Improving Project Management Communication Dr Bill Brantley PMP

Improving Project Management Communication Dr. Bill Brantley, PMP University of Maryland, Project Management Center for Excellence

Project Manager, Scrum Master, Data Scientist, Trainer, Professor, and Human Resources Professional Certified Project Management Professional since 2003 Certified Scrum. Master https: //www. linkedin. com/in/billbrantley Taught Project Management to undergraduates, MBA students, and working professionals for over a decade Day Job – Training Administrator at the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Global Intellectual Property Academy (State and Federal Government Employee for over a decade) Adjunct Faculty for over 15 years at U. of Maryland, U. of Louisville, Jones International U. , and George Mason U. https: //www. linkedin. com/in/billbrantley

Communication

Communication is not just another box Communication

Research In terms of project success, communication has been strongly linked with project outcomes. Project team effectiveness and project performance depend on the degree and quality of communication between managers from different functional departments when cross-functional cooperation is required. Communication of project objectives and effective information are strongly related to project team performance. In addition, the aspects of communication (such as open discussion of diverse perspectives and participative communication processes) are positively associated with customer ratings of project performance. Enhancing clear communication channel and flow is one critical factor influencing project success and outcomes.

Undefined PM Communication . . . Six slides in and we still haven’t defined “project management communication? ”. . .

A Tale of Two Models The Transmission Model

A Tale of Two Models The Emergent Model

Reviewed 272 peer-reviewed journal articles • Project Management Journal • International Journal of Project Management • International Journal of Managing Projects in Business • General Business Management Journals • Communication Journals

Three Categories Category 0: No or little relevance to the literature review because the articles mention communication once or twice at most. Category 1: The research study references the transmission communication model but does not offer new research directly related to the transmission communication model. Category 2: The research directly applies a research technique, method, or perspective to expand on the utility of the transmission communication model in project management communication. Category 3: The research introduced a novel project management communication model or critical perspective on project management communication not based on the functional communication model. These articles fit into the emergent communication model.

Statistical Trends

Example of the PMC Evolution Culture: From Noise to Understanding • Loosemoore and Lee (2002) – “Since culture is the foundation of communication, it can represent a major source of ‘noise’ which can interrupt or distort the meanings intended in a message. ” • Stahl, Makela, Zander, and Maznevski (2010) – “cultural diversity had no direct effect on communication effectiveness” • Bohm (2013) – “Creating a deeper understanding and interest for cross-cultural issues may further improve the effectiveness of project management practices. Ignoring differences in teams and organizations may inhibit information systems’ implementations in global settings and increase the risk of project failure. ”

Is My Message UNDERSTOOD?

Mapping Understanding Why How How Why Why Project How

Practical Tips for Improving Project Management Communication Design Thinking

Two Quick Design Thinking Tools Concept Poster What is the Concept? Rose, Bud, Thorn Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 3 Feature N Stakeholders Stakeholder 1 Stakeholder 2 Stakeholder 3 Stakeholder N

Summary Project Management Communication is Vital to Project Success Project Management Communication is Evolving from the Transmission Model to the Emergent Model It is Not Just Utterances and Information; It is Utterances, Information, and Understanding Build a Toolkit of Understanding Methods