Project Communication

from Start to Finish

Project Communication
from Start to Finish
The Dynamics of Organizational
Success

Geraldine E. Hynes
Project Communication from Start to Finish: The Dynamics of
­Organizational Success

Copyright © Business Expert Press, LLC, 2019.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other
except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior
permission of the publisher.

First published in 2019 by

Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-94999-154-3 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-94999-155-0 (e-book)

Business Expert Press Portfolio and Project Management Collection

Collection ISSN: 2156-8189 (print)

Collection ISSN: 2156-8200 (electronic)

Cover and interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd.,

Chennai, India

First edition: 2019

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America.

 Abstract
Skills in project management are critical in a broad range of businesses
and industries. A key knowledge area for project managers is commu-
nication. In fact, research shows that 90 percent of a project manag-
er’s time is spent communicating with various stakeholders. This book
offers techniques and strategies that enhance communication in diverse
environments. It offers innovative ways to bridge cultural gaps, increase
understanding, and ensure project success. Project managers will learn
how to build trust and rapport, manage conflict, listen, communicate
expectations, give performance feedback, and overcome communication
barriers. A look to the future includes best practices for using emerging
technology when communicating with distributed teams. The Project
Management Institute’s standards for ethical and professional conduct
are emphasized as they apply to managerial communication behaviors
throughout the project life cycle. This book’s concise format makes it a
readable, practical guide, and it can also be used as a reference for fixing
the most frequent communication breakdowns. Cases and examples are
presented to illustrate applications of the communication principles from
a project’s start to finish.

Keywords
project communication; managerial communication; interpersonal
­communication; project management; project leadership; project teams;
project success; diversity; cultural competence; trust
 Contents
Acknowledgments�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������ix

Chapter 1 Introduction to Project Communication��������������������������1

Chapter 2 Communication Cornerstones����������������������������������������21
Chapter 3 Formal Interpersonal Communication����������������������������51
Chapter 4 Informal Interpersonal Communication�������������������������79
Chapter 5 Project Success in a Global Context������������������������������103

Notes�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������133
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������137
About the Author��������������������������������������������������������������������������������143
Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������145
 Acknowledgments
I am grateful to my BEP team for making this book a reality. Sheri
Dean originated the idea and convinced me it would be a valued addi-
tion to the Project Management literature. Tim Kloppenborg and Scott
­Isenberg, both of whom are exemplary project managers, were instrumen-
tal in shaping the content and structure. Charlene Kronstedt oversaw the
­production with her customary patience and skill.
Some material in this book was drawn from Get Along, Get It Done,
Get Ahead: Interpersonal Communication in the Diverse Workplace, my first
book for BEP, with the publisher’s permission.
I salute Pam Zelbst, PhD, PMP, author, Professor of Supply Chain
Management and Director of the Center for Innovation & Technology at
Sam Houston State University, for generously sharing her time, wisdom,
and encouragement over the years, and for reviewing the manuscript.
Vic Sower, PhD, CQE, author, Quality Management Consultant at
Sower & Associates, LLC, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Man-
agement, Sam Houston State University, also took time to review the
manuscript. A true mentor, he cheered me on throughout the composing
process and provided thoughtful suggestions, particularly in Chapter 5.
I am also indebted to Mike Power, SHSU Online instructional
designer, who worked his magic on the book’s graphics, helping me create
clear and simple illustrations of key concepts.
Finally, I am most grateful to Jim Hynes because he is always at my
side and on my side.
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Project
Communication
Chapter Objectives
This chapter provides a rationale for the book and sets the stage for its
content. It begins by explaining that communication is a key knowledge
area for project managers and presents research findings that show the
correlation between communication effectiveness and project success as
well as organizational success. Next, the chapter introduces the Guide to
the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), the pre-
mier resource for project managers. The chapter highlights sections of the
Guide that focus on communication competencies for project managers.
In the third section of this chapter, project life cycles are described, as
well as the role of communication at each stage of the life cycle. Finally,
the chapter provides an overview of the conceptual model at the heart
of this book—“The Sequence for Success”—and shows how the model
embodies critical ideas about project communication that are found in
the PMBOK® Guide.

Communication as a Key Knowledge Area for

Project Managers
Communication competence is important for today’s project managers.
The importance is increasing, for several reasons. For one thing, organi-
zations are becoming more complex, and managers’ responsibilities are
growing. Overall, the role of the project manager has evolved over the
past 50 years from being the administrator of a project toward a much
more managerial and leadership position, fulfilling an organizational stra-
tegic need.
2 Project Communication from Start to Finish

A second influence on the importance of effective communication is

the competition inherent in a global environment, with accompanying
demands for speed, quality, and service. A third factor is the diversity of
the contemporary workplace, which often extends beyond geographical
boundaries. Fourth, advances in telecommunications have developed, add-
ing new expectations for managerial communication regarding speed and
accuracy. In short, project managers must have the ability to communicate
to a diverse group of stakeholders in a rapidly changing global context.

