Communication Barriers in the Client’s Workplace and Possible Solutions

  Communications Management   Knowledge Shelf  

In the growing information technology (IT) industry, outsourcing competent software professionals at a lower budget has been a common phenomenon. It is not only the technical expertise that is being hired but the project management expertise as well. As a result of outsourcing, these professionals either work virtually from their base work locations or they are required to be on-site at the client’s workplace. On-site, cultural differences present a common communication barrier that any outsourced professional would face; however, these days, with the increased on-site opportunities and increased exposure to different cultures, on-site professionals are able to handle such differences quite easily. In this article, I would like to highlight other communication barriers that exist when a project manager works at the client’s location and manages an off-shore team by obtaining the client’s scope and the ways in which these barriers can be tackled.

Communication management is the most important project management knowledge area. Ideally, a project manager should spend 90% of his or her time on communication and should ensure that the communication is effective as well as efficient. However, because of the communication barriers in the client’s workplace, communication becomes a major challenge for a project manager and he or she should know how to …

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