5 Tips for Better Project Communication

Communication is one of the most important elements in any project. If you are going to become a successful project manager then this is something you will need to get right. It may be a new part of the role to you but it is something which can be learned easily enough with a bit of thought and common sense. The following tips should help you get started.

Keep It Clear

The most important point about any type of communication is that it needs to be clear and easy to understand. This is especially true in projects, as you could be dealing with complex or technical issues a lot of the time. You are possibly the one person in the project who understands all of the issues but you need to remember that putting things in simpler terms will make sure that other people get to understand the issues better as well. Using graphs and charts is a good idea if you want to get point across as simply as possible, while the use of technical words and project jargon should be avoided at all costs.

Know Your Audience

When you are dealing with project communication you need to tailor your words to meet different audience as different times. You could be sending out updates or documents to senior managers, IT staff, project team members of end business users. All of these people will be looking for different things from your communication and you need to be careful not to confuse matters but using inappropriate language. The words you use most naturally will probably depend upon your own working background. For example, I came to my first project role from a purely business background, so I was less comfortable using the technical language IT staff will use. This is certainly something you can work on over time.

Make It Regular

Issuing an update every now and then might keep stakeholders and team members off your back but it won’t give them the level of knowledge they need. In order to work effectively your communication strategy needs to be consistent and ongoing. This will ensure that no one is left wondering whether they are missing out on something or not. Even better is the idea of fixing in advance the dates in which you will give out your updates. For instance, if you mark it in your diary for every second Friday or whatever then you will find that it soon becomes a habit and that you do it without even thinking about it. If you find that stakeholders get onto you asking when the next update is due then you probably need to make them more regular than you are doing at the moment. You might even find that you are asked at some point to make them less regular or less detailed.

Encourage Feedback

In my first ever job I remember being told at a training course that communication is a two way thing. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since that day but the piece of advice is as relevant as ever. You can send out all the updates and project documents that you want but if you don’t let others come back to you with feedback or questions then you will only be completing half of the task. There probably won’t be any response to your communications but the recipients need to know that the chance to give you feedback is there if they want to use it. In fact, you can learn a lot from the comments which others come to you with. All you need to do is listen.

Be Honest

There can be a huge temptation to tell little lies at times. Maybe a milestone has slipped but you are 100% confident that you can make it up before the next project meeting. We are all only human and it is completely natural that we are tempted to make our lives that bit easier by not giving out the full facts some of the time. However, as the project manager you need to give out an example of honesty and good behavioral values. This means being honest at all times, even when that could result in some awkward questions being asked of you. Once your stakeholders and team members realize that they can trust you to be honest at all times they will be a lot happier about taking your communications at face value without questioning everything in them.