PM Views: What is 'Communications' Again?

I've done a fair bit of work of late as a subject matter expert in the area of Project Communications. Even so, I struggle to understand what it really *is.* I have an 807 page book on my shelf about Project Communications that goes on and on about how to manage it, but never defines it!

I feel about communications the same way I feel about the colour orange. Some days it seems like it's a colour all its own, but often enough it just seems to be a variation of red or a saturated yellow. And maybe that's it. Perhaps communication isn't so much a thing unto itself as it is a vehicle for, or enhancement of, something else.

When I'm really communicating with someone, I feel a sort of *click.* I can often see it in the other person as well. Something happens that is bigger than either of us. It is the most energizing part of managing projects for me - getting to the point of *getting it* so that my team and my stakeholders can share in project success.

Effective communications in projects is like model airplane glue. Applied well, you don't really notice it in the end product. Used sloppily, you end up with gobs of glue all over the place. Sure, the airplane is held together, but it's best to stand back a few feet so you don't notice the disaster of the execution. And if I spend too much time around communications *templates* I start to hallucinate anyway.

PM Stories: High-Risk Advocating

I was managing a project to produce a web-based application for use during a scheduled training event at a client’s site. On one side was my sponsor that was extremely eager to launch. On the other side were developers trying to create code for complex business rules. As my team struggled to get the application to behave as required, they became concerned about their ability to complete and test in time for the event. My sponsor and team were at odds over the project schedule and became adamant that their respective interests be accommodated.

As project manager, I needed to address two contradicting positions. First, my team needed to feel that their concern about the deadline was taken seriously. An unheard attitude of “we’re not going to meet the deadline” can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I didn’t want us to subconsciously undermine efforts to succeed in order to prove that our predictions were right. My team needed to be confident that I was communicating the schedule risk appropriately.

Second, I wanted our sponsor to be confident that every effort was being made. If I simply informed them that we were projecting a schedule overrun, the sponsor would likely have implemented their own strategies to meet the date - completely understandable even if it was a long shot. I communicated status using a blend of progress (what we’ve done) with a qualitative assessment of its impact on schedule risk. Next, I laid out our forecast (what we’ll do), again with prediction of risk impact.

In the end, we didn’t launch at the scheduled event (you thought I was going to claim success?). In a way though, we were successful. The development team had flown to the client site, and both sponsor and team felt that all efforts had been made to meet the deadline. The sponsor was not caught by surprise because they had been kept up-to-date concerning risks all along. Eight hours before the event, the sponsor rescheduled the planned launch, perhaps not thrilled, but satisfied with the team’s commitment to the sponsor’s goal. Everyone ended up on the same page.

Moral: A project manager’s ability to advocate for both sponsor and team makes it possible for those with differing interests to work toward a common goal.