Preventing Project Failure

The Importance of Communication

Poor communications can be a project killer.  Frankly, all the documents you create, all the ways and means of project management theory boils down to two things; project discipline and communication.  Project Discipline provides the tools and methods needed to be able to communicate effectively. I see these as the two foundational underpinnings of project success.   They are the ying and yang of Project Management. Further, Project Management and communication is like Julia Childs and butter or Tiger Woods and a Golf Club or Babe Ruth and a Baseball bat…you get the idea.

The Problem with Communication  Google analytics is so brilliant – I’m able to see what people are looking for, the words they enter into the search engine, when they hit my site.  At least 50% are looking for communication barriers.

My Making Theory Usable series is about, well, making theory usable, which means that I find the theory and provide tips in what has worked for me out of the various theories.  So I thought it would be good to provide people with a list of ‘what to do if’ situations and briefly describe the theory and link to more detail about that theory, which I do below. Before that though, and the bottom line, ie the reason I believe bad communications are still successfully bringing down projects, project managers, organizations and careers are threefold:

1. Good Communication is Really Really Hard. Its hard to a) really say what you mean  b) say it in a way that doesn’t piss anybody off and c) really understand and hear what others are saying.

2. Good Communication Takes Practice. While the theory is out there and most people know it, without practice, you won’t know how to use it when the time comes. Good communication is more skill than knowledge.  As a skill you can learn it and improve it, but you have to practice it to be good at it.

3. Good Communication Feels Uncomfortable at First. Good communication won’t be easy at first.  Something about it will feel uncomfortable to you; whether its keeping quiet while you actively listen, pulling judgment out of your language, or speaking without accusation, at first, its going to be hard.

Because I have a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution and I’ve trained others in anger management and interpersonal communications, and conflict styles, I’ve had to practice the skills over and over again.  And it comes out when, for example, I find the common goal in the midst of conversations with my adversaries, or manage to restate problems even in the middle of arguments, without accusations.

Before we get to the wealth of resources available in communications, I’d like to present what I believe should be a PMs basic skills in communication – the bottom line skills. These are the personal skills you bring to the table that will help you no matter which of the theories and tools below you choose to employ.

1. Removing accusatory “YOU” from your vocabulary. Removing accusatory “You” from your vocab is when you describe your opinion to someone else without using the word ‘you’. The key here is the reaction people have to the word ‘you’. When used to indicate displeasure, as in “you failed to properly test this function”, the immediate response of most human beings is to protect themselves. The response will most likely be “No I didn’t.” So instead of “you failed to properly test this function” rephrase it to “this function wasn’t tested.” That way, the tester will get into the specifics, a fact finding mission to figure out if it was tested or not. What you won’t have with “this function wasn’t tested” is the heated argument with the tester about wheather or not they are doing their job, which is what “you failed to properly test this” implies.

More on You Messaging: http://www.crinfo.org/CK_Essays/ck_iu_messages.jsp

2. Active Listening. Active listening means to basically shut it and listen. When you don’t focus on your reaction to what people are saying and instead focus on listening to what they are saying, then you are actively listening. The point here is to stop your mind for a second, stop your opinion making for a second and really grasp what the other person is saying, even if you don’t agree. The best way to do this is to not say anything (I told you this was hard) while you listen. Active listening goes hand in hand with paraphrasing.

More on Active Listening:http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm

3. Paraphrasing. So, if you have been actively listening, in theory you should be able to perfectly restate what the other person has said. This is the ‘so what I hear you saying’ piece you’ve probably heard before. The point here though, is to be sincere with it. Don’t just throw, ‘so what I hear you saying’ in front of every sentence. Instead, force yourself to accurately restate the other’s opinion almost as if it was your own. Ok…so.. this is very difficult. But I have done this with my ex-husband, in relation to what he thought of me. That was…interesting. But, so VERY POWERFUL, to move communications forward.

More on Paraphrasing:http://www.directionservice.org/cadre/section4.cfm#Reflective Listening Skills

Communication Skills:
Basic Listening Skills – Clarifying & Paraphrasing

Communication and Barriers to Communication

Communication is defined as  “the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs” Wikipedia.  So when we say that there is a communication barrier, it doesn’t mean that communication is not happening.   Even in situations where people are actively arguing, communication is happening.  So that implies that when we are talking about ‘communication’ which by definition is quite broad, we are really referring to ‘good’ communication.

Good Communication is harder to define.  That’s because good communication is actually how people communicate, not communication itself.  Good Communication is a set of characteristics that include the following:

Clear Understanding of the other

Allowance and acceptance of different ways of understanding

Allowance and acceptance of different ways of communication

Lack of judgment

Consistency and Frequency

Note that Good Communication is not always the absence of conflict. Good Communication will surface existing conflicts but the people in conflict will communicate their difference based on the characteristics described above. In other words, conflict will always exist, difference of opinions will always exist. But it’s the method, the characteristics, the way in which you communicate to each other about the differences that, well…makes the difference.

I am a very direct person. Give me an elephant in the room and I will pick it up, throw it up in the air, juggle it and then insist that everyone deal with it. I have had legendary showdowns with my co technical lead and senior business analyst while the rest of the team members watch in either amusement or horror. We call it ‘fighting in front of the kids.’ But you know what? We always walk away with no harm, no foul because the bottom line is that we respect each other. We respect our differences, we appreciate each other’s domain knowledge, we aren’t afraid to admit being wrong because we don’t get attacked for it, and we relentlessly pursue truth. And this team of 20 developers and analysts are successfully managing 4 projects including an enterprise wide intranet rewrite, a sharepoint workflow app, and a .net web app. People are thriving, growing, learning and we are moving up the CMMI chain. I believe it’s all based on a solid framework of good, honest, deal-with-it communications.

So, what is a communication barrier? Well, a communication barrier is, quite simply, something that prevents good communication as defined above from happening. The barrier could be from a person, or an interaction between two people, or from interactions between groups of people, or physical impediments.

Scenarios and Links to Theory  I like to think of approaching communication barriers by thinking of my relationship to the barrier. This is because the tools I use will be shaped by where I sit in relationship to the communication barrier. Am I part of the group that is conflict, or am I outside the group that is in conflict? Or, and this is always great if you can recognize the benefit of newness, am I part of the group that is in conflict, but new to that group? These are the ‘what if’ scenarios I was referring to early.

Scenario 1 – Part of It: What If I’m facing a communication barrier and I belong to the one of the groups in conflict.  If you are part of a group that is causing the communication barrier, you face a loss of credibility from the opposing group. They probably won’t trust your good honest efforts..at first.  In this scenario you can use the following tools:

• • Stop Fighting – University of Colorado’s Seven Step Tutorial
  • Play the peacemaker – Follow Beyond Intractability’s Checklist for Adversaries
  • Provide Proof about how the cost of conflict using the Dana Calculator (free but requires sign up)
  • Issue/Dialogue Mapping
  • Separating the People from the Problem

Scenarios 2- New but Part of It: What if I’m facing a communication barrier and I belong to one of the groups in conflict, but I’m new to that group.  If you are part of a group that is causing the communication barrier, you face a loss of credibility from the opposing group. But you have an advantage. Because you have no history with the party your group is in conflict with, in the beginning, you can be peacemaker without as much lack of trust from the other party. In this scenario you can use the following tools:

• • Re-establish communications
  • Stop Fighting – University of Colorado’s Seven Step Tutorial
  • Play the peacemaker – Follow Beyond Intractability’s Checklist for Adversaries
  • Issue/Dialogue Mapping
  • Separating the People from the Problem
  • Use the Five Whys tool
  • Provide Proof about how the cost of conflict using the Dana Calculator (free but requires sign up)

Scenario 3 – Not Part of It: What if I’m not part of either group causing the communication barrier.  In this scenario, you are external to the conflict. The benefit is that there is no ill will towards you, the problem may be that you may have difficulty getting parties to the table. In this scenario you can use the following tools:

• • Mitigate for Stakeholder Communications Risk
  • Mediation
  • Issue/Dialogue Mapping
  • Separating the People from the Problem
  • Play the peacemaker – Follow Beyond Intractability’s Checklist for Intermediaries
  • Use the Five Whys tool

Final Thought  I’m only touching the surface of all the resources available to you on the web for free. The links I’ve given you link to other sites and suggest books, articles and videos. Bottom line – conflict, communication barriers and poor communications are a threat to every project. Don’t be afraid of it – rather, expect it and prepare yourself for it through practice practice practice.

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