Communicating Effectively

As we all know that communication is one of the most important areas that affect all part of our lives, essentially when we are forming any type of relationship with people. How we communicate and what we communicate can go a long way as to how our message is received. When looking at project management, "effective communication--sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner" (Portney et all, 2008, pg. 357) is the basis of having a successful project. As we look at the different forms of communications, it is important to note that each form is different and requires a thoughtful process in how to approach and deliver. When reflecting upon the different modalities in "The Art of Effective Communication" program, I noticed a difference between how each message was delivered and how I felt. 

Email

When writing an email, proper netiquette always has to be considered, in order to make up for the facial expressions, voice and tone that is not heard or seen. I found the email message to come across more formal and urgent then the voice mail and face to face messages. The email almost sounded accusatory about what Mark has been involved in, such as "I know you have been busy and possibly in that all day meeting today" (Laureate Education, n.d.). When reading the message, I felt the stress and a bit of blame if she did not get the data she needed right away.

Voicemail

The voicemail was a little better at expressing Janes' state of mind, and I could hear the stress and urgency in her voice. I could also hear the worry of her not being able to complete her report on time, versus the stronger tone heard in the email. 

Face-to-Face

The face-to-face approach came across as friendly, but still expressing that she needed information to get her job done. With this form of communication, it is less confusing, as you can hear and see the person as they are giving you the message. Jane sounded a lot more relaxed and it came across not extremely stressful. Her body language was quite casual and not intimidating.

Overall, I think all forms of communication can work, it just depends on how you do it. According to this scenario, the face-to-face approach seemed like it was the most effective way to remain in a friendly manner, but serious enough to get the message across. It is so easy to give someone the wrong impression and message, which can lead to miscommunication, ill feelings, increased stress and put strain on a relationship. When considering stakeholders and key employees for an important project, it is vital that we ensure that our message is being conveyed the way we want. At times it helps to write things out to process our thoughts, especially if we are going to be using email to communicate. These days I find that it is so easy to be misunderstood, whether it is in our personal or professional relationships. All it takes, is use of one wrong word or a misunderstood tone, to set the wheels turning for the person receiving the message. So, lets ensure that we practice proper forms of communications as often as we can, as this is our way to build stronger relationships in all means of our lives.

References

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Laureate Education. (n.d.). The Art of Effective Communication. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

Image retrieved from http://www.comnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/effective-online-communication.jpg

Image retrieved from http://businesscool.eu/uploads/Communication-Channels.jpg

Learning from a Project "Post-mortem"

As the avid knitter I am, who would have thought I would have literally NOT enjoyed knitting 24/7. Boy, when I committed to becoming a test knitter, I was in for quite a surprise. I had signed up for three test knitting projects that were all due within a two week time frame. Little did I know, that each project would take me at least three to four days of straight knitting. That is almost two weeks without doing anything else. So, when would I sleep, eat, take care of my son, do homework, and take care of everything else in between to care for my family and basic needs. 

The good news was, with the help of my husband taking care of my son and other obligations and getting an extension, I was able to meet all of the deadlines. One of the designers was generous enough to offer an extension, after I had reached out to her letting her know that I need an extra few days, take it that I was working on the largest size for her cowl design. The downside was, that I was extremely stressed and could not enjoy the process, as much as I wanted to. By the end of the two weeks, I was extremely burned out. 

Being a test knitter, you are responsible for reporting errors in the pattern and offering suggestions to improve the way the pattern is written. So, here I was frantically knitting like a maniac, every spare moment I could get, and staying up until the wee hours of the night, barely eating, isolating myself from the world, taking a shower almost every two days and waking up before my son would to get these projects done. It turned out that, I made an error in one of the cowls and did not realize until I had already knitted quite a bit, where I did not have the time to undo and redo my work. Therefore, I made a note of it, and made a comment to the designer, that I had run into this error, and perhaps it is an area that needs to be more obvious, so that even a tired knitter can knit the pattern with ease. 

The most frustrating part was not being able to enjoy knitting these projects, it became a stress versus something I found relaxing. The problem was, I got too ambitious, as I saw the opportunities arise and over-committed to the number of projects I could handle in the time frame given. As I saw the projects go up for grabs, I stopped thinking and started clicking. If I was to do this differently, then I would not take on this much extra work. I would have to be realistic that a single day has only 24 hours, and make a schedule of how much time I really have per day, week, and month to commit to these extra projects. The key was to balance this projects' needs alongside the rest of my daily responsibilities and being communicative with the designers on my progress.

The most gratifying part of this project, was that I moved up in my knitting endeavors, where I could say that I officially test knit for three designers. Furthermore, one of the designers featured my work on her pattern page for her design that I knit. The good thing was that the designers were always available to answer questions and I would provide status updates, alongside show pictures of my progress along the way.  

The good thing was, that I was able to see that one of the projects was going to take me a lot longer than I had committed to, so knowing that the designer had offered me an extension if needed, I reached out to her early enough to get the extra few days. I quickly learned that it is best to ask for an extension earlier in the process, versus waiting until the last minute. The obvious constraints of this project was time.

Furthermore, there were other test knitters who were testing the same designs, but in different sizes, so it helped to read their feedback to get a heads up for any errors that I may have run into.

So, lessons learned for a very very long time, on how much I can really do in a 24 hour time frame. Therefore, when you make a commitment to any project, no matter how big or small, ensuring that you have the adequate resources to get the job done in a timely manner is always key. There is nothing like blazing through a project and having to juggle your life around it, especially to the extent of your sleep schedule and taking care of your family.

Project Management in Education

Welcome everyone to my blog. You will notice that the next 8 weeks of posts will be around the topic of project management in the distance learning realm. I hope you will enjoy reading my posts, and will leave a comment or two :)

In my limited experience with project management, I can definitely say that it is not one to be slacked on. I can assure you, if done right, it can be a very rewarding feeling to know that your project has been successful. Project management can be conducted at different levels and can be anything from fixing a broken door in your home to managing an entire team to reach a common goal.

References

Image taken from http://saasmarkets.com/wordpress/wp-content/up/2013/08/Project-Management.jpg