Executive Summary
This proposal assesses project management communication strategies’ effectiveness in light of digitalized and globalized economy. It discusses traditional approaches, including developing stakeholder briefing plans, communication charters, training schedules, regular meetings, and using available tools to communicate and collaborate. Also, the paper proposes new ways of developing effective communication strategies in project management. The proposal recognizes the need for project managers and organizations to shift attention to digital collaboration, personalized communication, and interactive communication to disseminate information to virtual teams effectively. However, new resource needs could be inevitable to implement such plans successfully.
Introduction
There is a need for project managers to assess the effectiveness of existing communication strategies and take corrective measures. Effective communication strategies are required to enhance project success because teams collaborate through communication. New dynamics in project management, such as digitization, globalization, and disruptions like those witnessed during the Covid-19 global pandemic, are changing how teams collaborate in projects. Consequently, project managers face new challenges and opportunities in managing teams. This proposal shall evaluate the existing project management communication strategies by assessing how effective traditional approaches have been in the era of digitization and globalization. Also, it will propose new strategies that are likely to increase operational excellence and stakeholder understanding for better project success rates.
Body
Typical Project Management Communication Strategies
According to Kloppenborg et al. (2018), project managers should involve different stakeholders in the project’s planning and execution. Developing an effective communication plan is vital to ensure individuals and teams working relationships are good and eventually achieve the project goals. Some common communication strategies in project management include developing stakeholder briefing plans, communication charters, training schedules, regular meetings, and using available tools to communicate and collaborate.
Developing Stakeholder Briefing Plans
The official communication office establishes a stakeholder briefing plan to update internal and external stakeholders on the project’s progress. It helps to manage expectations by informing participants of the steps taken to ensure the project schedule is on course. It reduces the risks of conflicts arising from unfounded project information and miscommunication. It increases project transparency. Briefs are held by staff, mainstream media, or virtual methods (Project Management Institute, 2017). Project managers also create stakeholder engagement plans and use tools such as a stakeholder engagement assessment matrix and building stakeholder relationships so that they can support the project fully (Kloppenborg et al., 2018)
Communication Charters
Projects have an official communication charter, so acceptable communication behaviors can be adhered to. It helps to instill professionalism and ethics in communication regarding a project or organization. The communication code, ethical communication channels, acceptable language, and how disputes are handled are all spelled out in the communication charter. Although it helps the organization manage relationships and regulate communication, it can sometimes make communication rigid and ineffective (Lewis, 2003).
Training
Training teams regularly keep them at a common point of understanding the progress and requirements of the project. Staff members can improve their performance when they get regular quality training that improves their project execution skills (Lussier & Achua, 2017). Assessing the training needs helps the project leaders to identify areas and lengths of pieces of training. Project managers can use various tools that support communication to train teams.
Meetings
The most common method of communicating project progress and requirements is holding meetings. Meetings help project managers communicate ideas and receive feedback from team members (Kloppenborg et al., 2018). For instance, meetings are convenient ways of communicating project plans and workflows. Primarily, physical meetings are common communication strategies used in project management. However, there is a shift in trend as project management adopt digital meeting approaches occasioned by globalization and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Using Available Tools
Project stakeholders can interact using tools and resources conveniently available, including online and offline methods. Each project has varying resource requirements and execution plans (Project Management Institute, 2017). Therefore, different tools could be suitable for different projects at different times. For example, teams in different locations could use virtual meeting methods such as zoom, skype, and other video-conferencing tools to hold meetings and training. They can also use emails and resource-sharing tools to collaborate. These tools help in resource and knowledge sharing among teams which can boost project performance and success. However, project managers must decide which tools can be used in line with the communication charter and budgetary allocations to acquire them.
Managing Projects During Globalization and Digitization Era.
Project managers are increasingly using new approaches to communicate and aggregate teams in line with the emerging work environments. Today, people are working remotely and are sharing knowledge virtually (Kloppenborg et al., 2018). Digitization has been fueled by disruptions such as the Covid-19 pandemic and globalization. Some projects are becoming more complex as they aim to tackle global challenges. Ideally, diverse teams are assembled from multiple locations and time zones with varying experience and expertise to execute a single project. Project communication strategies aiming to achieve better results should prioritize virtual collaboration tools, be interactive, and use a personalized approach to manage diverse teams.
Virtual Collaboration Tools
Project managers should deliberately invest more in tools that effectively connect people virtually. Those tools eliminate travel costs and support flexible working schedules for staff (Project Management Institute, 2017). They also support a large number of people attending meetings and training as opposed to physically meeting. Gain, the facilitate quick communication methods with references. Different teams can share knowledge and resources b using virtual tools. For example, teams could use engineering work code and get real-time progress reports, appraisals, feedback, and monitoring tools.
Interactive
Project communication plans should be more flexible to allow individuals and teams to interact freely (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009). Knowledge sharing and feedback can easily be transmitted in an interactive communication environment. An official communication charter could limit how people interact because it imposes rigidity on project communications. However, a general code of ethics should be maintained in communications guidelines to ensure respect and professionalism are maintained in all communications.
Personalized Approach
A personalized communication approach can reduce communication barriers stemming from individuals who view the world from a personal approach guided b experiences and social beliefs. The personal view is affected by differences in personality, age, culture, education, nationalities, and social status. A personalized communication approach can raise team morale and boost performance and relationships between stakeholders and teams (Lussier & Achua, 2017).
Conclusions and Recommendations
Organizations should align their communication strategies with the changing environment to improve communication with different stakeholders. Digital skills are vital in managing projects today as more projects become digitized and globalized. Rigid communication strategies could become more ineffective as people seek flexibility in working schedules and communication among teams and stakeholders. Project needs could change as organizations should also invest in information technology structures and tools.
References
Bradberry, T., & Greaves, J. (2009). Emotional Intelligence 2.0. TalentSmart.
Kloppenborg, T. J, Anantatmula, V. & Wells (2018). Contemporary Project Management (4th Ed.). South-Western Cengage Learning.
Lewis, James P. (2003). Project Leadership. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Lussier, R. N. & Achua, C. F. (2017). Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development (6th Ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) 6th Ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.
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