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Communicating with Project Team Members

One of your most important jobs as a project manager is communicating with your
project team members. It is your responsibility to make sure all the team members
understand the project goals and objectives and how their contribution fits into the big
picture. Unfortunately, this is an area that is frequently overlooked in communications
planning.

Your interactions with your project team will involve both formal and informal
communications. Formal communications include project kickoff meetings, team
status meetings, written status reports, team-building sessions, or other planned
sessions that you hold with the team. Informal communications include phone calls
and emails to and from your team members, conversations in the hallway, and
impromptu meetings.

The challenge that project managers face is matching their communication style with
that of each team member. Getting input from your team members will help you better
communicate with them. If you are scheduling a kickoff meeting or other team-
building session, ask for suggestions on agenda items or areas that require team
discussion. Team members may have suggestions for the structure and frequency of
the team meetings or format for status reporting, based on their previous project
experience. The project manager may not be able to accommodate all suggestions, but

taking the time to consider input and reviewing the final format will go a long way
toward building a cohesive team.

How Much Is Too Much?

I once participated on a project where the project manager created distribution
lists for both email and paper documents and sent everything she received that
even remotely involved the project to everyone on both lists. She thought she was
doing an excellent job of communicating with the team, but the team was going
crazy. We were buried with data, and much of it was not relevant to our role on the

project. Most of the team members were so overwhelmed with information they
stopped reading everything. That, of course, led to the team missing information
they actually needed. The project manager did not understand why there was so
much confusion among the team members because she had not put any planning
into her communications process.

Everyone has a communications method they are most comfortable with. Some of your
team members may prefer email, while others prefer phone calls or face-to-face
meetings. Some may prefer to drop in on you and share a piece of information they

have or get an update from you. For these informal one-on-one types of
communications, try to accommodate what is most comfortable for each team member

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