Project Communication Management: IT Project Communication
Introduction
Project communication management essentially is the concept of being able to deliver the right information to the right person or group of people, on time and through the appropriate mode of communication. In this blog post we will discuss the different techniques to ensure effective communication amongst team members and how to lead these efforts specifically emphasizing in an IT setting where as we know, communication can be handled a little bit tricky and is crucial to an IT's projects success.
The Importance of Project Communication
So why is project communication so important? Project communication management and its success is incredibly important to the overall success, since it helps ensure participation from all team members and make sure that every member is on the same page. If you have ever worked previously on an IT project or any larger project in general you will know that often projects follow a roadmap, one part of the project can't be complete without the other, and here we understand that poor communication can lead to many issues such as missed deadlines, overlapping work, or waste of resources. In this example miscommunication is the lead issue here, understanding what your team is working on, or understanding your teams constraints is important to keep moving forward, if you neglect the importance of communication, failure is inevitable.
Key Concepts
In project communication management we must understand many important key concepts.
Communication Planning: Planning a mode of communication early on is crucial to projects success. Things to consider when planning communication, you must plan the communication medium, slack, email, text, google meets, etc. Next is meeting and communication times, for example every Tuesday at 11 am or every Monday at 2 pm, in IT defining these communication times is important especially in a remote dominant fields, where often time zones can be conflicting, as a project manager you must ensure everyone is available for weekly meetings and fits everyones schedule. Finally another planning concept you should consider is communication regulation or monitoring, allowing for HR members to be able to monitor communication so no one is discriminated against or receives any unwanted negative. message is also important to the overall health of your team and ensuring a healthy work environment.
Communication With Stakeholders: As a project manager, communication with stakeholders or project owners is important for many reasons. Communicating with stakeholders can help better define or shift your scope, change of project resources or any other unforeseen events that may arise that require immediate attention. This communication should go the other way as well, communicating the needs of your team, or problems that arose will dealing with the project should be communicated effectively, so understanding the information that needs to be communicated to the stakeholders is important as well. And similar to communication planning, understanding the communication method, frequency and availability is also important not only for your team but also for stakeholders.
Tips for Effective Communication
Here are a few tips to consider to ensure effective communication between team members, users, stakeholders and other important parties that may be involved in your next project:
Be specific: When communicating with someone you must be a specific as possible, making sure all parties involved understand the point you are trying to get across to avoid any misunderstandings.
Be clear and concise: Avoiding technical language that certain people may not understand fully, in the case of IT it can often be the stakeholders and keeping the information you need to present to be clear.
Be inclusive: Make sure no party is left out when relaying information, encouraging all members to participate and engage is crucial.
Use the right communication method: Using the right communication software or tools is important, since some apps may be more or less effective than others.
Provide feedback: Providing both positive and negative feedback can increase communication effectiveness, when someone knows if they're not communicating appropriately or when they're communicating appropriately is crucial to help members prove upon their communication skills in the future.
Be transparent: Being honest with your teams, setbacks, progress updates, and any other kind of information you team may need to know about, should not be kept a secret. We believe this is the most important tip, making any problems and milestones clear is crucial to the success of your team.
Conclusion
To wrap things up, you as a project manager must understand the importance communication will have in your projects, planning and ensuring all communication is effective is vital to the success of your project. We discussed many methods on how you can ensure effective communication methods, from ensuring you have the correct mode of communication, to ensuring meeting times and platforms are planned to fit everyone and works for everyone, being inclusive and making sure all parties are able to participate and engage is also important to clear and effective communication. We also saw the importance of being transparent with your team and providing appropriate feedback and how failing to follow effective communication skills can lead to many issues down the line such as, missed deadlines, affect your overall scope, and simply create conflicts amongst your team, we hope you will apply these topics in your next project and will ensure effective communication in the work place.
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