The Art of Communication

We completed an exercise for our project management course in which  the same exact message was communicated in three different ways:  email, voicemail, and face-to-face.  When analyzing my interpretation of each of the modalities, I concluded the following:

Email:  I thought the email was a little harsh.  If the person hadn’t written “I really appreciate your help” at the bottom, I think it may have been taken in a negative way.  I’ve actually had this experience in which someone thought I was upset with them because of an email.  It wasn’t true!  I didn’t realize how harsh the email sounded until I re-read it.  A very good lesson.

Voicemail:  I thought the voicemail was better than the email because the tone of the person’s voice was pleasant and not angry.  It certainly was a very good communication method.

Face-to-face:  This one was just as good as the voicemail.  There really is no replacement for seeing someone’s facial expressions when they are communicating with you.  This person actually smiled at the very end.

When making a decision about which modality to use, I think it really depends on what you are trying to communicate.  I found this great video on youtube that gives ideas on when to use an email verse calling or talking to someone face-to-face.  There is an advertisement at the beginning of it (sorry)!   http://www.videojug.com/interview/to-e-mail-or-not-to-e-mail-2

Laureate Education (n.d.) The Art of Effective Communication.  Retrieved September 20, 2012 from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html.

Learning from a Project “ Post-mortem”

 

I had the opportunity to be the training lead on a large-scale internal project that meant implementing (and training) and new customer relationship management software company-wide.  Fortunately, the project was a huge success.  The only thing that I really wish would have been different was the issues I had with the software when I was trying to train it, as it was still being developed/fixed.  Because of the short timeline, I was literally teaching and developing materials before the environment was ready.  This caused a lot of frustration, as we encountered multiple errors when working in the software.  It gave a poor impression of the quality of the software, and often left me unable to complete the desired tasks.  If I could “wave a magic wand” and change something about the project management of the project, it would be to make sure these two critical areas did not overlap.  I would request a go-live ready environment prior to giving any training.  It was very difficult to plan and get on everyone’s schedule, so I understand why/how it happened.   A lot of the trainees travel, thus getting a block of time on their calendar was a challenge.  I had to plan months in advance.  If any challenges came along the way (which there were multiple ones), this caused issues with scheduling.  I rescheduled 120 employees at one time; doing it again was not an option, so we just proceeded with the errors.  Somehow, someway, we worked through the issues and had tremendous success with the implementation of the new software.

A Course in Project Management!

My journey in instructional design continues with a course in project management.  As an instructional designer for a software company, project management is a big part of my role.  I also have the pleasure of working with several very talented project managers within my company.  I am hoping to gain more knowledge in this field that can help me be a more effective and efficient project manager in my occupation.