Is Good Communication the Key to a Successful Project?

Project Managers need a whole range of skills, knowledge and expertise to be successful; some learned through experience, and others through training and qualifications. Managing change, monitoring budgets and showing leadership are all daily requirements for a Project Manager, but perhaps one of the most important assets to have is the ability to communicate effectively.

Why is communication so important?

It is the Project Manager’s role to maintain project oversight – you will be the one responsible for keeping tabs on high-level considerations, client requirements and the progress of the production team. It is therefore your role to communicate information across teams and from one individual to another, all with the aim of getting the job done in the most efficient and effective way possible.

When you are briefed to begin managing a project, you should be able to communicate any questions or concerns you may have before you assume responsibility for that project. When briefing your team, it is down to your communication skills to ensure that expectations and requirements and fully understood. If client requirements change, it is your responsibility to communicate this to your team members. And if the project takes a wrong turn, you must communicate this to your own manager as soon as possible, ensuring that you get help and assistance to get back on track.

What defines good communication?

Communication of course has two aspects – offering information, and listening to a response. It is very much a two-way process, and you should make sure you allow for both.
To communicate well, you firstly need to understand the context of your situation. If a team member has not completed a project task on time, communicating this in a team meeting would be inappropriate and humiliating. Instead, you should approach the person in question in an informal one-to-one situation, ensuring they feel comfortable enough to discuss any problems or difficulties.

By contrast, if a certain team member repeatedly misses deadlines and spend a lot of time talking to other staff, in this situation your best method of communication will be directly with that person’s manager, in a more formal setting. You will communicate your concerns and leave it to the manager to deal with the situation appropriately.
How you communicate is also a crucial factor – try considering the following approaches, dependent on who you are approaching, where they are based and what you are trying to gain:
• Telephone call – for quick, immediate answers
• Conference call – for group discussions when geographical boundaries apply
• Skype chat or Facetime – for more personal, video-based discussion
• Instant messenger – to fire off simple questions and answers
• Email – to confirm verbal discussions and send out information
• One-to-one meeting – for a more personal approach
• Structured meeting – to efficiently reach a group decision
• Roundtable discussion – for complex issues
• Presentation – to convey ideas and informatio

Start now: begin to think more carefully about how your communication efforts are affecting your project, trying different methods and approaches as you go. Consider taking one of the short online project management courses or listening to expert PM Podcasts. You may be surprised how quickly an emphasis on good communication brings positive results – communication is one of the things project managers do well.