13 Communication Tips For Better Project Communication

I wanted to put together a list of Communication Tips for project managers. I believe ineffective communication is often at the root of project issues - many of which could have been avoided. Here's my list of 13 tips that should help you communicate better with your project team, peers, customers, etc.

1. Concentrate on the delivery of your message. No matter how important the content is, your delivery is what sells the message.


2. Open and honest communication leads to respect and trust. Never lie or mislead and make sure the point of your message isn't buried or misunderstood.


3. Managing up is all about communicating effectively with your boss. From a post by David Maister "It means making sure your manager is aware of the big issues that are plaguing the team and possible topics that may be discussed at a management meeting he/she attends. It also involves filtering the less important details from the important so that your manager does not feel overwhelmed with information."


4. Metaphors are a great way to pull people into your message. Metaphors should be apropos to your message, interesting and simple to understand - watch out for confusion country!


5. Understand the importance of the non-verbal side of communication. ECT says "When you first meet someone, you have just ten seconds to make an impression on them. Or, to put it another way, in the first ten seconds after meeting a new person, you will be making a particular impression on them whether you like it or not. Before you even open your mouth to speak, you non-verbally imprint the other person with your persona..". Facial expressions, gestures, attire, accessories, posture, and eye contact are a few non-verbal cues that come to mind.


6. Now is the time! Get your message out in a timely manner or people will go elsewhere for their information.


7. Insights into different peoples personalities, cultures and communication preferences help you tailor your message and be better equipped to adapt communications within your team as needed. This statement from Chris Witt acts as a nice summary "To succeed in today's workplace, it's not enough to be smart, technically savvy, and experienced. You also need to be people-smart to get along well with people and bring out their best."


8. Compelling messages are more interesting and will stick with your audience. People won't listen to you simply because you speak well. Give them a reason to listen and pay attention!


9. Active listening is a very important communication skill. Most people think communication is simply about writing or speaking and wonder what "listening" has to do with communication. Communicate = Talk, right? Uhm..No! Larry Nadig says "In active listening we are also genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling, wanting or what the message means, and we are active in checking out our understanding before we respond with our own new message."


10. Telling a story is another powerful way to pull people into your message and they're more likely to remain interested and engaged while you're speaking.


11. Improving your communication skills will also improve your productivity. Practice all facets of communication - from gestures, facial expressions and tone, to the specific words you use, speaking clearly, projecting confidence and more. And that's just the "talking part" of communication - there's so much more to learn - keep it up!


12. Obvious isn't always! When communicating take care to write or speak to your target audience. Try to avoid confusing acronyms, business jargon and technical speak, and don't assume everyone is hearing what you are saying. Reminds me of Lisa Haneberg's recent post: Why you aren’t responsible for what you say, but what others hear.


13. Nothing is more important than good communication. If you were to focus on only one skill, I would suggest it be "communicating effectively". Tom Peters says "To say language is everything to a leader is no understatement." and who's gonna argue with that?

C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N. So important in business, yet quite often the art of effective communication isn't practiced. We blurt. We don't follow up. We forget. We misunderstand. We're plain confused. Review the 13 tips above to see where you might improve. You just might find your next project/initiative running a little more smoothly.

Have more tips to add? Leave a comment or send me an email - I'd love to hear from you! raven AT ravensbrain DOT com

Tags: Communication Skills, Effective Communication, Communication Tips, Conversation Tips