When you think back to your experience of when communication went wrong, how did you feel? Frustrated, confused, or disengaged?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to feel those things at any time, but it\u2019s disastrous<\/em>\u00a0for delivering projects.<\/p>\n Projects are all about change. And we know that, for most of us, change is as comfortable as a shirt and tie in 100 degree heat. On the subway.<\/p>\n All the big change management theorists say building the right environment for change is crucial for success. Notably, talking about how great life will be after the project. This builds interest in the project and the appetite to move forward, lowering resistance to change.<\/p>\n Communicating the future-state keeps everyone\u2019s eyes on the prize, so they don\u2019t get disgruntled or want to call it quits when you hit the first snag (which you will.)<\/p>\n Your project sponsor<\/a> is like your own personal cheerleader. They\u2019re heavily invested in seeing your project succeed and are always in your corner.<\/p>\n Best of all, this person is often an executive with the knowledge and power to help clear hurdles and boost your chances of success.<\/p>\n But, they\u2019re not very effective if they\u2019re left in the dark.<\/p>\n Good communication<\/a> is essential for keeping your sponsor up-to-date and engaged.<\/p>\n Throughout the project lifecycle, effectively communicating project progress to the sponsor allows them to prepare the business for implementation, reassures them everything is on track, and let\u2019s them know when you can use their involvement or advice.<\/p>\n Most people are motivated by getting things done and feeling like they are creating value.<\/p>\n It\u2019s frustrating for project team members to complete a task only to realize two other people were also working on it. Or to disappoint the project manager by not completing something they didn\u2019t realize was their responsibility.<\/p>\n Good communication leads to greater team efficiency and cohesion, and less time and effort wasted on duplicated tasks. Wasted time decreases the overall value of the project and is disheartening for everyone.<\/p>\n Get started with monday.com<\/a><\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at the benefits of good communications management and the risks of poor communications management.<\/p>\n Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n Risks<\/strong><\/p>\n Poor communication can lead to unclear goals, misunderstandings about requirements, disengaged stakeholders, and lots of other issues that will cause your project to bomb.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The principles of effective communication management can be split into 2 areas: Processes<\/strong>\u00a0and Skills<\/strong><\/p>\n The Project Management Book of Knowledge (aka \u2018The Handbook\u2019) describes 3 key stages for effective communication management:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s break them down:<\/p>\n Planning communications management<\/strong><\/p>\n When you\u2019re planning your project communications you first need to get clear on what impact you\u2019re trying to create with your communications.<\/p>\n Are you updating people? Engaging them? Persuading them?<\/p>\n This will help you to identify who you need to speak to and what type of message they need to receive and understand. It will also influence what channels, methods, and tools you use for your communications.<\/p>\n (Image <\/a>Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n To start, gather all the information you already have from the project charter<\/a>, project management plan<\/a>, stakeholder analysis<\/a>, and company culture analysis about who should be kept in the loop and what kind of communications they should receive.<\/p>\n Then decide how and when you want to reach your stakeholders. Will this have a set frequency or just at key milestones? Will you have regular meetings or an ad-hoc newsletter? Remember to think of how you\u2019ll communicate and collaborate effectively as a project team too.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll likely have different types and frequency of communications for different groups of people.<\/p>\n While your team might discuss updates every day, chances are you don\u2019t touch base with your executives or client that often \u2014 unless they\u2019re overly keen.<\/p>\n The output from this stage is your communications plan (more on this below).<\/p>\n Managing \u00a0communications<\/strong><\/p>\n This is where all the planned communications are put into action. That might be regular progress update meetings, status reports, project highlights in the company newsletter, or even more formal \u2018town halls\u2019.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also need to make sure there is an effective feedback mechanism so stakeholders have a way to tell you, informally or formally, what they\u2019re really thinking!<\/p>\n Organizing, actioning, and storing communications will also be important and should be a key responsibility of someone on the project team.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll want to be able to easily locate any past communications you\u2019ve sent out and any queries, concerns, or other responses people have provided. This helps prevent the dreaded \u201cyou never told me that!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Monitoring communications<\/strong><\/p>\n Like all other project controls, it\u2019s important for project managers to check if their communications are having the desired impact.<\/p>\n Feedback can be sought from project stakeholders as to the value of communications so the message or channel can be adjusted as required.<\/p>\n No one enjoys sending out a report every week that no one bothers to read. Even if a platform like monday.com makes it super fast and easy to create reports, it\u2019s still annoying.<\/p>\n Feedback can also be used to update your stakeholder analysis to make sure you\u2019re retaining the support of those who are championing your project and decreasing the resistance of those who aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n What if a key supporter of your project jumps ship for another company?<\/p>\n Without monitoring and updating your management plan to keep tabs on stakeholders, you\u2019ll be blindly sending reports to a ghost while their new replacement hasn\u2019t been won over yet.