Communication Excellence in Project Management

Adam Ward asked some great questions in response to my last posting:

1) “We know we need to communicate, but--what has to give in order to make time for ‘wandering around?’”

In response, what is more important than wandering around (physically and virtually) to communicate with the stakeholders and project team members? In fact, I consider it good practice for project managers to make regular rounds like doctors do when attending to patients. One good practice is to schedule regular rounds of visiting the project team. I also schedule a quick breakfast meeting every two weeks where I encouraged information sharing. Thanks to mobile apps, a project manager should not feel as if they are tied to their desktop in their office.

2) “How should we design our communication management plans to minimize the likelihood of these behaviors?”

The behaviors that Mr. Ward refers to are: lacking integrity; inappropriately dealing with people; not accepting responsibility, and isolating one’s self. These are not behaviors that can easily be fixed with communication management plans. Rather, these are behaviors that are best addressed with a good mentor or executive coach.

Also, project managers should work to make sure that such behaviors do not develop in the project team members. Now, the difficult question is how to deal with a project sponsor, a project customer, or stakeholder who exhibits such behaviors? Realistically, the project manager should recognize the damage that the behavior can cause and protect themselves and their team appropriately.

Thank you, Mr. Ward, for the thought-provoking questions.

A good article in Forbes talks about the four ways leaders sabotage their authority. As you can guess, all four ways deal with communication:

1. Not buying your story – Lacking conviction and integrity, especially in communicating a vision. 
2. Being tone-deaf – Using inappropriate language and humor when dealing with people.
3. Disowning your accountability – Ducking responsibility by playing the blame game.
4. Isolating yourself – the leader is rarely seen as they spend most of the time in his or her office.

These are self-sabotaging for all leaders, but the fourth behavior – under-communicating – is the most damaging to project managers. It is very easy for a project manager to become wrapped up in the details of managing the project while forgetting to keep the project team and stakeholders updated on the project’s progress. The tendency to under-communicate is especially exacerbated when the project is in trouble, and the project manager cuts off communication to handle the emergency. Lack of communication from the project manager will cause even more problems as stakeholders imagine the worst in the absence of communication. 

Communication is the most effective tool in the project manager’s toolkit. Of course, a project manager must speak with conviction and integrity. The project manager must speak appropriately and be accountable for their actions and words. Moreover, and most importantly, the project manager must also manage by wandering around and being a constant presence. It is better to over-communicate that under-communicate.
 

I'm preparing my presentation on project management communication for the University of Maryland 2016 Project Management Symposium. I will be talking about research I have done on the current state of project management communication research and advocating for a new research agenda.

One part of the research agenda is applying complexity leadership theory to project management leadership. Project managers move beyond their traditional functional role of managing schedules, tasks, and resources to empowering the knowledge workers that make up the project team (Stacey, 2001, p. 1).

Project managers must use dialogue to “encourage and persuade people to share knowledge and spread it around” (Stacey, 2001, p. 2), because knowledge is more than just what is stored in artifacts and arises from conversations and relationships (pp. 4, 98). As the communication hub for the project team, stakeholders, customers, and sponsor(s), project managers must use more than functional communication to effectively lead modern projects.

There are more parts to the research agenda with all of the components revolving around complexity theory and neuroscience. I will also be looking at new research in how high-performing teams form and work effectively.

Reference:

Stacey, R. D. (2001). Complex responsive processes in organizations: Learning and knowledge creation. New York, NY: Routledge.

A common problem I have seen as a project manager, trainer, and university professor is the inability for people to make time for reflection. In today’s world of hyper-competition, people are running at full-speed from one task to another. Even people who profess to have a healthy work-life balance are still busy with either work tasks or personal tasks. Like the famous fictional character, we have jumped on our horses and have dashed off rapidly in all directions.

Pausing and being still can be powerful. Bruce Lee, the famous martial artist, would often use quick pauses to observe his opponent and plan his next flurry of attacks. Having the project team pause occasionally can help them better understand their work and allow for better, more thoughtful conversations between team members. Stillness also allows the project manager hold those difficult conversations with project team members and stakeholders in a more productive way.

Have you, as a project manager, ever communicated to your project team that, sometimes, it is a good idea to stop and pause? To reflect on what we have done, where we are heading, and if it is still a good idea to keep moving in the same direction? That, on the days when there is no work, it is a better practice to take stock of what we have done and consider more effective ways to do our work?

According to an article in the latest Harvard Business Review, "the time spent by managers and employees in collaborative activities has ballooned by 50% or more." Although there are many benefits to the increased collaborative activities, there are also increased costs in a greater number of meetings, time spent reviewing emails/documents, and other coordination activities. Maybe the biggest cost is the burnout of those key employees who are the most active collaborators. 'Up to a third of value-added collaborations come from only 3% to 5% of employees."

Even though the study did not address project teams, the same findings easily apply to project collaborations. How do project managers deal with the resource demands of project collaborations? How should project managers keep key project team members from burning out because of overcollaboration?