 |
| Source: www.microsoft.com |
Dr.
Harold Stolovich advises project managers to be clear, concise, and focused in
order to help project team members stay on target. Stolovich reminds us that
communication is not just about the words.
Effective communication is influenced by (Laureate Education, Inc.,
n.d.):
·
spirit and
attitude;
·
tonality and
body language;
·
timing;
and,
·
the personality
of the recipient.
As part
of this week’s assignment I had the opportunity to review a message sent in
three different modalities, each of which elicited a different response from
me outlined below.
Email
|
Voicemail
|
Face-to-Face
|
The tone in
the email message seemed self-centered.
It was all about what the email sender needed instead of why the missing
report was so crucial. It seemed as if
the email sender was blaming the receiver for not being timely with the
report.
|
The tone in the voicemail was
semi-demanding and abrupt, and reflected impatience in retrieving the requested
information.
|
The body language was clearly sincere
in communicating not only the importance of the report but offered
flexibility in the timing for receiving it.
|
While
the face-to-face communication was by far my most preferred method; this is not
always possible in today’s organizations with employees in different locations
throughout the country and even the world. Stolovich recommends meeting with stakeholders
at the beginning of project to determine standards of communication including:
frequency; communication types; response time frames; language (words and
phrases); format; and rules of participation in the project (Laureate
Education, Inc., n.d.).
“Whether you
are planning a meeting or working with a new meeting professional as a client,
setting communications preferences can be the secret recipe to business
relationship success.” (Sanders, 2012)
For the project manager’s toolkit, here are a few communication tips for effective projects (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.):
- Important communication is best delivered with all team members present in a live setting if possible.
- Avoid ambiguity.
- Document everything, including verbal discussions.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d). Project
Management in Education & Training [DVD]. In
Communicating with
stakeholders. Baltimore, MD: Dr. Harold Stolovich.
Sanders, T. (2012). What’s your communication preference? Meeting
Professionals International.
Retrieved from http://www.mpiweb.org/Portal/Management/20120807
/What_s_Your_Communication_Preference
DeAnn,
ReplyDeleteI like how you mention four effective ways of communicating:
· spirit and attitude;
· tonality and body language;
· timing; and,
· the personality of the recipient.
Do you have any suggestions or ideas on how these techinques can be applied to either the email or voicemail format of a message?
Liz
Hi Liz,
DeleteThank you for your question. It has been my experience that spirit, attitude and personality can all be conveyed through the tone of the voice. Timing takes practice and experience by working to ensure people are communicated with according to their preferences and as needed. Some of the guidance provided in this week's resources applicable to all communication formats include: 1) tailoring your communication strategy to fit the specific needs of each stakeholder; 2) collaborate and communicate with team members that the stakeholder trusts' and 3) try to identify the people you can connect with (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).
Reference
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d). Practitioner voices: Strategies for working with stakeholders [DVD]. In Communicating with stakeholders. Baltimore, MD: Budrovich & Achong.
Hi DeAnn,
ReplyDeleteYour tips on better communication is very important. I think many times we forget that listening skills are just as important as speaking skills. I know many times I have to repeat myself in the classes I instruct because the listening skills of students are very poor. I actually find it helpful to teach these classes listening skills to avoid repeating myself. I found a website that has an exercise that I use with my students that teaches good listening skills. It is fun but useful. It is found at http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/tools-for-teaching-effective-communication
References:
Clark, M. (2010). Tools for Teaching Effective Communication. Retrieved on January 23, 2014 from http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/tools-for-teaching-effective-communication
Hi Eric,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this resource, the activity is a great one for helping learners see first hand the intricacies of communication. I am also a fan of Stephen Covey and he has a community website with additional resources. The membership is free and the video called "Goal!" where Covey uses it to stress the importance of goal setting, but it is also a great depiction of how teams may struggle when communication isn't effective (Stephen R Covey; the community, 2012).
Reference
Stephen R Covey; the community, 2012). Retrieved from https://www.stephencovey.com/community/
DeAnn,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you organized the different modes of communication into a table. I thought it was a very easy to read and compare information.
As you have mentioned it is recommended that all team members be present in a live setting when discussing important topics. You also made an excellent point of mentioning that this is not always possible in today's world, with team members being located in different locations around the world. How do you feel about using a technology tool such as skype or video calling? Do you think that would bring the team together and able to read one another's body language in the same way as a live team meeting?
Megan
Hi Megan - thanks for responding to my blog and I'm so glad you found the table of information easy to digest. As we know from our experiences as well as the resources this week, communication plays a large part of projects and can strongly impact their success or failure. From personal experience, body language is difficult to determine in virtual settings; however, our resources provide practical advice which can be applied to any communication method for improved effectiveness such as (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.):
Delete> Begin with a clear purpose.
> State the situation.
> Include possible solutions.
> Incorporate sign offs.
> Specify communication expectations/standards.
> Keep the tone of all communication business
friendly and respectful.
Reference
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d). Project Management in Education & Training [DVD]. In Communicating with stakeholders. Baltimore, MD: Dr. Harold Stolovich.
Hi DeAnn,
ReplyDeleteI also found Dr. Stolovich’s point very clear in maintaining a standard at the beginning: meet with the stakeholder’s and develop a standard of communication. I think too often some team members may make assumptions that all will go well since they have worked on several projects together before. However, each project is different and may require different approaches to get each task completed.
You gave some effective tips in developing a ‘toolkit’ that every project manager should consider as their asset.
I also found a few tools along the way that you may find interesting as well. There is an interesting book entitled “People Skills” by Dr. Robert Bolton. Although it is an older book, I found some of the tips in the book interesting, in terms of applying these into any possible conflicts in project plans that may occur in communication break-downs (Bolton, 1986):
1. Reflect back to the audience (in this case stakeholders) by focusing on relevance and concreteness. He described four skills of reflection as providing a mirror for the speaker, paraphrasing the message back, inferring feelings from overall content, and observing body language.
2. Look at non-verbal cues such as monotone speech, tone level, high or low pitch, or an ascending tone.
I always found it interesting what was missed in some meetings by listening back to conversations or receiving on outside perspective on what their observation was.
References:
Bolton, R. (1986). People skills: How to assert yourself, listen to others, and resolve conflicts. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc.