Datasheet

Key Project Management Skills
13
to ask. Ask your team members. Ask your stakeholders. Ask questions such as these: Do you
know the goal of this project? Are there any problems I should be aware of? Don’t assume
anything. Institute an open-door policy and stand behind it (the policy, that is). You’ll be
surprised what people will tell you when they see your leadership qualities and you have
gained your trust and respect.
Project management processes are important, but people are even more
important. Members of high-performing teams have a high level of respect
and trust for their leader and for each other. Strong leadership skills along
with clear communication will go a long way toward building that trust.
Leadership involves many aspects and it’s beyond the scope of this book to go into
everything leadership entails. Mastering the skills listed previously and remembering to
actively engage your team members and stakeholders will help your project progress along
the successful path.
Communicating Successfully
A very close second to leadership skills is communication skills. Actually, we don’t know how
you can be a leader without being a good communicator. It’s possible to communicate without
being a leader—we’ve all got our war stories about bosses like that—but being a leader with-
out being an effective communicator isn’t really possible. So let’s examine some of the key
skills needed for effective communication in the project management arena.
Senders
Communication at its basic level is an exchange of information. Notice the word exchange
in that definition. Communication requires a sender, a transmission of the message, and a
receiver. Yes, the project manager can speak and no one may listen, but according to our
definition, that isn’t communication. We won’t go into the mechanics of the communication
model, but keep in mind that information that is distributed but isn’t read or acknowledged by
the receiver hasn’t accomplished anything. If, for example, you know before opening an email
that you’re likely to get sucked into a 20-minute reading marathon to try to find the point, you
may not read it. At best, you’ll skim through it and may miss the point. So how can project man-
agers avoid some common communication blunders? We’re glad you asked. Here are a few tips
on making your communication as effective as possible when you are the sender:

Write clear and concise documents and stay on topic.

Create communication that’s appropriate for the audience. Executives like bullet points—
use them.

Rehearse important topics or meetings beforehand. Ask someone to critique your
rehearsal if needed.
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