Effective Communication for Project Management

With the increasing complexity of projects, communication becomes a vital factor for the project’s success. Conveying information and managing stakeholder relationships is the core necessity for effective communication. In the contemporary world, project managers must work in a distribution team composed of various stakeholders, including those they have not worked with. Hence, strategic techniques in managing communication are vital in connecting the project team, project goals, and actions (Alvarenga et al., 2019). Notably, all the involved stakeholders should share and understand these components to eliminate the potential communication-related risks. Studies indicate 90% of CEOs consider communication as significant to their strategic initiative achievement, while 55% of managers admit effective communication with all stakeholders is necessary for project management success (Galli 2021). In the current project, effective communication is required to ensure the day-to-day operation continues uninterrupted and each involved department gets the correct and timely information. The communication strategy will be based on the Cognitive Affective Model of Organizational Communication (CAMOC)

The necessary effective communication strategy needs to address the senior management’s concern of interrupting daily operations since the customers depend on un-interruptive services. On the other hand, the other departments will require accessing correct and timely information. The primary need of the project is to ensure the project does not interrupt the customers’ operations and ensure the necessary department receives the correct and timely information in a suitable format. CAMOC strategy shifts the communication competency of a project manager to include a greater emphasis on the capacity to manage relationships (Alvarenga et al., 2019). The business undertaking has increased the need to execute projects across organizational boundaries. Tool and techniques to assist project managers in developing communication strategies are inadequate without adequate management of relationships (Zuo et al., 2018). The CAMOC strategy highlights the need for the project to meet its goal, manage relationships between various departments, and how specific medium and message attributes such as size, formality, and organization degree are suited to particular projects.

Before undertaking the office renovation project, there is a need to change. As the project manager, there is a need to create urgency. Developing a sense of urgency around the need to renovate will prepare the different departments for a change. More than 70% of the department managers will need to be convinced before implementing the project (Zuo et al., 2018). The project will commence with an honest and open dialogue, which includes the reasons for the need to change. The second step will be to create a powerful collaboration between competent individuals in the company and those outsourced. Teamwork is necessary, and all the involved workers will continue to build momentum and urgency around the project. As the CAMOC strategy indicates, I will ensure that everyone is committed to change and work on team building through relationship building. It is inadequate to communicate the project only in arranged meetings or only to the department leaders. Hence, the project will be communicated during workdays to ensure that the workers’ behaviors and actions correspond to the project’s needs (Galli 2021). The renovation is likely to cause discomfort, and some workforces may be reluctant to accept the changes. The project team will include construction experts who can adequately identify and address arising obstacles. Notably, the project will observe the collaborative culture and determine that renovation measures are adopted into the organization’s core.

The project must consider well-choreographed efforts between the facility, environmental health and safety, and construction management partners for the office renovation to succeed. Electrical infrastructures, computer systems, and other issues such as the renovation timeline will need to be examined. A series of cross-functional meetings with the internal stakeholder will be constantly held. Notably, employees and customers will need to conduct their operations without interference during the renovation. Temporary offices or workplaces in another part of the building will be utilized as the project continues. The project team will map out interim office assignments and address any office sharing that may need to do for successful daily operation during the renovation. Other than having employees’ meetings, temporal directional signage and post-visual representation of the project throughout the facility will be installed to ensure employees and the customers understand areas they should avoid due to construction (Zuo et al., 2018). Fire routes and temporary entrances or exits will be mapped out, and directional signals will be installed to minimize confusion.

Establishing and maintaining a robust communication chain will enhance each project stage. The process must follow the given procedures. First, a communication chain must ensure the communication strategy is effective and efficient. For instance, the architect has the mandate to communicate with the consultant and the general contractor. Contract documents, including specifications and information requests, will be vital in establishing renovation communication between the firm and the outsourced labor (Alvarenga et al., 2019). All the renovation leaders are responsible to the project manager, who must constantly inform all the department heads concerning the project’s progress. Besides, the project manager will communicate clearly, and concisely to ensure that each team member is aware of their roles within the project (Ludwig, 2018). Finally, choosing the right communication avenue ensures the strategy is effective and efficient. Items such as RFIs, change orders, daily reports need to be in the contract, temporal directional signage, visual representation present for employees and customers, and verbal communication by the manager to the various affected department heads. 

References

Ludwig, R. (2018). Meetings Critical to Construction Project Success and Best Practices: A Case Study.

Alvarenga, J. C., Branco, R. R., Guedes, A. L. A., Soares, C. A. P., & e Silva, W. D. S. (2019). The project manager’s core competencies to project success. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.

Zuo, Jian, et al. “Soft skills of construction project management professionals and project success factors: A structural equation model.” Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management (2018).

Galli, B. J. (2021). Effective Strategies for Communicating and Managing Communication in a Project Team: My Perspective. International Journal of Applied Industrial Engineering (IJAIE), 8(1), 1-11.