Project Management: Communications

 

One of the most valuable tools that a Project Manager has at his/her disposal is the COMMUNICATIONS NOTEBOOK...

Communications is at the heart of every project whether the Project Manager wants to believe it or not.  The PM must be able to excel at both written and oral communications.

If the PM conveys a message to a Project Leader and that PL must convey that message to a group of workers, what guarantees does the PM have that the PL will convey that message with 100% accuracy?

The PM had no guarantees!!!

Only the Project Manager is responsible for messages being conveyed throughout the project team.  Therefore, the PM must be able to talk/write clearly and concisely without any misunderstandings as to what words may or may not mean to everyone else on the team.

In order to facilitate this process a Project Notebook is kept with a copy of every single comment or memo that has been distributed to the Project Team in one form or another.

One valuable lesson that a PM learns over time is to take notes during ALL MEETINGS and during ALL TELEPHONE CALLS in case one needs to go back in time and verify what was communicated.

Everything that a PM does must be on the record, if for no other reason than to prove you were not told to do something, when a member of the team or stakeholders makes the claim that you were told.