Learning Solutions for Increased Project Performance

Welcome to Our November Issue

Our focus topic this month is Project Communications, which is one of the key factors in project success. Communication provides the glue between people, ideas, facts and emotions in project environments and most project failures can be traced back to communication breakdowns. Project team members and stakeholders who experience comprehensive and effective communication throughout the project feel connected and engaged, with a keen interest in achieving successful project outcomes.

Included in this issue:

• The Effect of Personal Style on Communications
• Project Management Q&A
• Communication Obstacles
• Rules of Effective Language
• Reading Room: Communications
• Writing for Clear Communication
• Using E-Mail Effectively in Project Communications

Next Month’s Topic: Project Planning

pmPractitioner is published as a service to the project management community. Each issue provides practical project management solutions and tips adapted from a variety of business publications and resources.

The Effect of Personal Style on Communications

What does personal style have to do with communications effectiveness? Well, by understanding different individuals and their communication preferences, we are able to adapt our own communication style in a way that improves the reception of our message. It’s important to understand that no one style is superior to another.

A communications style is NOT:

• a measure of a person’s intelligence or ability
• an indicator of a person’s values
• a measurement of skills and experience
• an assessment of education and training

One way of looking at communications styles is to think about whether we are an indirect or direct communicator. For instance:

• People with more indirect style are often more likely to keep their thoughts and feelings to themselves.
• People with a direct style tend to move forward and act outwardly by expressing thoughts, feelings or expectations in order to influence others.

Another aspect is whether we are open (relationship-oriented) or guarded (task-oriented):

• People with “open” style tend to put relationships with others as their chief priority.
• People with “guarded” style are more likely to consider accomplishment of the task at hand as the first priority.

Don’t think of these dimensions as ‘either/or’ traits. Rather, it’s better to consider them on a continuum scale, and not extremes. Once you have an understanding of where your own natural preferences fall, your flexibility as a communicator will increase. You’ll be able to see beyond your own comfort zone, and consider others’ personal styles as important factors in successful communications. Lastly, remember also that there are cultural factors that also influence communication style as certain behaviors are sometimes less or more desired in the context of cultural norms.

Adapted from mScholar Project Communications: The Critical Path to Stakeholder Satisfaction, Action for Results, Inc., 2008

Project Management Q&A

Test your project management knowledge with these questions or use them as an exercise to help prepare for your PMP certification exam.

1. You are asked to provide a project’s Present Value, which is best described as:

2. Decomposition is complete when:

Answers appear at the end of the newsletter.

Communication Obstacles

There are many reasons for miscommunications in a project environment but here are some typical obstacles that can cause a disconnect and harm good project collaboration:

• Stakeholders are not identified up front and their needs are not factored in proactively.
• Key decisions, actions and crucial points are not documented and shared in a timely fashion.
• People assume understanding without verifying it.
• The leadership and/or organizational culture in the way of open and timely communications (e.g., want to avoid “bad news”).
• Conflicting functional priorities get in the way.
• Communications are not organized and presented based on the needs of the audience.
• The communications methods are not conducive to conveying the message (email vs. phone vs. face-to-face).

From Action for Results, Inc., 2009

Rules of Effective Language

Given the sheer amount of communication that the average person has to contend with on a daily basis, both at home and at work, having rules for verbal communication can be especially important. Quite often, while we’re speaking, those doing the listening may not be fully attentive, whether they are thinking of other things or multi-tasking. How do you make people hear your words amid all the chatter and distractions?

Here are some rules you can utilize to help ensure successful verbal communication:

Rule 1. Simplicity: Use Small Words and Short Sentences. Avoid words that might force someone to reach for the dictionary, or try to translate in their heads what you’ve just told them.

Rule 2. Credibility Is as Important as Philosophy. People have to believe it to buy it. If your words lack sincerity or if they contradict accepted facts, circumstances or perceptions, they will lack impact.

Rule 3. Consistency Matters. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Will get your point across.

Rule 4. Sound and Texture Matter. The sounds and texture of language should be just as memorable as the words themselves. A string of words that have the same first letter, the same sound or the same syllabic cadence is more memorable than a random collection of sounds.

Rule 5. Speak Aspirationally and Encourage Visualization. The key to successful aspirational language to personalize the message. How does your message impact the person you’re speaking to? Paint a vivid picture for them. Conversations we remember almost always have a strong visual component, something we can see and almost feel.

Rule 6. Ask a Question. A statement, when put in the form of a rhetorical question, can have much greater impact than a plain assertion.

Rule 7. Provide Context and Explain Relevance. You have to give people the “why” of a message before you tell them the “therefore” and the “so that.” Without context, you cannot establish a message’s value, its impact or, most importantly, its relevance.

Adapted from Words That Work, Dr. Frank Lutz, Hyperion, 2007

Reading Room: Communications

Communicating Across Cultures at Work, Maureen Guirdham, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005

Difficult Conversations, Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen, Penguin, 2000

The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E.B. White, Waking Lion Press, various editions

The Four Conversations: Daily Communication That Gets Results, Jeffrey Ford and Laurie Ford, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009

In The SpotLight: Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking and Performing, Janet Esposito, Strong Books, 2000

Writing That Works; How to Communicate Effectively In Business, Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson, Collins Reference, 2000

Writing for Clear Communication

• Never try to mix the creative process in writing with the mechanical process (grammar, context, punctuation, etc.) Your mind needs to handle the former first. The mechanical steps should take place during your revisions.
• Prevent yourself from putting run-on sentences in your writing by using the breath test. Take one breath and read the sentence aloud. If you run out of breath before the end, the sentence may be too long.
• Say the sentence as if you are speaking it to another person. Scan your own thoughts for any response or feedback. Does it sound right? Is it informative?
• Combining bold, italicized and underlined text styles is unnecessary. Using just one emphasis style will get the point across more effectively.
• Sometimes it helps to wait a day before proofing (even a few hours helps). That way, the work appears fresh and mistakes may be found more easily.

Adapted from The Writing Lab at Purdue University

Using E-Mail Effectively in Project Communications

In a world of virtual teams, e-mail is generally the main, if not preferred, method of communication. It’s also one where misunderstandings can most easily occur. Here are some tips to help you use e-mail as a more effective way to communicate:

• Put the action needed with appropriate detail in the subject line, for example “ABC Project Review Tuesday Morning.”
• Include the message to which you are responding, but not the whole chain of emails unless they are pertinent.
• If numerous responses to an e-mail are expected, ask that people always respond to the originator, who should summarize the generated issues/ comments for everyone to review.

From Action for Results, Inc.