Communication Management

?During my?more than a decade?experience?while?working with diverse teams?and organizations,?I?realized that?communication management is?a?less talked about topic?but?plays?the most important role?in any Project.?Success or failure of any project is directly tied with?how communication is managed.?Communication?has many aspects?depending on experience of?people involved, geographical location,?situation?or the atmosphere where the communication takes place.??

?Forms?of?Communication:?

It is important to?choose?correct?type of?Communication?depending on situation. Broadly?communication can be categorized in following?type.?

?1.?????Formal?Communication?

Formal communication?is?a?channelized communication?in which the information flows?with redefined rules?through specified routs?whether?within or outside the organization.?It is more reliable form of communication?where information reaches only to the intended recipients.??

Formal communication can be further?divided?into??

? 1.1?Written?

All the written artifacts like Project?Plan,?Sprint/Product Backlogs,?Project?Reports, Notice Boards etc.?can be classified as?written formal?communication.?

? 1.2?Verbal??

Daily Stand-up meetings,?Sprint planning session, Presentations can be classified as Verbal formal communication.?

?2.?????Informal?Communication?

It is?a free form of communication?which?has no predefined rule or channels.?Because?there?are no?predefined rules or channels, information can move?freely and very fast.?Generally,?this?form of communication helps in building trust between?peers?and?better?working relationships.??

Informal communication can be further divided into?

? 2.1 Written?

Examples of this communication can be?an?email?to?request?some?information,?taking notes of a verbal communication etc.?

? 2.2?Verbal?

For example, casual discussions between people on any?specific or?open topic,?throwing?a party for?completing?milestone etc.??

?People often communicate through gestures as well like facial expression, voice modulations and tone of voice etc. Sometimes just passing a smile or giving a Thumbs up to a peer may create a great impact and help in building relations.?

?Understanding others Perspective?is Important:?

?Same information can be?interpreted?differently by different people, so it is important to understand?recipient’s?perspective?to be able to communicate well. Selection of words play important role here.?If you want to?create a positive influence?on others it is important to understand?their perspective. Understanding perspective results in many positive outcomes,?this?guides?communicator on how messages can be framed to reduce misunderstanding?and distortion of information.?Understanding?other’s perspective also results in?improved relationships and transparency of information?resulting in better conflict management as well.?

??Recipients’ attention or Active Listening is the Key factor:

?When we talk about communication, generally we think of how the verbal or non-verbal information is transmitted from one place or person(s) to other but that does not solve the complete purpose of communication most of the time. To make the communication successful, it is critical that recipient is an active listener and pays attention to the details received. To get the acknowledgement or feedback of communication sent is important.

?Let me take a very simple example of television broadcast. An end user is watching a movie or series and as soon as the commercials started, he switches the channel and starts watching something else. Does it solve the purpose of communication which is broadcasting a movie?

?No, because commercials are directly tied with business and broadcasters earn through commercials. It is important here that listener/viewer is active and engaged enough so that they continue during commercials as well. Commercial may be considered here as communication barrier or blocker because it may distract listener.

?Communication Barriers:

Anything that blocks effective communication to take place and may result in misunderstanding or disagreements. Following are some commonly recognised communication barriers:

·???????Noisy/distractive ambience

·???????Language

·???????Cultural Differences

·???????Psychological

·???????Emotional

·???????Technological

·???????Organizational

?Prevent Miscommunications:?

It is utmost important?to control miscommunications?and?misunderstandings?by selecting the?right?methods, medium?and?messages?through planning.?Though misunderstanding may not be?eliminated?completely?but by using?5C’s?of written communication?they can be controlled and reduced.?

?1.?????Correctness:?Information should be correct in grammatically?with no spelling errors?as this may distract receiver from original message.?

2.?????Conciseness:?Communication should be?short and crafted well to reduce chances of misunderstanding?as people may?lose?important information if message is long.?

3.?????Clarity:?Communicator should be clear on thoughts that need to be communicated?else?receiver of communication may not understand.?

4.?????Coherent:?Information?shall be articulated?with use of?appropriate markers like headlines, summary?etc. This gives reader?an?intimation on what they should expect from the communication.?

5.?????Controlled Flow of words:?Information should have logical?flow?which may include?graphical representation or summaries.?

Communication Technologies?

There are various?ways?through which communication may happen, it may be through Voice call, video call, email,?face to face?to list down few. These means of communication?are referred as communication technology. Depending on the situation one or other technology can be picked up?for communication.?

Consider a situation when?as a Project Manager?you are reaching?a?project deadline and?you could not get solution for?an?open?issue. What would you prefer??

·???????Send out?an email to all the stake holder summarizing the issue, current status?and requesting a response?with?suggested?solution?from them.?

Or?

·???????You will set up a face-to-face?or AV conference?meeting with all the stake holder and try to get a solution?during discussion.?

Efficiency of communication technology increase?with?the interactivity. Because Face to face communication?has highest interactivity, more?exchange?of?information happens?compared?to other?technologies like telephonic conversation. But at the same time,?it might be inconvenient for people to meet face-to-face specially when we have across the different geographical locations.

As per a recent research published on Harvard Business Review, “Face-to-Face request is 34 times more successful than written communication through Email”. Do you find last statement exciting but wondering how?

Let me answer this, Face-To-Face communication involves lots of non-verbal communication apart from verbal both kind of communication and may include use of tools like white board, Presentations etc.

References:?PMI PMBOK, RMCLS.COM and other open internet Contents.?