Effective project management is, ultimately, effective people management. Creating a team that works together cohesively and without succumbing to conflict is critical to project success. Technical skill sets are an important consideration. You need to stock your team with A-players in the competency areas required, but you also have to stock it with people who can bring the necessary behavioural and interpersonal skills. Budgets, timelines, technology, and processes don’t make or break a project. People do.

9 Communication Principles To Keep In Mind

If effective project management is effective people management, then this leads to, effective communications. The following series of principles can guide teams and ensure everyone understands expectations from the beginning, and throughout the life of a project:

1. Work As One Team, Regardless Of Individual Roles or Positions. Whether you are an employee, a vendor, a consultant, a junior consultant, or a senior executive, you’re a player on the team. Individuals bring different insight and perspectives to a project, and this is invaluable. Criticizing erodes confidence; cliques block communications. Team members need to feel able to talk to each other.
2. Maintain An Open, Direct, And Respectful Environment. If you can do this, you are off to a great start. Teams thrive on respect – and again, respect is regardless of role or position.
3. Work Collaboratively. Seeking opportunities to work together face-to-face whenever possible is critical. Instead of an email, why not stop by someone’s office? Instead of a phone call, why not try Skype or a video call? A team with good rapport is a team that is well positioned to achieve its objectives.
4. Ask Questions & Raise Issues. Don’t assume; don’t guess; don’t remain silent when an issue needs to be addressed. Ask, clarify, and provide input. This keeps issues and ill feelings from festering. It is important to escalate concerns within 24 hours if the team has not resolved them.
5. Seek Solutions Rather Than Analyzing Tasks. Rather than being a passive observer or bystander, actively work towards solutions. Gather input from other team members, and use this as a base for developing viable answers. Be prepared to take qualified risks ensuring someone owns the risk and can monitor and mitigate it if necessary.
6. Be Prepared To Make Reasonable Changes. Force-fitting a “solution” to a problem because it has worked in the past, or because you aren’t sure what else to do, can be deadly for a project. Force-fitting is why many consultants get a bad rap. Gather input, and start to seek alternative paths or options.
7. Celebrate Success and Wins. Whether you’ve accomplished a key deliverable or hit a milestone early, celebrate. Celebrate small and big achievements and celebrate often.
8. Communicate Expectations. Project managers and senior leaders need to communicate expectations to their people but also ask the team what it expects of them. A mutual exchange of expectations provides clarity and builds trust.
9. Ensure Stakeholders Understand The Project. What is the business case? What opportunity does this project address? What does success look like? Everyone, at all levels, needs to know the answers and have joint ownership of the project. This is what makes a team.

Communications is a critical component of the role of a project manager. They need to communicate feelings, facts, emotions, across all levels of the stakeholders on a project. If that piece is missing, the biggest budgets, the most flexible timeline, and the most advanced technology is not enough to bring a project to a successful conclusion. With effective communications, teams can accomplish incredible feats.