Following communication best practices are essential to any project. Communication remains one of the top reasons for project failure. Managers struggle to balance communication from project to project. As a result, 57% of projects fail due to a communication breakdown, in a recent survey.
The project’s needs should dictate communication demands. Communication requires a well-thought-out plan, not a one-size-fits-all approach. Managers should cultivate a “communication best practice list” to boost their success. Based on my experience as a project manager, here are my top three best practices in building effective communication for your next project.
Communications Best Practice List
Communications: Collaborate
Managers collaborate for communication efficiency. The team will work together to determine how communication is handled throughout the project. The team determines which type of communication and which method of delivering the communication work best.
Communications: Purpose
Managers deliver communication with a purpose. It is important the team weeds out redundant and unnecessary communication. For example, a manager explains the purpose of establishing a project dashboard. The manager begins with, The purpose of the project dashboard is to… Project communication becomes more focused and meaningful once the team understands its purpose.
Communications: Consistency
Consistency builds trust and preserves communication. This means delivering on the method of communication on time and regularly. For example everyone agrees that a report will be updated weekly by Tuesday at 10am however the report is actually updated on Tuesday at 3pm. This is how communication begins to break down and how trust starts to erode on a project. The small things, like this example, become serious problems as the project progresses. Therefore, managers: Do what you say you are going to do.
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