Effective communication is the cornerstone of successful project implementation. Scholars and commentators in the corporate world have asserted that the task force charged with the mandate of implementing a project ought to be in perfect synchrony for the achievement of positive outcomes. Binder (2016) asserts that communication is derived from a Latin word communi s, which presents the idea of common. Holistically, communication, as it applies to project management, is geared towards creating commonness that is tailored to ensure every unit of the team is aware of its responsibilities and operates in perfect harmony with other parties involved in project implementation. The adoption of proper communication approaches ensures fluidity in the manner in which the task forces shares information, attitude, and ideas. Also, effective communication enhances conflict resolution and underpins the overall process of team management (Binder, 2016). As evidenced by the test, I am a proficient communicator and I am capable of choosing the most effective communication approaches in the course of project management.
The project team is expected to discuss the progression, objectives, and the approach that will be employed in attaining the set goals of the project. Therefore, effective communication in team formulation is integral in ensuring that all members share the same ideals, ideas, and vision of the project. Holistically, teams must demonstrate impeccable cohesion and synchrony that enables members to be blatantly open about their opinions and input into the project. Moreover, bureaucracy can become an impediment to effective communication within the groups. In this regard, communication should not be limited to stringent channels, but all team members should be able to relay their ideas and grievances to the project leadership without facing massive communication barriers.
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Wholesomely, project communication management is designed to ensure effective and prompt collection, generation, storage, dissemination, and disposition of project information. The clarity of the information is imperative in informing the activities of the planners, implementer and all levels of project leadership. In a bid to warrant efficiency in the communication process, it is imperative to formulate a communication plan, progress reporting system, information distribution channels, and guarantee the precision of the conveyed message. Ultimately, effective communication can be ensured through direct oral communication in physical meetings, using technological communication devices such as teleconferencing equipment, and storing information in efficient ways which warrant is of retrieval of information when needed.
Understanding the Communication Process
The success of the project will not be warranted by communication, but the effectiveness by which two parties are able to share information and ideas. In a bid to ensure project success, it is imperative that project managers acquire an in-depth understanding of the communication process. The bottom line is that the communication process occurs when there is a sender and recipient of information. The sender formulates the information that he or she seeks to convey to the receiver. The recipient chooses to react to the information however way he or she deems rational. The communication process also requires a medium of communication and the availability of a message to convey (Binder, 2016). Although the recipient of the information may not exactly understand the information in a manner that was intended by the sender, the efficiency of the information can be guaranteed by ensuring precision in the communication process.
According to the Project Management Institute, one in every five projects typically fail because of glitches in the communication process. A project team typically consists of people with diverse skill sets, perceptions, and communication ability. People with different attributes are usually thrust together to form a task force that has different experts who will provide diverse stances on the task at hand. In this accord, the differences further provide a challenge to the communication process. Therefore, project leaders need to call for clear communication of responsibility, goals, and performance feedback. Holistically, communication is not typically about speaking and hearing, but understanding the generally intended message. Therefore, it is important for team members involved in project management to keep the entire team updated on progress, report glitches, and communicate new ideas promptly. Primarily, the communication process should not merely encompass dissipation of instructions by executive leaders to the subordinate staff, but it should allow free sharing of information across all managerial levels.
Team Formulation
The specificity and the technicality of the projects dictate the dynamicity of the team recruited to implement the project. The recruitment of team members nudges project leaders to prioritize the capability of the team members to perform their particular professional obligation towards the successful implementation of the project. Ideally, a project team is a group of professionals who are in charge of the formulation, management, and evaluation of the project. The efficiency of the project team is dependent on the cohesion and mutual understanding between all the involved professionals. In this regard, effective communication in project team creation is imperative since all parties need to have a clear understanding of the objectives and the roadmap for successful project implementation.
Team Management
Other than recruiting qualified personnel to implement the project, project leaders face the challenge of managing the group, given the versatility of the attributes of the team members. In a bid to ensure project, success, an open door communication policy is integral. The open door policy creates an atmosphere of transparency and eradicates secrecy in the communication process. By adoption an open door communication approach, the leaders are relaying the idea that everyone involved in the project is part of one team, thus removing any looming communication barriers likely to paralyze the communication process. The approach not only builds trust but also fosters clarity and accountability. The positive impact of an open communication approach is the fact that it encourages communication regularly because team members involved in the project are aware that their ideas will be listened to and given an equal audience rather than blindly resented.
