Communicating Effectively

We learned this week that effective communication among all project members and stakeholders is essential for a successful project. In a face to face communication, body language is used to communicate just as much as with words. Tone is another vital aspect of communication. The tone of the communication significantly influences the recipient’s interpretation of the message.

How did your interpretation of the message change from one modality to the next?

To be honest, my interpretation of the message did not change much from one modality to the next. I work in a virtual environment daily therefore my interpretation and opinions may be somewhat biased because I send and receive emails all day. The email message conveyed the meaning in much the same way as that face to face communication did. What did change as far as the messages as they were delivered in each of the different modalities is the way I felt about the message. The descriptions below convey my thoughts and feelings about the message as I listened to them.

Email: I thought this email was fine. Even though it seemed fine to me, I understand that this email may be perceived as pushy, although it is not likely the intent.

Voicemail: The communication in the voicemail was very pleasant. It made me feel sympathetic to the caller’s issue and want to assist her.

Face to Face: Again, like the voicemail the face to face communication was very pleasant. I felt her concern and if I were in Mark’s shoes, I would do my best to get the data to her as soon as possible.

What factors influenced how you perceived the message?

Although each of the messages were the same, the email seemed to be very blunt and to the point. Having that said, is there anything wrong with that? I think that it depends on the receiver. I will say however, that I was more drawn to the pleasant voice on the caller leaving the voicemail and the personal contact from the colleague that paid a face to face visit. They both seemed very sincere and I could tell that they really did not want to bother Mark. They just needed the data so that they could complete their work.

Which form of communication best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message?

I felt they all conveyed the true meaning, although the intent of the email message could easily have been misinterpreted based on the tone.

What are the implications of what you learned from this exercise for communicating effectively with members of a project team?

Teamwork is very vital in the workplace. To successfully work together as a team, effective communication is also key. Tone is an important part of effective communication. This is perhaps is why I felt so drawn to the voicemail and face to face messages. Dr. Stolovitch (Education, Inc. n.d.) discussed communication strategies and managing client expectations stating that project managers are diplomats. Communication is not just words – 93% of the communication is not in word, take body language for instance (Education, Inc. n.d.).

What did you learn that will help you communicate more effectively with others in the future?

As a virtual employee, I learned that I although I use email for most of my day to day communications, it may be beneficial for me to make phone calls to speak to colleagues more. Speaking to my colleagues directly may improve our communication. Effective communication minimizes potential misunderstandings in the messages that we are trying to convey.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (n.d.). Communicating with stakeholders [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu