The Art of Effective Communication
This
week’s blog assignment was very interesting, and confirmed my beliefs on
communicating crucial messages effectively. The assignment entailed viewing the
same message through different modalities: email, voicemail, and a face-to-face
conversation, (Laurette Education, n.d.). The communication was occurring
between two team members, one of whom needed a report from the other team
member to meet a deadline within the project.
Email: My first
reaction when reading the email was that I sensed a tone of frustration. While
there weren’t any words in all caps, or use of exclamation points (indicative
of yelling), there was not a genuine sense of compassion felt in the email.
While the giver the of message did mention that they knew how busy the receiver
was in their meeting that day, there wasn’t any offer of support or
encouragement. If I was the individual receiving this email, and I did not have
the report readily available, it would be easy for me to ignore or forget about
the email for several more days until I had it complete. Something even more important about email is
that if the receiver of the message has been very busy, they are most likely
inundated with emails from many different departments, and are less likely to
even get to your email in a timely manner. If you were to use email with
stakeholders, a request for response would be necessary within the message, so
that you know when the message was received, and if a response is not given,
then you can try other forms of communication, (Stolovich, n.d.).
Voicemail: My
first reaction to the voicemail was that I sensed a tone of frustration, and
not a true sense of compassion for how busy the receiver of the message has
been. Again, if I received this voicemail, and did not have the report readily
available, it would be easy to put off getting the report to the giver of the
message in a timely manner. However, if I were to receive a voicemail, the
message would be heard as more crucial than if it were sent via email. To me,
if a person leaves a voicemail this usually means that they have already tried
communicating with me via email, and now they are trying voicemail, and maybe I
should start listening to their needs a little more carefully.
Face-to-face: When receiving the face-to-face message,
the giver was smiling, and seemed open to a conversation, rather than a
one-sided demand. While the words were still the same, the individual’s body
language helped me to feel more comfortable, and less like I was in trouble for
the delayed report. As stated by Dr. Stolovich (n.d.), 93% of communication
occurs within the tone, body language, timing, and frequency of the
message. When dealing with this specific
message, and its crucial nature, I would recommend a face-to-face message, so
that the giver knows that the receiver has heard the message, and that action
can be taken quickly.
When working with stakeholders, the project manager needs to
identify which forms of communication are preferred within the organization.
Also, project managers need to identify the importance of the message, and use
the appropriate form of communication. When giving oral communication, you
should always send a follow-up email to the stakeholder stating what was
discussed, so that you have a trail of documentation, (Achong, n.d.). As stated
by Budrovich (n.d.), communicating effectively throughout a project is a true
art.
Resources
Achong, T. & Budrovich, V. (n.d.). Practitioner
voices: strategies for working with stakeholders. Retrieved on July 7th,
2012 from: https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1340289_1%26url%3D
Laurette Education, Inc. (n.d.). The art of effective
communication. Retrieved on July 8th, 2012 from: http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html
Stolovich, (n.d.). Communicating with stakeholders. Retrieved on July 7th, 2012 from: https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1340289_1%26url%3D
Hello Chelsey, I found your interpretation really interesting, and I am reminded that people do interpret written and voice communication differently. I did not sense frustration in Jane's delivery at all. As a matter of fact, "I" was the one that was frustrated because I felt she was rambling. One of the most important parts of effective communication is …the communication part (“5 tips for,” 2012). I was frustrated before I got to the end of the email and voice mail because I felt like she was almost apologizing before she asked Mark for what she needed.
ReplyDelete5 tips for effective communciation [Web log message]. (2012, April 6). Retrieved from http://www.canvascreekteambuilding.com/1/post/2012/04/5-tips-for-effective-communication.html
Like you, I also liked the face to face meeting to convey the importance of the message, although e-mails are used everyday as an effective form of communication. In our high school e-mail is the primary form of communication so everyone is very careful to try and use words that express what we intend to say without offending anyone. The e-mail sounded urgent, but I agree that it so easy for the recipient to ignore it and not respond. I guess it would depend upon the culture of the company if this was the primary method of communication and everyone used it effectively.
ReplyDeleteJan
Hey Chelsey,
ReplyDeleteI get myself into trouble so many times sending email to my co-workers. My sarcasm just doesn't seem to come across in an e-mail. This often leads to hurt feelings and people having confusion from my requests. I have had many follow up meetings where I had to explain myself. I've had to learn to control myself and keep the emails simple. I try to use face to face as much as possible now. There seems to be less confusion and in the end saves me a ton of time. Have you ever had a case where someone misunderstood you?
Miles