If you’ve ever been involved with managing a project you know it’s fraught with difficulties.  People don’t seem to do what you want them to do and deadlines are all too often missed.  And to make matters worse, you often have to deal with the constant changes being made by not only the client, but management and others involved with the project as well.

Even after dealing with all that you may still experience project failure. That’s because while it meets all the technical requirements as originally laid out it’s deemed a failure because it didn’t produce the level of success that senior management were expecting.  Given all the places a project can go off the rails it’s no wonder that 80% of projects are reported to fail.

However what I discovered when I looked into what leads to project success or failure is that there’s one factor that seems to always pop up, either as the reason given for success or identified as the cause of failure!  Which means that you can excel as a project manager and receive credit for a job well done if you can address this one top, most commonly reported reason given for project success or failure.  My own experience, both as a participant ‘in the trenches’ and as a coach to those currently there, verifies this and is further supported by the literature on project success or failure. Fortunately for you if you’re a project manager (or team leader, as this works with teams as well) in the majority of cases you can all but eliminate the chances of project failure simply by enhancing your communication skills.

Given that the number one success factor is repeatedly identified as communications and poor communications is almost always the critical factor in project failure, it is obvious that in to-days fast paced environment to excel as a project manager you need more than just subject matter expertise, you need a high level of communications skills so that you can be effective not only with people in your area of expertise, but with all of the people you come in contact with during the project.

Your ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of audiences is important because you have to be able to clarify exactly what each requires and needs for the project to be a success, manage their expectations for those needs and requirements, gain the support of others to move each step of the project forward and finally, ensure that everybody is ‘kept in the loop’ and on-board right to the very end.

Here are 6 simple strategies you can use to enhance your communication skills to achieve improved performance from everyone involved:

✔    Know and understand your own communication behavioural style.  You’ll find it much easier to always communicate with confidence and ease when you understand and are comfortable with your own style.  For instance, do you move and talk fast and quickly initiate things, or are you more cautious, take time before you speak and slower to take action?  And when managing a project, do you focus on tasks and details, or are your conversations more about people and building trusting relationships?  A better understanding of your own style will help you see where friction might arise between someone with a style different from yours as well as provide you with clues as to how to minimize any potential fallout from dealing with people who differ from you.

✔    Learn how to identify other people’s style and practice flexibility.  When you understand your own style and why you act and react the way you do you’ll find it easier to identify how others differ from you. This will provide you with the clues you need to begin to flex your approach to align more closely with their style.  This doesn’t mean that you have to change who you are, just be more flexible in how you interact with others.  By doing so you build trust and find that others will respond more favourably to your initiatives.

✔    Understand how your values shape your response to others.  Quite frequently when you find someone difficult to get along with it’s because they are different from you and see the world differently.  This is why you need to pay attention to your emotional response to others.  If someone ‘pushes your hot buttons’ during a meeting it is quite likely because something they said or proposed infringes on a value you hold dearly.  It is not unusual to see a meeting break down or friction develop between two people who don’t see eye to eye on a point.  I’ve experienced this when I was in business development and I can guarantee that no amount of arguing about a process will solve the problem when there is a fundamental difference in what each person values or in how they define a value.

✔    Watch for ‘hot button’ responses.  Learn how to identify when an emotional response is a clear indication that someone’s deeply held value has been violated.  Then take the time to ask questions to gain an understanding of what has upset them.  Once you understand what has caused the friction you can clarify your position and then work to find a solution that works for both of you.  Even if that is not possible, at least they will understand why you chose the course of action that you did.

✔    Always establish clarity for all aspects of the project.  Whether you are talking with the client to develop the project requirements, thrashing out time lines for work completion or updating senior management on progress, you need to be sure everyone is on the same page.  Understanding what is important to them and what they value, as well as how they like to see information presented, will help you tailor your presentations and discussions in a way that facilitates greater clarity.

✔    Manage expectations.  Because every one sees things differently people may have taken something away from a discussion that wasn’t intended.  Clarity around discussion points is always the first step in managing expectations however it is an ongoing part of the project manager’s role to make sure unrealistic expectations don’t crop up at some point later on.  Failure to identify and handle such expectations, whether realistic or not, can result in the project being classed as a failure for not accomplishing something that was in fact never part of the project.

Improving your communication skills should become an ongoing part of your career development track if you want to move beyond just surviving to thriving and gaining recognition as a project manager that not only gets things done, but one who people want to work with.  These 6 strategies are a good start, however I’ve found that improving communication skills is a life-time journey.

©2012 Karen Switzer-Howse All rights reserved

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