Communicating Effectively

This week we focused on communication between project team members. The purpose of this exercise was to let us experience the same verbal message in three most commonly used ways: through email, voicemail, and face-to-face talking.We were taken through each modality, starting with the typed text (email), to pause after each one and to write down our perceived interpretation. This is the summary of my impressions and reflection on the differences and implications for the future use of each type of communication.

Email

Jane is nicely asking Mark to complete some report, to give her an ETA (estimated time of arrival?) or send it to her as soon as possible because she needs the information from it to complete her own report before the deadline. The matter is urgent, but Jane is considerate enough to offer Mark to email her just the row data she needs as a possible solution, because she understands that he might be too tired to do a lot of work immediately. The form of written communication is not usually used in extremely urgent cases, so this might give Mark an idea to take it easy for a short while (if the issue were really time-sensitive, people would call in addition to emailing, or ask in the text to give them a call ASAP). Jane could be Mark's boss.

Voicemail

Here, Jane sounds really stressed out and desperately in need of help. I don't think she is Mark's boss anymore.

Face-to-Face

This is the most immediate way of communicating. The woman is relaxed and friendly. She is most likely an equal co-worker, though, she could have some authority; perhaps, she is a project manager. The request is urgent, but looks like Mark might get some help. Because the face-to-face communication implies dialogue, it is easy to clear up any uncertainties, to voice concerns and requests, and to come to the best solution in the most efficient way and in shorter time (the opposite is possible, too – making things more complicated - but let’s hope people would try to avoid that).

All three ways of communicating should be used for different purposes, even though people can use these modalities differently, depending on their personalities and the ability to control their bodies, emotions, and words. Not to run the risks to get really confused, I’ll focus on the most obvious differences.

The benefit of written communication is in the time delay, i.e., in having a moment to compose yourself and the text in the best manner and for the clearest meaning. Also, the recipient has more time to understand the meaning by re-reading the message as many times as needed. The drawback is in the recipient’s inability to get immediate answers to his/her questions. Also, as I stated above, there is the possibility of the recipient missing the email, so one should choose this mode of communication for important but less urgent matters. Another benefit I could think of is the possibility to record important information.

The voicemail is the quickest if all in a sense that you don’t have to “compose” the text and don’t have to visit the recipient; at times, it also might be the rawest emotionally (second only to your immediate reactions to someone next to you) because the speaker’s voice gives out a lot of information about the person’s state of mind, while the time spent traveling for a visit can have a cooling effect. Like email, voice message is also a form of record-keeping. One thing to be aware of when leaving a voicemail is that it is also the least clear way of leaving information, especially when working with people of different nationalities: you might not understand their accent, and they might have a problem getting all the words if their English is not perfect. Another drawback is the lack of dialogue and the possibility to miss the message (like in the email communication).

Face-to-face contact is the most “unsafe” way of delivering a message, unless the participants take time to record, and even sign everything said. The good thing is that it allows clarifying the information without delay. We should be mindful of what we say, though: unprepared communicators run risks of making unfixable mistakes, for as we all know, once the word is out, it’s really difficult to take it back. That is why some people prefer written communication for its luxury to revise the message until no doubt is left about the meaning. The face-to-face modality should also be chosen when the purpose is to show another person visual cues in addition to the verbal ones.

The email modality is the most neutral and probably the safest, even though, the real Jane is hidden – we’ll never know whether she was annoyed, angry, or warm and caring. The email it good for the factual information but not - for showing the writer’s state of mind. The voicemail is probably the least desirable because the meaning might not be apparent and there is room for misinterpretation. The written words are often clearer than the recorded voice, for foreigners. The face-to-face is the best (unless you don’t want to show your emotions) for complicated matters because there is time for a clarifying dialogue.

Learning from a Project "Post-Mortem"

I’ve always felt the necessity for detailed planning in some of my life’s projects, but every time I began the process, it would become so lengthy, such a project in itself, that I would inevitably start cutting corners, getting inpatient, and turning my attention to something else – I would always end up quitting the whole planning stage. The amount of detail would always drive me insane. You can probably afford not planning carefully if you work by yourself, but once other people get involved, the plan has to be in place for others to see and understand your ideas.

One day I decided to try to build myself a bed – something simple and expandable, and that could also serve as storage (I had a tiny apartment back then and every inch counted). I came up with a design, determined what materials I would need and how much I could afford to spend on it. The problem was to build it. I knew the building process would have to happen inside my small apartment, and I did not want to live in a dusty, smelly place for too long. I had to do that quickly – in one day, but I wouldn’t be able to accomplish that by myself. My solution was to invite some friends for help and orchestrate the whole project as a fun, educational and purposeful activity. I was so excited that I actually planned the whole thing in detail – this was probably the best planning job I’ve ever done! Well, apparently, it was still not enough because the project turned out a failure.

Somehow, people were not motivated enough to work: some had to wait for me to give them something to do, some were bored with the assigned task (like measuring); some of them came late, and some had to leave early; people wanted to watch TV, show each other things on computer, eat, drink, and even sleep. Apart from a guy who wanted to improve my design by adding some complex elements requiring additional tools and materials, a couple of people were seriously building until someone made a mistake and cut too short one essential piece. From that point on, it became a mess: the “guilty” person, feeling terrible, insisted on fixing the piece, which brought additional problems, so eventually I put a stop to everything, and we all just had to forget about the project.

Looking back at it now, I still like the idea of inviting friends to help, but I can see several mistakes I made while implementing this idea. First of all, the plan was not detailed enough (I hate to admit that my efforts were not sufficient). I had to divide the project (and the space) into distinct areas and tasks, with certain number of people assigned to each one; then I needed to sequence the tasks while looking for those that can be done simultaneously. To solve the problem of people waiting for instructions, ideally, I needed to approach the project as an instructional design problem and design instructive materials (sort of like the IKEA assembly instructions, well, probably a bit wordier and less graphic to save time and energy), and provide each person with them.

Then I thought of several ideas to address the problem of motivation:

1. Choose people more carefully, perhaps, the less the better. I definitely had too many people over (about 8), and they did not have much to do because of my initial assumption that they would be unhappy if the job exhausted them.

2. Involve them from the beginning by first, letting them know of my prospective project; asking for advice or ideas; perhaps, finding out their areas of expertise; asking them to commit to certain responsibility, maybe even assign some roles.

3. I know, it might sound too much, but maybe rehearsing everything the night before by calling or emailing everyone and reminding them of the sequence of tasks and each one’s responsibility would be a wise thing to do. It all depends on how you do it, for if they are involved enough, they might actually have fun with the rehearsal, especially if everyone is committed to finishing the project in one day.

4. To avoid people being bored with doing one task (like only measuring or sawing), rotating people to give everyone a chance to try all tasks should be good.

5. It is unavoidable, I think, that someone at some point is going to make a mistake, so for people to feel comfortable, there should be extra pieces for each essential element of the construction (or good ideas on how to fix it).

Whew! That’s good that, out of necessity, I eventually came back to this project: after my first disastrous experience, I was avoiding thinking about it, though I knew that one day I would attempt it again. Apparently, this day is near!

Another Class—Another Adventure

I am taking the Project Management class now! That's always useful, and I hope I can apply the knowledge to my life in general. Welcome to my blog once again!