The importance of managerial communication is evolving.

Communication and Project Managers’ Success

The project manager’s role is one of the most challenging jobs in any
organization, because it requires a broad understanding of the various
areas that must be coordinated and requires strong interpersonal skills.
It is widely acknowledged that the final outcome of the project depends
mainly on the project manager.
To determine what capabilities and competencies are most important
for a project manager’s success, a content analysis was conducted of 762
job advertisements for project managers across a range of industries and
countries. The results are shown in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1  Recruiters’ top requirements for project managers

Competency Advertisement (%)
Communication 61.7
Technical skills 43.5
Stakeholder management 41.7
Cost management 37.4
Time management 32.7
Education 28.6
Planning 26.1
Leadership 24.4
Team building and management 22.6
Certification 20.5
 Introduction to Project Communication 3

As Table 1.1 shows, the top competency that recruiters sought was
communication (61.7 percent).1
Martha Buelt and Connie Plowman, prominent coaches and edu-
cators in project management, also identify communication as a key
strength for project managers. They describe this strength as:

You speak and write clearly. You place high value on human inter-
action, talking with—not to—people. You tell stories to enliven
your ideas, gain commitment, and maintain enthusiasm. You ask
good questions, listen well, and help others express their feelings.
You “think out loud” and encourage collaboration.2

Drilling down to specific behaviors, Buelt and Plowman define a

“strength” as the ability to do something consistently well. Communica-
tion is a strength for project managers if they communicate consistently
well what stakeholders need to know. Components of project managers’
communication competency are summarized in Table 1.2.
Jennifer Jones, director of the training firm AMA Enterprise, affirms
that communication competency is essential for managerial success:

Communication is actually an umbrella term for such core skills

as listening, thinking clearly, interpreting organizational concepts,
being alert to non-verbal signals as well as dealing with any stress
or emotional issues in working with co-workers or supervisors.
Indeed, understood correctly communications helps a person
understand a situation, resolve differences and build trust.3

Table 1.2  Project managers’ communication strengths

Building blocks Behavior
Skill Active listening
Talent Asks questions. Interested in others’ thoughts
Knowledge Knows that words matter
Experiences Talks with people, not at people
PM tools and techniques Effectively uses the project communication plan
PM core competencies Clearly communicates in oral and written formats
4 Project Communication from Start to Finish

Jones concludes that it is essential for project managers to encourage

collaboration because collaboration leads to better solutions, a productive
workplace, and achievement of business objectives.

Communication and Organizational Success

Effective communication not only improves project managers’ perfor-

mance, it improves organizational success. Towers Watson, a company
that provides management consulting services, conducted research on
651 organizations from a broad range of industries and regions over a
10-year period. They found that those companies that communicate
effectively are 350 percent more likely to significantly outperform their
industry peers than those companies that do not communicate effectively.
Other key findings focused on manager communication:

• Managers at the best companies are three times more likely to

communicate clearly to their employees the behaviors that are
expected of them, instead of being focused on cost.
• Managers at the best companies pay careful attention to
their employees in their change planning; they communi-
cate reasons for changes, provide training, and support the
employees, instead of using a top-down approach. Exten-
sive managerial communication improves the likelihood of
­successful change.
• Managers at the best companies are more than twice as likely
to use new social media technologies to facilitate collabora-
tion on work projects. Furthermore, they typically see better
employee productivity and financial performance.4

Here is even more compelling evidence of the importance of effec-

tive communication for organizational success. The Project Management
Institute (PMI) published an in-depth report, Pulse of the Profession: The
High Cost of Low Performance: The Essential Role of Communications. The
report was the result of research conducted among over 1,000 project
managers and executives involved in large capital projects (at least US
$250,000) worldwide. PMI’s study provides evidence that for every
 Introduction to Project Communication 5

US $1 billion spent on a project, a startling 56 percent is at risk due

to ineffective communication with stakeholders. Undoubtedly, effective
communication is the most crucial success factor in a complex and com-
petitive business climate.5

Organizations cannot afford to overlook communication because it is

a key element of project success and long-term profitability.

