6 Communication Problems for Project Managers

6 Communication Problems for Project Managers

Good communication skills are a prerequisite for any project manager and thus are critical to the success of any communication process. Organisations can only achieve their goals and objectives by the coordinated efforts of their members and it is the task of the management to get work done through other people. Information systems such as meeting structures, communication systems such as Sharepoint and other methods are one way but this is strengthened with effective and strong management or communication principles.

This should be anything new to project management professionals but the question is how well do we do it? Some of the peculiarities that affect project managers when it comes to team communication are as follows:

Imprecise Words: – Often the experiences we want to express do not fit into words and are not easily communicated. We are not able to say precisely what we mean. Continual listening and feedback allows enhanced communication as any barriers or misunderstandings to be minimised.
Guesswork is Involved: – Often times, communication is done with ‘codes’ and we are very ambivalent about the desire to express ourselves accurately. Indirect communication can become a stable diet for projects. With this type of communication comes a phase of message decoding that leads to information guesswork and interpretation. As with thoughts, the only clue to an individual’s true intent is the behaviour. Direct communication is a prerequisite in understanding the emotions and thoughts of any individual. This has the added benefits that it minimises misunderstanding from the receiver’s side.

Guesswork is Involved: – Often times, communication is done with ‘codes’ and we are very ambivalent about the desire to express ourselves accurately. Indirect communication can become a stable diet for projects. With this type of communication comes a phase of message decoding that leads to information guesswork and interpretation. As with thoughts, the only clue to an individual’s true intent is the behaviour. Direct communication is a prerequisite in understanding the emotions and thoughts of any individual. This has the added benefits that it minimises misunderstanding from the receiver’s side.

To read the other 4 other communication problems faced by Project Managers visit our training partner’s website Turlon