Moreover, in a project team setup, it is vital to encourage two-way communication. Rather than creating a communication model that allows top officials to dissipate instructions to the subordinate staff, team leaders ought to employ an approach that encourages other members of staff to react to information. This empowers employees to provide detailed feedback that can improve the position and the progression of the project. Although the feedback can be either positive or negative, encouraging two-way communication enables a team to evaluate its efficiency and identify flaws in the implementation or the design before it becomes too late to rectify a flaw.
Unclear instructions are the leading cause of project failure in modern times. Miscommunication usually results in ambiguous instructions being dissipated to other employees. Team members are likely to flounder if they do not understand the exact task that is required of them. Clarifying the responsibilities and the roles of all employees allows project leaders to jump the hurdle that presents the risk project failure (Meredith, Shafer, Mantel, & Sutton, 2016). The approach also plays a central role in team building. Irrefutably, teams get on well if they have the capacity to communicate better. Therefore, team leaders will have an in-depth understanding of the strengths of each member of the team so that they can assign tasks based on the proficiency and capacity of employees to perform their designated tasks.
Conflict Resolution
People typically have different believes and stances, and under particular circumstances, those differences normally escalate into conflicts that may threaten to compromise the efficiency of the team. It is paramount to note that conflicts are not always a bad thing since it can result in the cultivation of knowledge that can aid the progression of the project. Conflicts often emanate from the differences in the attributes of various workers, which often makes the group effective. Ultimately, understanding the different views causing the conflict is key to resolving the problem. The key intervention in the course of a conflict is maintaining a constructive balance between the different opinions held by members of the team. The development of a balance in the divergence of opinion can be attained through well-developed team skills, specifically, the ability to resolve conflicts when they happen, avoiding wrangles on a day-to-day basis, and keeping the conflicts healthy. Holistically, when conflicts start spiraling out of control, resolving them can be achieved through patience and respect. As such, it is imperative to replace the negative experience provided by the conflict with a positive outcome, which allows team members to learn from the differences in opinions.
The first step of conflict resolution is acknowledging the presences of a misunderstanding between two parties. Therefore, rather than ignoring the existence of a conflict, it is imperative that the involved parties acknowledge the problem and pursue to solve it. Further, team members must indulge in an active discussion of how the conflict is impacting on the efficiency of the team. Ultimately, the beginning step towards solving the problem is deciding to indulge in communication with the aim of resolving the feud (Burke, 2013). The second approach is understanding the position of each party involved in the conflict. Moreover, the mediators in this cases, project leaders, must clearly inform the two parties that the issue under contention is their different ideas, but not them as individuals. In a bid to achieve a harmonious and a considerate outcome, it is imperative that the facts and arguments of each group are carefully considered and analyzed (Kerzner, & Kerzner, 2017). The entire group should then convene to carefully scrutinize the beliefs and arguments presented by each group. Solving the conflict as a group makes all team members understand that they have a role to play towards warranting harmonious cohesion. Although it is an often difficult task to avoid conflicts altogether, the prevalence of disagreements among team members can be minimized through dealing with conflicts as soon as they arise, demonstrating open-mindedness, practicing active listening, and learning to confront ideas, not the people that possess them
Efforts to communicate openly and get the entire team involved in project decision making may improve team spirit, increase participation, and boost the team’s performance. Indeed, such a collective approach can have unprecedented ramifications (Burke, 2013). For instance, urgent project decisions may not be made on time thus hindering the progression of the project. Also, overindulgence of team members in activities that should have been reserved for the leadership may spur laxity.
Conclusively, project team management and communication are two attributes that often go alongside in project management endeavors. Effective communication ensures that all individuals involved in project management have a clear understanding of the goals of the project and the tasks they are supposed to perform. Clarity of the instructions prevents the rampancy of implementation mistakes thus guaranteeing project success. Moreover, effective communication fosters prompt conflict resolution and restoration of harmony among team members. Ultimately, it is vital that team leaders possess effective communication skills that enable them to motivate all team members to perform their individual tasks impeccably.
References
Binder, J. (2016). Global project management: communication, collaboration and management across borders . Routledge.
Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA .
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling . John Wiley & Sons.
Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Mantel Jr, S. J., & Sutton, M. M. (2016). Project management in practice . Wiley Global Education.
