14 September 2007

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Quick Quiz

I know that project managers may spend up to 90 percent of their time in communication, but that seems like a lot. How do I spend that much time in a meaningful way?

A. It depends on your project management experience and that of your team.

B. Do extra reports, charts and graphs for your team to help them see exactly where the project stands.

C. It depends on the number of members on your team. A smaller team means you do less communication.

D. Surf the Internet.

Answer: A. It depends on your project management experience and that of your team.

Great communication can make or break a project, so to devote extensive time in this Knowledge Area is reasonable. The challenge is to be sure to use that time for activities that bring value to your project.

It is a frequent misconception that most time spent in communication should be focused on your team. In fact, too much communication can be perceived as over-supervision of project work, which can be detrimental and de-motivate your team.

Also, as your experience increases, you become more efficient so ordinary project management tasks take fewer hours. And as team members gain experience, they typically become more self-sufficient.

When both you are your team are working efficiently, you’re ready to move up the maturity scale and redirect those “extra” chunks of time previously needed for team communication. Here are some suggestions:

Free yourself for a more strategic project management role. Train a team member to perform some of your routine tasks or advocate for an automated software system.

Take time to find out the business strategy goals underlying this project. The success of this project may be more strategic than just delivery of a product or service.

Develop a system to capture lessons learned during the project. When you wait until the end, it’s easy to forget the problems, why they occurred and the reasons you solved them as you did.

If you meet with customers to document requirements and normally don’t see them again until the project is over, change this pattern. Show the customer partial developments along the way to avoid major scope changes late in the project.

Invest more time to work on interpersonal team issues that can sabotage even a team with exceptional skill sets.

Research new project management ideas that could streamline this and future projects.

Check the impact of your project on projects that may be planned by your company in the future. Your current project may be more strategic than you realize.

Look at the next step for your company to move up a level in project management maturity. Then champion some steps to head the organization in that direction.

Team communication is extremely important and should not be neglected. But these additional suggestions for how you might spend any “extra” communication time can help you spend it in a meaningful way.

Thanks to Barbee Davis, M.A., PHR, PMP, for contributing this Quick Quiz and answer. Ms. Davis is a reviewer for the global PMI Registered Education Provider Review Team. She owns Davis Consulting and is a published author, speaker, writer of training materials and an innovator in presentation skill workshops for corporate trainers. She holds a Black Belt in MS Project and teaches at the university level. Ms. Davis encourages your questions or comments.