are specific to each audience - make it clear, relevant, succinct, timely
- Make sure communications clearly state what you are asking for, who needs to respond, when you expect the response. Timely follow up and/or reminders may help to increase responses.
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- Create a communication plan with communication method that caters specifically to each audience group
- Keep communications crisp, clear, relevant to each audience group
- Follow the plan, even when things are not going well.
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Source: The Project Management Advisor