<\/p>\n Alongside an effective process, there are also some key skills required to make sure you\u2019re getting your message across.<\/p>\nGreat communication skills aren\u2019t just about speaking. Being a good listener is equally, if not more, important for project success.<\/span><\/a>\n Active listening requires looking for non-verbal cues as well as what\u2019s being said. You\u2019ll need to:<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t just for external stakeholders either. Trying to see other people\u2019s point of view is also important for effective collaboration (and maintaining harmony) within the project team.<\/p>\n Get started<\/a><\/p>\n Firstly, let\u2019s discuss the difference between your communication plan and your wider communication strategy.<\/p>\n The first gives you a more strategic perspective, you\u2019ll need to identify what your objective is and what success looks like. The second gives you the detail \u2014 who, when, and how.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with your strategy as it\u2019ll drive your plan:<\/p>\n The Association for Project Management (APM) details 8<\/a>\u00a0key components for a good communication strategy. Let\u2019s look at each in detail:<\/p>\n (Image <\/a>Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n Sidebar: some key terms <\/strong>explained<\/strong><\/p>\n Push and pull communications<\/strong><\/p>\n Push communications are those \u2018pushed\u2019 from the communications manager to the audience. An email newsletter would be an example of a push communication.<\/p>\n Pull communications are those that rely on the audience seeking or \u2018pulling\u2019 the information out. An example would be a project intranet page.<\/p>\n Rich and lean media<\/strong><\/p>\n Rich media channels are used when you need to explore and agree on difficult or sensitive issues. They\u2019re characterized by the ability for rapid feedback, personal interaction, and both verbal, and non-verbal, cues. An example would be a face-to-face workshop.<\/p>\n Lean media channels are used for communicating routine information where it\u2019s less important that the message is received and acted on. An example would be a poster on a work bulletin board.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve prepared your communications strategy, you can get into the nuts and bolts of your \u00a0project communication plan.<\/p>\n Your planning document should cover 5 key elements:<\/p>\n There are a number of different documents, tools, and collaboration apps that can make your communication management much easier. Happily, monday.com\u00a0has them all!<\/p>\n You\u2019ll need to consider the documents you need to support your communication strategy and communication plan. As we\u2019ve discussed, you\u2019ll need various pieces of information to help build your plan, such as the project charter\u00a0and stakeholder register.<\/p>\n monday.com makes this simple, with\u00a0over 200 engaging and intuitive templates ready for you to use including both of these and, of course, a communications plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Communication and collaboration within the project team are as important as communicating with business or external stakeholders. monday.com\u00a0makes it easy, with the ability to share files, comment on documents, and drag-and-drop task reprioritization.<\/p>\n You can also use the calendar view<\/a>\u00a0to plan communication events. You can add a task for the dates you plan to share information and add descriptions, file attachments, comments, and notes.<\/p>\n The monday.com\u00a0Work OS also integrates with all your favorite collaboration tools making effective communication easy as pie.<\/p>\n Using a platform like monday.com\u00a0offers the whole project team transparency. If everyone can see what is planned, they can pitch ideas, or offer their perspective from what they\u2019ve experienced with stakeholders on the ground, to improve the approach.<\/p>\n This is what happened for global professional services firm, Genpact. After switching to monday.com, they saw a 40%\u00a0rise in cross-team collaboration for successful campaign planning<\/a>. Read more about their success story here.<\/a><\/p>\n Phew! We covered a lot. But we did promise you comprehensive, right? Now you\u2019ve got all the tools you need to make 2021 your most collaborative and productive yet.<\/p>\n And, if nothing else, you\u2019ll be able to practice a little extra \u2018peace and understanding\u2019 as you try to navigate family lockdown during Christmas.<\/p>\n If you can make it through that minefield, projects will be a piece of cake!<\/p>\nWhy is project communication important for business stakeholders?<\/h3>\n
Why is communication important for the project sponsor?<\/h3>\n
Why is communication important for your project team?<\/h3>\n
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![\"Communication](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Communication-Management-2.jpg\" "\\"Communication")
<\/p>\nWhat are the principles of effective communication management?<\/h2>\n
What process should I follow?<\/h3>\n
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![\"image](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/b-RtYJQHals_Y3gvm5Vdys9_7gac6zKn56q2rR-xIgZTZHOSUO-xly4kekG_b9M1CAFRKXa-LW_cPhGhEaOjwq6psbpGviWXxK1Q2WEZASWMGUdOBLpxKZilSq8L8_Wh9_HG_x-l.png\" "\\"the")
<\/h2>\nWhat skills do I need for effective communication management?<\/h3>\n
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How should I structure a good communications plan?<\/h2>\n
8 aspects of a solid communication strategy<\/h3>\n
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![\"2](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Power-vs-influence.png\" "\\"Interest")
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![\"Box](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Key-terms-3.png\" "\\"Key")
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5 elements of a strong communication plan<\/h3>\n
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![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Communications-Plan.png\" "\\"Communications")
<\/p>\nWhat else can help?<\/h2>\n
![\"project](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-110.png\" "\\"communications")
<\/p>\n![\"calendar](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pasted-image-0-109.png\" "\\"calendar")
<\/p>\nConclusion<\/h2>\n