A10 – Conduct a focused communication

This management activity belongs to the Project Initiation group. This group of activities are run at the beginning to prepare us for the project.

Hang a banner in your organization to announce the start of the project (or an equivalent of that for virtual teams), and send an email to everyone to explain why the organization has decided to undertake the project, and what the benefits are.

Purpose

In many organizations, projects start and end with no clear indication, and most employees (and even managers) don’t know the range of projects happening in the organization. This, in turn, causes everyone to be focused on their specialist activities without having a sense of the project as a whole, and without being able to align themselves with the goals and collaborate properly with everyone else. The focused communication is an opportunity to avoid some of these issues by creating commitment and encouraging collaboration.

Common pitfalls

You can’t be at your best unless you’re excited about the project, and when you are, you should be able to communicate that excitement in your communications and create a similar feeling in others. Avoid dry, boring communications.

Principles

The following principles play a significant role in this management activity:

NUP3: Always be proactive
NUP4: Remember that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link
NUP5: Don’t do anything without a clear purpose