University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 ENGM92 Communication Unit 4

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Communication Introduction –Communication must be effective –Communication must be responsible Think of those on the receiving end –Communication should not be ad-hoc –The key to International Communication is planning how, when and why

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Things That Can Go Wrong People misunderstand words and take offense People are not sensitive to dates in the same way People use the software tools in different ways in different cultures e.g. etc People lack cultural sensitivity

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Business Purpose Business purpose –To communicate and get results

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Political Purpose Political purpose –Communication builds either enemies or friends and allies –Making enemies may exact a high price for the project and the team –Communication even informal communication must be planned There are to many dangers and risks to leave to chance.

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Outcomes There can be various outcomes and end products of communication –Marketing and promoting the project concept –Marketing the project plan to management –Marketing the project to potential and actual team members –Getting issues resolves

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Outcomes cont. –Obtaining changes to budget, schedule or resource for the project –Communicating clearly the status of the project –Managing the work of the project

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Informal and Formal Communication Formal communication represents risk –e.g. scrutiny of a formal presentation which may raise unwanted questions Concentrate on informal communication –But informal casual communication still needs to be planned.

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Selling the project concept Pitch the sell at the audience –Head office would be different to a field location Concentrate on people who will make decisions and are tuned into the politics of a location

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Team Communication Three areas –Project Status – covered later –Discussing problems and opportunities –Just to see how people are doing But remember you will not be able to talk to everyone

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Manage Project Meetings Timing Location Subject of meeting –Issues –Lessons learned –Avoid gathering status information Take your own minutes

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Management Communications Informal communications are the key –You need to keep your key people on side. To do this –Keep them up to date on status –Zoom in on there contribution – this will make them feel good –If they have an issue try to help – but do not do there job, you just need to show that you care

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Project Status Never gather project status at a meeting. –People will not be open about what is really happening A better approach is to ask managers how their work is going –This should lead to problems that they have and hence true status of their part of the project Always gather status from critical tasks first

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Issue Communications Issues are a major part of international projects –Issues are often fuzzy and unclear at the start Communicating about issues over time and distance is difficult Increased clarity of an issues is need as soon as possible Decisions and action of issues must be communicated

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Written Reports Should be guidelines on report structures and requirements Make sure you see outline for reports –Then time is not wasted producing something that is not as required –Have sight of regular drafts as there maybe no time to redo and incorrect “final” report

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Signs of communication problem Some typical signs –Team members are quiet and do not participate –Team members never talk about the project in their breaks –Two team members working together on a task have very different views of that task

University of Sunderland ENGM92 Unit 4 Conclusion Communication is not easy Managers need to know how to communicate Communication is a major factor in any moderate size project and more so in international projects.