As Clear As Mud?

 

When I was in High School, I had a trigonometry teacher who was obviously a brilliant guy, but couldn't explain anything he was talking about so we (I don't think it was just me) could understand it. If I couldn't figure it out  by reading the textbook, I wasn't going to understand it by listening to his lecture either. I would often leave his class feeling like everything was "clear as mud".

I've been part of project teams where I felt the same (and I don't think I'm alone on this either). With that in mind, is there something project leaders should be doing to make sure that tasks, assignments and project communication is clear and understandable? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Use the "My Mother" Rule: When I'm writing any project communication, I often think of my Mom. She's a pretty smart lady and I figure if she can understand what I'm talking about, most likely the reader will understand it too. So, when you're writing a description of a task or other communication, ask yourself, "Would Ty's mom understand this?" If not, try again.
2. Don't Assume Everyone Knows What You Are Talking About: Sometimes it easy to make assumptions about the level of understanding that exists among the team. Just because you "get it" doesn't mean that everyone on the team is going to be able to wrap their head around what you're trying to say without the proper context. For example, if your only description of a task is: Update Patch for Next Release, it would be unreasonable to assume that your reader will understand what you are requesting. Take a little extra time to make sure the team has everything they need to know to completely understand what you're asking of them (and remember #1...would my Mom get it?). I have never experienced a time when a colleague has been frustrated at knowing exactly what I was expecting, but I have frustrated people when they didn't know what I was talking about.
3. Don't Rely Exclusively on Email or Other Electronic Communication Methods: Sometimes, it just makes sense to have an actual conversation with people. Like many of you, I have come to rely on electronic communication to share information, collaborate and respond to questions. Most of the time I think it works just fine. However, there are times when a conversation is in order. Make sure to spend face-time with the team to answer questions or help resolve issues.
4. Listen to My Grandma: She always used to say, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Before you complete your project plan and distribute all the tasks to the team, take a few minutes and visit all those who will have assignments and give them a little advanced warning that they are going to see a number of new tasks show up on their list of things to do. It's polite. It gives you an opportunity to provide context. And, it will always be appreciated. This is particularly true of matrix-ed organizations where the project team could be dispersed throughout the organization. If the team is spread around the world and a face-to-face conversation is problematic, I think an email or a phone call with the "heads-up" information is appropriate.

Successful projects require more than a "clear as mud" understanding of what's expected. Team members need context to perform at their best and engage in their work. And yes, for the most part, I have always tried to listen to my Mom and my Grandma.