Communication Excellence in Project Management

While researching organizational communication for studies on what makes successful communication, I have discovered there is very little empirical research on just what makes communication successful. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be any agreement on what is successful communication. There is good research on how communication flows in organizations and barriers to communication. However, I am just not finding the link between good communication and organizational outcomes.

I am studying organizational communication because I hope organizational communication research can help in understanding project management communication (PMC). As I discussed in an earlier posting, PMC is complex because it is a combination of interpersonal communication, coaching, mentoring, small group communication, negotiation, public speaking, and organizational communication. Probably more synergy than just a combination of communication method.

Two areas of communication research that seem promising are crew (or cockpit) resource management and surgical team communication. Both the cockpit and the operating room are high-pressure environments where good teamwork and effective communication are vital to preventing tragic mistakes. There is much research in both areas and even an attempt to combine CRM with healthcare teams. From what I have read of the research so far, CRM, and surgical team communication training have been highly effective in reducing errors and increasing success.

CRM and surgical team communication research are good places to start. My first question is if the techniques can scale from small teams working on a project that lasts only a few hours? Second, both the cockpit and the operating room have well-defined methods and processes. Would the same concepts work in highly dynamic and complex project environments?  The third question deals with the fact that airplane crews and surgical teams are highly-trained specialists. Would the same communication techniques work with generalists and minimally trained project team members?

Do you think studying airplane crews and surgical teams will help in understanding how project teams should communicate? What other high-performing teams should I study?