Project Management Success Series: Part Four

Pinnacle Business Systems www.pbsnow.com

Project Management Success: Part 4

Brandy shares her 15 years of experience in project management and has created a six-part series highlighting key elements to a projects success, specifically in the IT management industry.

Brandy Semore, Pinnacle’s Operations Manager

Follow these actionable steps and advice to help you improve the outcome of projects you lead or participate in at your organization.


Communication Skills

Excellent communication is the one soft skill that a project manager needs to bring to the table. It is the ability to direct, lead, and maintain momentum without noticeable effort.

Unless a project manager can effectively share the project goals and have them understood by all parties at any point within the project lifecycle, then the project itself is at risk of failure.


Fact

One in five projects does not meet its original goals and business intent due to ineffective communication.


Effective communication isn’t just about sharing information, it’s also about making people understand the role they play in the project.

Effective communication skills include: •Being able to effectively present the issues.•Listen and act on feedback.•Foster harmony among team members.


What to Communicate


Four tips for communication

Here are the four tips we will cover to improve your project team’s communication:

1.Adopt the 80/20 Rule2.Know your Audience3.Effective vs. Efficient Communicator4.Active Listening

The 80/20 rules explains that for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

For example, spending 20% of your time upfront to proactively and thoroughly communicate not only enables workflow to run seamlessly, but also prevents unnecessary work due to poor or lack of communication.


Adopt the 80/20 Rule

If you Know Your Stakeholders then you already know your audience, you just need to tailor your communication for the different groups accordingly.

There are numerous tools that a project manager can use to perform a stakeholder analysis, but the one most preferred by our Pinnacle PMO is the Power/Interest Grid.


Know your Audience

http://www.slideshare.net/JillHogue/project-management-success-series-part-one


Power/Interest Grid

This is our internal tool that we use to group the stakeholders on their level of authority (‘power’) and their level of concern (‘interest’) regarding the project’s outcome.


Effective vs. Efficient Communication

Effective communication means that the information is provided in the right format, at the right time, to the right audience, and with the right impact.

Efficient communication means providing only the information that is needed. This may include:•Daily status reports•Scheduled project status meetings


Active Listening

Active listening is reading non-verbal signals – facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice.Does the other person look bored or nervous, do they sound agitated?

Active listening isn’t just hearing what is being said, it’s hearing what isn’t.

Learn More

Have questions for Brandy? Email her at [email protected]


Project Management Success: Part 5 Manage The Scope

Project Management Success Series: Part Four

Leadership & Management

Transcript of Project Management Success Series: Part Four