Communicating Successfully

As the project manager, you are the hub of all communication within the project team and between the project team and the outside world. At different stages of the project you will find yourself dealing with different stakeholders, but the three constant axes of communication you need to maintain are with the sponsor, the client, and the team.

Engaging your sponsor and client

Communication with the sponsor should be characterized by a high level of openness and trust from the start of the project. Spend time establishing how your communication will work. Discuss scheduled communication (such as planned review meetings) and agree on when and how you expect ad-hoc communication to take place. Give warning of any decisions that need to be made and present facts to the sponsor in a written form for consideration. Record notes of all meetings, in particular, any action points.

Communication with the client will tend to be more formal than with the sponsor. The challenge is often to be assertive, particularly when requesting decisions, access, or information. As with the sponsor, give the client notice of any decisions. The client relationship can occasionally contain an element of politics, particularly if the client is under pressure from members of his or her organization. As a general rule, aim to do everything you can to make your client look good. If it becomes apparent that this is not possible, use the sponsor to bypass the obstacle.

Am I a good listener?

• Do I turn off my self-talk, so that I can focus on the speaker and understand his or her perspective?

• Do I clarify vague statements, to find out whether what the person is saying is factually and logically correct?

• Do I try to assess how people are feeling and ask probing questions to understand what lies behind those emotions?

Talking to your team

Maintain an open and honest relationship with your team. In large teams, there is always a danger of some people being left out of the loop when decisions are made or new information becomes available. Make sure you have accurate distribution lists set up for email and documents. On larger and longer-running projects, you may find it helpful to post general information on an intranet site to which team members have access.

Choosing the method

Care is needed when selecting the medium by which you will communicate a particular message. Sending a sensitive message by email, for example, runs the risk of a potentially damaging misunderstanding with the recipient. Before pressing “send,” take time to think about your purpose in communicating, what you want the outcome to be, and how “complex” the message is in emotional and intellectual terms.

Selecting a medium for your message