The Art of Effective Communication

Email

I feel that Jane is implying that I am not doing my work – I’m busy or maybe out of my office at a meeting.  She reminds me of the importance of getting my work done so she can meet her deadline – a guilt tactic.  She ends on a good note, that she appreciates my help, but to me the general tone of the email is offensive.

Voicemail

Jane is very factual in the voicemail.  I do not feel like she is implying anything when she suggests I am busy or in a meeting.  Her request for the work is sincere and is based on getting the work she needs to meet her own deadline.  I feel good about this request.

Face-to-face

Jane felt disconnected from me.  I felt she was talking to me rather than with me.  She sounded condescending about being busy and in the meeting.  She made me feel that her work was more important.  There were no pauses for me to respond.

Synthesis of Communicating with Project Team Members

It seems that Mark’s work is late although this is not specifically stated.  If this is true, then Jane’s communication with Mark in the past was not effective.  Mark should have known exactly what was expected of him and when the work was due.  Jane should have monitored his performance with an established schedule of checkpoints (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, 2008, p. 297).  So even before this message, it appears that communication was not effective.

Jane might not have had authority over Mark, which may have been why his work is now late.  There are communication steps that Jane should have taken to hold Mark accountable, however.  Mark’s responsibility should have been in writing, should have been specific, and should have been approved by his supervisor.  Mark should have made a firm commitment to complete the work on time.  Jane should have established a schedule with Mark to review how his work was progressing.  At these meetings, Jane should have let Mark know that his lack of progress would be shared with the rest of the project team.  Jane is now creating a sense of urgency and importance, but it is probably too late (Portny et. al., 2008, 300).

Of the three forms of communication, I believe the voicemail conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message.  However, I do not believe that this should have been the case.  The face-to-face meeting should have been the best form of communication.  Email and voicemail are best to share information and document informal meetings.  It is hard to solve problems through asynchronous forms of communication, such as email and voicemail.  It is also harder to convey emotions through these forms of communication, so misunderstanding often occur.  One-on-one meetings should be an effective form of communication when there are project issues.  This is because both parties can interactively investigate and solve these issues that involved only a small number of team members (Portny et. al., 2008, p. 282).  However, in this face-to-face meeting, I felt that Jane did not give Mark a chance to talk or be interactive.  She talked at Mark without seeking his input or giving him an opportunity to talk.  I would have been offended at this approach.  Jane might have reasons to be frustrated with Mark, but her approach in this meeting probably would have made Mark feel disrespected and less inclined to expedite her request.  Anyone could have heard what Jane was saying to Mark, which would make Mark even more offended.

The implications of what I have learned from this exercise for communicating effectively with members of a project team is that, as Dr. Stolovitch (n.d.) states, project managers must be excellent diplomats.  When the issue can cause hurt feelings, it is best to deal with each other face-to-face in a private setting.  Emails cannot convey emotions and the message can easily be misunderstood.  Voicemails at least provide a tone, which can convey feelings and emotions.  While face-to-face meetings provide the least chance for miscommunication, body language and tone must also be considered.  When discussing any topic that may lead to embarrassment, the meeting should be held in private.  Cubicles cannot provide this privacy.  Communication is also a two-way street.  You cannot expect cooperation if you talk at a person.  Jane should have given Mark a chance to respond when she brought up the topic of being busy.  She also should have given him the opportunity to acknowledge how his late work would affect Jane’s work.  If Mark had been given the chance to admit how his actions were affecting the rest of the team, he probably would have been more willing to complete his work.  However, if Mark did feel attacked by Jane, the work probably will not be completed as quickly.  Therefore, it is important to remember that it is not just words that convey a message; tonality, body language, and timing are also very important in effective communication (Stolovitch, n.d.). 

References:

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E.  (2008).  Project management:  Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects.  Hoboken, NJ:  John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Stolovitch.  (n.d.).  Communicating with stakeholders.  Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer).  Video.