Communicating Effectively

This week we were to view a multimedia program entitled The Art of Effective Communication (“the art of,"). The program presents a message that is given in three ways: by email, by voicemail, and face-to-face. Then we were to post our interpretation of each mode of communication.

Email- while reading the email I felt as if the sender was pressuring the receiver to send the information that she wanted as soon as possible. I also felt that the sender was being a littler sarcastic due to her referring to how busy the receiver has been lately. I perceived that the success or failure of her making her deadline is totally dependent on the receiver.

Voicemail- this was much better. The sender is speaker in an easy tone and normal rate. She doesn’t sound as if is having a meltdown. I can hear her sincerity in regards to bothering the receiver because he has been so busy. But, she is also letting the receiver know in a calm manner that she needs the report.

Face-to-face- this mode of communication is the best of the three. The sender is being tactful and professional communication her needs to the receiver. The receiver is able to see the sender and interact. The receiver is able to pick up on the sender’s body language and facial expression. If I were the receiver I would get the report to her immediately.

I am wary of communicating important information via email. You just don’t know how the person on the other end is going to perceive it. At least with a voicemail the receiver can get a sense of how the sender is feeling regarding the subject. Professor Stolovitch (n.d.) indicated that effective communication is influenced by:

·         Spirit and attitude

·         Tonality and body language

·         Timing

·         The personality of the recipient

As noted in our resources this week, when communicating with a project team it is best to talk to them face-to-face. That way nothing can be taken out of context and there is a clear understanding of what is needed.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Project management and instructional design. [Video Podcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4067415_1%26url%3D

The art of effective communication [Web]. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

 

 

Learning From a Project “Post Mortem”

For this week’s assignment we were to recall and post a project, either personal or professional, that did not work out successfully. I chose to discuss a personal project: my paternal family reunion. Every year we have a family reunion in the summer. At the first meeting everything appears to go well. The venue is picked out, the date is set, and the menu is made. But the closer it got to the reunion date, things seem to unravel. Most of the people waited until the last minute to pay their dues, some people didn’t like the colors of the t-shirts, some people didn’t agree with the food, and some of the relatives just were negative during the whole process.

I feel that the project could have been organized better from the beginning. It seemed that everyone was trying to tell everyone else how to handle their assigned responsibilities. I think that if the members of the reunion planning committee had used the RASCI model, the process would have went a lot smoother.

Benefits of using RASCI (Kosmala, 2009):

·         Determines ownership of a particular project or task

·         Promotes teamwork by clarifying roles and responsibilities

·         Improves communication by getting the right groups involved

·         Increases efficiency by eliminating duplication of effort

·         Reduces misunderstanding between and across employees and key stakeholder groups

·         Improves decision-making by ensuring the correct people are involved

·         Provides the foundation for future alignment around a given project or initiative

 

Hopefully next year’s reunion will be more organized.

References

Komala,M. (2009). The canoe group: Project management: 6 steps to creating a successful rasci chart. Retrieved from http://www.thecanoegroup.com/470/project-management-6-steps-to-creating-a-successful-rasci-chart/