Be Effective with The Four Communication Basics
There's not one 'best' way to communicate
with your project team but rather a number of different things you can
do to communicate. That being said, there are some fundamental
communication options that are applied on most projects. Before you get
too sophisticated with your
communication
approach, make sure you are very effective with these fundamentals.
1. Status meetings
There's nothing like a status meeting to
communicate effectively with your project team. The best time for a
group meeting is early in the week, preferably Monday. The purpose
of this meeting is to make sure that everyone is aligned, expectations
for the week are set, and any issues or obstacles are addressed and
resolved. Ideally, this meeting takes place face-to-face allowing
everyone to contribute to the discussion and get the most out of it as
possible. This is your opportunity as a Project Manager to address the
needs of the group and make sure everyone is on the same page.
2. One-on-one meetings
Another great opportunity to manage your
project teams are the one-on-one conversations you have with individual
team members. This type of conversation can take various forms. A
regular weekly meeting can be set up with team members that may be new
or have minimal experience. This can take 30 minutes or less and serve
as a time to touch base with them, make sure they are not having any
problems in getting their work done, or discuss any other topics that
would not be appropriate to bring up in a larger meeting. One word of
caution... don't use this time to talk about any disciplinary or
corrective actions that need to be addressed. That should be left for a
separate meeting.
What if you have more experienced or
senior members on your team? This is still a great way to manage your
team, but it can take a slightly different form. First, it could be
reduced to once or twice a month that you get together. Plus, the focus
of the meeting can be to discuss any ideas or suggestions the team
member has for improvement or making things better. At this point in
their career they won't need too much direction, but they will
appreciate the opportunity to provide their input.
3. E-Mail
In 10 years it is nor clear if we will
rely so heavily on email for fundamental communication. But we do today.
Email is a powerful addition to face-to-face talking. There are lots of
uses for emails - one-on-one discussions, group discussions, one-way
notifications, fyi's, decision making, problem solving, etc. If you are
weak at email communication it can dramatically impact your ability to
manage staff and engage stakeholders.
Be mindful to not let email take the place
of face-to-face meetings when you have the personal meeting as a viable
alternative. It's easy to go down this path feeling that it's faster or
less complicated than talking in person. Email should always be in
addition to, not instead of, talking to your team in person.
4. Reports
Reports cover a lot off ground - status
reports, performance reports, issues reports, safety reports, etc. You
may not typically think about reports as a way to manage your project
team, but if you create your reports in the right way you will find they
can be a useful tool.
What is the right way to create reports
that can help manage your team? Make them actionable. Making a report
actionable means that someone can read the report and then know what
needs to be done next. The report will not be muddled with a lot of
unnecessary details or information that could lead to confusion.
..............................The four fundamental communication mediums above are practical ways you can communicate with and manage your project team. The spirit of managing your team can be summed up in two words... be available. Your staff will do well if your team knows they can reach you at any time with questions, issues, or suggestions and feel comfortable in doing so. Your group meetings, one-on-one conversations, email, and actionable reports will keep you in that position of availability.
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