Consider a project that went successfully and a project that did not end successfully. It may be a project you worked on or read about in the news or have knowledge of. Consider the sorts of communication that would be necessary to complete that project.
The Boeing 737 Max Aircraft Project
Considering the design and launch of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, there are vital communication considerations that were necessary for the successful completion of the project. Two accidents that befell the aircraft, one for the lion air and another for Ethiopian airlines, led to an investigation that revealed a lack of an independent employee escalation channel for their concerns. Some of the former employees that worked on the team admitted to knowing the existence of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) issues. However, Coughlin (2019) found that the escalation of the problem to the management was not successful. It led to the deaths of passengers, suspension of the plane by FAA, and cancellation of orders.
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Boeing ought to have established an independent escalation channel in which employees concerned would be evaluated. As such, even if the management of the 373 max would have ignored the concerns of the employees, and oversight control team or upper management would have picked and addressed the problem. Also, it was vital for Boeing to ensure that it established a centralized communication channel and monitor their usage. For instance, ensuring that employees use emails in their escalation of issues and designed templates enhances accountability. As such, it is easy to trace and find team members who have defective communication and correct.
Give an example of a situation where an individual or an organization had to communicate bad news, the method of communication used, and your opinion of how they communicated.
Communication of John Three Months Unpaid Leave
In a fast-moving products company, John, a forklift driver, has been with now work for the last two weeks. A supply chain problem caused the scarcity of supplies. As such, the management feels that John proceeds for an unpaid leave of three months. The company projects that the three months will be sufficient to revive normal operation. Therefore, John's manager wrote an email to john indicating that the company needs john to go for three months' unpaid leave because there was no work. Although John read the email, he did not react and continues waiting for work.
Although communication was formal, it failed to deliver a bad message appropriately. It is hard for the manager to ascertain whether John had read the email and the probable next cause of action. As such, the best approach was to call John for a private meeting. In the meeting, the manager would raise concerns about the recent scarcity of work for john and how the company is struggling to maintain its operation. The manager would then get John's opinion on the matter. Then the manager would communicate that the company has decided to institute a non-paid leave to all the affected employees, including him. However, he should understand that the move is temporary, and will be recalled as soon as the operations normalize.
Consider a project team where you are the project manager. You have identified a team member, through personal observation and team member complaints, who has not been completing their fair share of the work; in essence, that person has been slacking. What methods of communication would you use, and what message would you have for this individual? What information should be relayed to the rest of the team?
As a project manager, the realization of a team member that slacks at their work required immediate corrective action. However, the action needs to follow precise steps and communication techniques to be effective. Given that a personal observation has revealed the slack and also the other project members are complaining, there is a need to device a message for both the team and the individual. As found by Hurst et al. (2017), effective communication techniques rebrand bad employees and tough supervisors.
The message to the individual will include using active listening skills to understand whether they understand what is expected of them in the project. Also, the message will include questioning the employees of any changes that might cause the observed change in performance. Then as the project manager, it will be vital to remind them of their role in attaining the project goals. The communication will honest and full of empathy. It will also be nonconfrontational. As such, the message will emphasize the need for the employee to realize their role through training. I will offer to train the employees once more and clarify the consequences of the slacking.
The message to the team, on the other hand, will involve a reminder to be a team member's keeper. As such, they should be alert to ensure that the whole team is working as one. Thus, any individual that is not delivering on their tasks should be encouraged to complete them, and if it persists, be reported to the project manager for further assistance. Also, all the team members will be reminded of their personal goals in attaining project success. Finally, the project manager will reassure them that he is willing to help the team members realize the project goals and any success be recognized to motivate the employees.
If communication is not effective or has caused inter-team conflicts, are there any techniques that can be used to repair the damage? How can a team regain trust in each member of the project manager once trust is lost?
Trust involves the reliance on someone else to do the right thing. A lack of trust can be detrimental to a project. Therefore, it is vital for the project manager to device ways of dealing with inter-team conflicts and regains the trust of each member. The process of resolving the inter-team conflict involves making the team aware there is a problem, preparing the team for resolution, and encouraging habits that enhance cohesion.
The first step involves making the team realize the situation. As such, the project manager should point out the signs of the existence of an inter-team conflict and itseffect on the project. The project manager should use as much evidence as possible.The team should then be prepared to resolve the problem. The resolution involves discussing the issue without putting the blame on any specific member, understanding every team member personally, and leading by example (Amami & Beghini, 2000) . The discussion on the trust issues should emphasize the need to communicate openly and the effects of a communication breakdown in the project. If the project manager or the team identify any lack of trust issues, they should discuss it and resolve it.
Finally, the project manager should lead by example. Thus, they should demonstrate their trust to the team members. Also, the project manager can engage the team in team bonding and cohesion activities. And finally, the project managers should reward team members' deliberate efforts to demonstrate cohesion and discourage the formation of cliques.
In the module notes, you learn of an employee who has routinely padded his hours on his timesheet and justifies the practice by stating that all projects run over at the end, and he is only making sure he is fairly paid. How would you handle this situation? What communication methods would you employ? Is this a situation that should be escalated? If so, when would that escalation be required, and to whom would the escalation proceed?
The first step is to use verbal communication. Verbal communication will seek to establish whether the employee knows the effect of their actions on the overall performance of the team. Also, the project manager should be keen to determine why the employee thinks they will not be fairly compensated when they recorded their actual timesheets. The employee should be discouraged from padding their timesheets and advised to seek help from the project manager is whenever they feel they are not being compensated fairly. It should also be clear to the employee that padding the timesheets have a /negative implication on the project and results in unrealistic evaluation and expenditure.
The matter should, however, be communicated with a formal written communication is there are no signs of adhering to the verbal recommendation. The written communication should be direct to the point and indicates the negative effect of the employee's actions, a directive to stop the action, and possible action that the management will take if the employee fails to adhere to the written communication (Koskinen, 2004) . The written communication should also be escalated to the immediate manger (Aykans, 2016) . Thus, it serves as a warning to the employee.
References
Amami, M., & Beghini, G. (2000). Project Management and Communication of Product Development through Electronic Document Management. Project Management Journal , 31 (2), 6-19. doi: 10.1177/875697280003100202
Aykans, E. (2016). Organizational Psychology (Employees' Psychology and Problems in the Workplace). Acta Psychopathologica , 02 (01). doi: 10.4172/2469-6676.100034
Coughlin, D. (2019). Crashing the 737 MAX (pp. 10-188). Independently Published.
Hurst, C., Simon, L., Jung, Y., & Pirouz, D. (2017). Are “Bad” Employees Happier Under Bad Bosses? Differing Effects of Abusive Supervision on Low and High Primary Psychopathy Employees. Journal Of Business Ethics , 158 (4), 1149-1164. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s10551-017-3770-5
Koskinen, K. (2004). Knowledge Management to Improve Project Communication and Implementation. Project Management Journal , 35 (2), 13-19. doi: 10.1177/875697280403500203
