1. One of the highest ranking factors of success for a project is effective communication among everyone involved. Project managers will spend a lot of time communicating among the project stakeholders. Every technique employed along the project is a means of communication. It ensures that the right people have the correct information to make the necessary decisions and see them through. Being able to write and speak well, lead meetings effectively, listen, and resolve conflicts constructively is a vital skill set for the project manager.
2. Communication within the project team is essential and there are four major needs. The first is each team member needs to know what they are responsible for, known as responsibility. The second is coordination where team members can work efficiently together to carry out their work. Status is the third aspect where team members need to be updated on the status of the project to identify problems and take on corrective action if necessary. Authorization is the last need. Team members should know all decisions made by the stakeholders of the project for synchronization.
3. Make sure to make task assignments clear by explaining the deliverables. Know what they are supposed to produce. Hand out work assignments personally and give a reasonable frame of time. Preparation will contribute to performance so invest into your team. Make sure any known obstacles are communicated in the bunch. Be clear about the expectations of effort and due dates. The network diagram is a good tool to show how the pieces all fit together.
4. Regularly scheduled meetings to share information and make decisions keep a project on track. Holding regular status meetings gives the project manager an opportunity to keep the team informed about developments, identify potential problems, increase team unity, ensure the progress of the project is understood uniformly, and objectives are being met. The project status meeting should be participative because of the belief that involvement leads to ownership. Preparation is key; team members should update their open task reports. Take advantage of the fact that all team members are present in one setting in order to solve or iron out any issues. Decisions made by management can be distributed out as well. Review project logs, issue logs, and the risk log. Answer the questions, are the risks being resolved or do they need to be escalated to higher management. Don’t try to solve large problems if it can’t be corrected in five minutes. Assign the problem as an action item instead.
