Communiating Effectively

Effective communication is a key component in professionalism. In the context of project management, communication skills and strategies are needed for a project to be successful. To determine the most effective communication method, I am going to be comparing three separate communication modalities. They are email, voicemail, and face-to-face conversation. In the image, you will see the text that was used in the email, the voicemail, and the face-to-face conversation.

I began by observing and recording my perceptions of each modality – one at a time.

 Email. At first the email starts out with understanding on the part of the initiator, however, by defining the report as 'missing' this part comes off as accusatory. Instead of the 'missing' report, I would have put in the name of the report. When Jane says that she might miss her own deadline, this sounds like she has already figured out who to blame if she does get her portion of the project in on time. The last sentence in the paragraph is inconsistent and repetitive. At first Jane asks for an ETA, then asks when the report can be sent over to her, then asks if the data can be sent over in a separate email, which could mean that she could get by with the data that will be in Mark's report and not necessarily the report itself. To me, this conversation would be best done face-to-face or over-the-phone, since so much is dependent on Mark's answer and situation. Plus it is 'bad news' which I always make a policy to conduct in person.

 

Voicemail. I was surprised at the difference in the tone of the voicemail in saying the same thing over the phone. Jane is saying the same thing as the email, but it comes across in a more reasonable way. However, some people may not be able to pull off this tone, and have negative results in a voicemail.

Face-to-Face. I had more of a negative reaction to the face-to-face, something about the way she said - "I am going to miss my deadline" Here again; my perception is that an individual's tone, in person, could affect the outcome of this conversation. Jane was able to present herself in a way that was reasonable and understanding, however a different choice of words may have gotten her further. Again, I think 'missing' sounds accusatory. I would have expected her to first ask, "How is that report for the project going?" The beauty of face-to-face conversations is that you have the ability to wait for a reaction before you proceed with your whole monologue. The advantage is being able to assess non-verbal cues and react accordingly.

I’ll admit that when I began this exercise, I expected to conclude that face-to-face communication is always the best and preferred method, but that was not my conclusion from this process. People have different skills with regard to verbal and written communication, and should use those individual skills to communicate during a team project. Some people have more effective written skills, but may come off abrasive in person. Others may not know how to be particularly proficient at persuasive writing will likely be your best option.

Going through this process helped me to understand that there are many variables that impact the communication method that should be used.

 

Situational Variables

• skills of the initiator
• the communication is good or bad news
• the information is dichotomous, meaning one question cannot be asked until you know the answer to a previous question.
• relationship or interaction history between the initiator and the recipient

Above all, I have learned that communication is a strategy that should be shaped by the individual circumstances.