Communicating and Managing Communication in a Project Environment—A Practitioner's View

Abstract

I have been involved in managing a variety of projects, or consulting on this issue. There are many experiences that exist; I am glad to take this opportunity to write about some communication issues I've seen faced in the field. It is concluded that communication is critical to all project management dimensions. Projects have many different pieces of information either to be or not to be shared with different stakeholders. Each stakeholder has specific needs, methods, and frequency of communication. The project manager must understand this basic fact. They need to strategically cognizant of these characteristics in their project planning. The project manager must decide on the mode of communication— bi-directional or not. When deciding on their model and approach, they need to know their audience and the needs of the audience. They need to understand the stakeholders, context, and technical demands of the audience in order to strategically incorporate communication into their project management activities. The need to avoid wasted effort and for timely project completion leads to conscious project managers who are engaged with the project cycle to communicate strategically. As one can see, the strategy is dynamic and sensitive to complexity. Managers must consider the context, technical specifications, and the stakeholders when selecting channels and types of communication.