Don't call yourself a good project manager if you are not a master in communication. When I say communication here, it can comprise of verbal and non-verbal communication, both using words, in writing, or in any other means. This also include both push (e-mail, broadcast message) and pull communications (website, intranet).
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| Picture credit: Peggy_Marco |
1. Face-to-face communication is always better than written or indirect communication. With that in mind, I will always strive for face-to-face discussion whenever possible. This is particularly true in the effort to reach an agreement to a sensitive topic. One face-to-face is not possible, phone call is the second preferable mean of communication.
2. Meeting is always better than exchanging e-mails upon discussion a topic, especially when most of the participants are not in agreement. I often notice a long thread of e-mail discussions trying to reach an agreement, which end up people are pointing fingers to one another. In my experience, it is always best to have a 30-minute or 1-hour meeting with all relevant people being invited and reach a consensus. E-mail is used to formalize the discussion and document the points of agreement.
3. Keep e-mails short with key points are presented in bullet points whenever possible. Try to avoid lengthy e-mails with discussion points are presented in paragraphs or long sentences. Use bold and underline as appropriate to stress your key points, where the reader is expected to put their attention on, even if they skip everything else.
4. Avoid using large fonts and colorful text in e-mails, which can be perceived as offending the reader. In may cases, this style of writing is assumed irritating and can trigger unnecessary defensive action by the offended recipient.
I will try to cover the above points further separately in the future articles I will publish in this website.
Edwin
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