Barriers to Effective Communication and Stakeholder Management in Project Environments and How to Overcome These Barriers

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the prominent barriers to effective communication and stakeholder management in project teams. Specifically, this study examined the role of management frameworks currently utilized by organizations and their efficiency in supporting team collaboration, conflict management, and stakeholder management in project environments. The study utilized a two-prong research methodology to identify and to analyze current literature related to the scope and objective of this study. The study first deployed an exploratory and unstructured literature review and then a structured literature review to identify the pool of relevant articles and content. A systematic review was then performed to reduce the body of literature down to the critical few that could serve as the basis for the study's analysis. The results revealed the inadequacies of management frameworks in promoting healthy relationships between project managers and stakeholders. Furthermore, the study exposes a gap between formal communications planning, the actual execution, the implementation of the plan, and the poor implementation of organizational processes. The results also show the common types of conflict, the positive and negative effects that these have on project environments, project success, and the critical success factors in stakeholder management. In addition to identifying barrier and shortcomings, this article sheds light on improvement areas that will have the most significant effect on project success. The literature synthesis reveals the importance of soft skill in communication management. The results suggest that much work remains to be done by the organization to train and prepare managers in building relationships and developing soft skills. The literature has demonstrated that perception, values, team cohesion, the willingness to share, trust, and healthy relationships are most influential in project success, but in practice, the latter is not applied. In conclusion, this area needs improvement and further investigation.