7 Effective Project Team Communication Tips

In today’s projectized world, project practitioners across the globe are employing
techniques to manage a project’s journey starting from business case to complete
realization of the expected benefits that are in line with the organizational business
strategy.
One of the key strategic component of enterprises across the globe is to accommodate
project management best practices in their DNA, so that the workforce is aligned with
the best practices to complete a project successfully irrespective of the size or
complexity. In this regard, project management team communication forms an integral
part of a successful project delivery. Hence, creating a highly-effective project team
communication blueprint is essential to a project’s lifecycle from the beginning to the
end.

Here are some tips to create a highly-effective project team communication blueprint.

1. Create a comprehensive communication plan:

The first thing every project should have is a comprehensive project
communication plan. Do not procrastinate in this regard, and your
communication plan should consist all the required information on project
stakeholders, project objectives, well-written project kick-off plan,
communication strategy, and budget required for expenditures that are related
to communication.
Moreover, your communication strategies should be holistic and incorporate
information on when communication has to happen, what to be
communicated, who should be part of it, and backup plan if there are any risks
and unforeseen emergencies.
2. Conduct your meetings regularly:
Usually, 90% of project managers’ job role falls under communication. By
having a robust communication channel with your team is very essential to
successfully complete the project. As a project manager, conduct regular
 meetings with entire team present. This will help team members to understand
project activities and share their inputs and concerns if they have any. Also, if
there are any change that is being discussed then everybody can be on the
same page and reduce miscommunication among team members and other
project stakeholders. Ensure your meetings are kept short and maximum
output is achieved.
Best practices to conduct meetings:

• Create meeting agenda and send it to all the participants before the meeting
happens
• Assign a time keeper to ensure your meeting sticks to its schedule
• Record the entire meeting, just in case if there are any misconceptions
• Schedule the next meeting in advance, take note of discussions that were
not addressed and which will be carried forward to the next meeting

3. Create an open stakeholder communication:

By creating an open forum, you are encouraging both the team and the
stakeholders to communicate when necessary. Though many enterprises
conduct daily meetings to discuss the status of the project, some may prefer a
weekly status report. Irrespective of when these meetings are happening, it
depends upon the importance of the project and the vested interests of the
stakeholders. By having an open stakeholder communication, they can always
be kept in loop with any minor and major project activities on a regular basis.
4. Create a transparent culture:
Communication as we know can be time-consuming. So a project manager
can avoid wasting others time by creating a transparent culture with regards to
project management team communication. Before scheduling a meeting or
calling a fellow team member or writing an email, and to keep your message
clear and concise, consider the following:

• What is the purpose of communication

 • Who all are part of audience
• What is the desired outcome
• Whether it is the right medium to communicate

Make sure your message(s) are easy to understand and one which can be
accessed by the intended recipient(s).
5. Avoid criticizing while communicating and be inclusive:
Nothing demotivates your team members faster than feeling when they cannot
voice their opinions, concerns, and accomplishments. When things are not
happening the way you want, try solving problems than finding someone to
blame upon at the first instance. Be inclusive, invite everybody for meetings
and get everybody’s opinions. It is always better to get more inputs than just
few of them.
6. Create a central hub of communication:
To create a highly-effective communication blueprint, it needs a common
ground where everybody can see what is happening in the project. During the
project kick-off meeting, make sure you ask your to ask their communication
preferences and use a project software that is on-premise or cloud-based,
whichever you deem fit and create a central hub of communication which
includes all types of communication channel. This central hub reduces the
communication gap and people will not be excluded from conversations that
are important to them.
7. Understanding the art of being wrong:
It happens so that, making everyone see that you were right may seem like a
big win at first, but that kind of victory can have a consequential affects to the
attitude of the team members. Completing a project requires a team, and
trying to put a lot of energy to prove yourself right can do the undoing of your
team morale. Do not estrange yourself from the team to the extent that they
completely stop communicating with you. You being right may prove someone
else wrong and many do not admit that they’re wrong because they take
criticism and feedback too personally and in turn there is a breakdown of
 communication.
Projects cannot be successful with a team of one. Personalities need to be
checked from the beginning when team members are communicating with one
another. In fact, you can agree to disagree and once in a while you can accept
that you were wrong to make things right from a team’s perspective.

As project teams are in a constant state of communication through various mediums like
email, phone, texts, face-to-face discussions, and even non-verbal interactions, it is
imperative to have a highly-effective project management team communication blueprint
to ensure successful project completion. Do let us know in the comments section, if you
feel there is more to create an effective project team communication blueprint.