The PMBOK® Guide

The Project Management Institute, Inc., (PMI) is the premier associ-
ation for professionals who are involved with project teams. PMI is a
global nonprofit organization serving more than 2.9 million professionals
including over 540,000 members in 208 countries and territories around
the world. As of 2018 there are 300 chapters and 10,000 volunteers serv-
ing local members in over 80 countries.
One of PMI’s major functions is to create industry standards, such as
those in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®),
which has been recognized by the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI). The Sixth Edition of the PMBOK® Guide, published in 2017, is
the most recent. Other PMI services include research, education, publica-
tion, networking-opportunities in local chapters, hosting conferences and
training seminars, and providing accreditation in project management.

Knowledge Areas

The PMBOK® Guide identifies ten knowledge areas that are critical for
project management success (Section 1.2.4.5). They are:

1. Project integration management

2. Project scope management
3. Project schedule management
4. Project cost management
5. Project quality management
6. Project resource management
6 Project Communication from Start to Finish

7. Project communications management

8. Project risk management
9. Project procurement management
10. Project stakeholder management

Although these knowledge areas are interrelated, they are defined

separately from the project management perspective. In addition,
­
PMI recognizes that some projects may require other knowledge areas,
although these ten are the most frequently relevant to projects.

Communication as a Knowledge Area

The PMBOK® Guide describes how each knowledge area is applied at

each stage of the project life cycle. The seventh knowledge area in the
­preceding list, “Project Communications Management,” is seen to be
useful for planning, executing, monitoring and controlling processes
(Sections 10.1–10.3). Communication is defined as “the exchange of
information, intended or involuntary, between individuals and/or groups.
The information exchanged can be in the form of ideas, instructions, or
emotions” (Sections 10.1 and X4.7). The mechanisms by which informa-
tion is exchanged can be:

• Written or oral
• Formal or informal
• Verbal or nonverbal
• Through technological media or face to face
• Internal or external
• Vertical or horizontal
• Official or unofficial

PMI recognizes that project managers spend most of their time com-
municating with their team and other stakeholders. “Effective commu-
nication builds a bridge between diverse stakeholders who may have
different cultural and organizational backgrounds as well as different
­levels of expertise, perspectives, and interests.” Further, a project’s com-
munications are seen as supported by efforts to prevent misunderstanding
 Introduction to Project Communication 7

and miscommunication and by careful selection of the methods, messen-

gers, and messages developed from the planning process.6

Communication develops the relationships necessary for successful

project and program outcomes.

According to the PMBOK® Guide, the fundamental attributes of

effective communication activities are:

• Clarity on the purpose of the communication

• Understanding as much as possible about the receiver of the
communications and tailoring the message to them
• Monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of the
­communications

In short, all communication should be clear and concise (Sections 10,

X4.7). These attributes specified in the Guide are at the heart of commu-
nication theory and are undisputed.

Communication as a Leadership Skill

The PMBOK® Guide includes a section on leadership; the section iden-

tifies communication as a key skill and knowledge area for leaders who
guide, motivate, and direct a team and who help an organization achieve
its goals. The Guide lists 13 qualities and skills of a leader (Section 3.4.4.2).
More than half of these qualities and skills are communication-based.
They are:

1. Sharing the project’s vision with all stakeholders

2. Being collaborative
3. Managing relationships and conflict by:
a.  Building trust
b.  Satisfying concerns
c.  Seeking consensus
8 Project Communication from Start to Finish

d. Applying persuasion, negotiation, compromise, and conflict res-

olution skills
e.  Developing and nurturing networks
4. Communicating by:
a. Spending about 90 percent of their time on a project in
communicating
b.  Managing expectations
c.  Accepting feedback graciously
d.  Giving feedback constructively
e.  Asking and listening
5. Being respectful, courteous, friendly, and ethical
6. Being culturally sensitive
7. Giving credit to others where due

Project managers spend about 90 percent of their time communicating.

Communication Tools and Techniques

The PMBOK® Guide specifies a number of tools and techniques for

enhancing communication when managing a project. The tools and tech-
niques have application at various stages of a project’s life cycle. They
include oral and written, formal and informal methods and are summa-
rized in Table 1.3.7

Table 1.3  PMBOK Guide’s communication tools and techniques

Purpose Tool/technique
Data representation Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix

Communication Communication competence

Feedback
Nonverbal
Presentations
Interpersonal and team Active listening
skills Communication styles assessment
Conflict management
Cultural awareness
Meeting management
 Introduction to Project Communication 9

Networking
Observation/conversation
Political awareness
Ungrouped tools and Communication methods
techniques Communication models
Communication requirements analysis
Communication technology
Expert judgment
Meetings
Project management information system

As you review the PMBOK® Guide’s list of tools and techniques in

Table 1.3, you can see how well they map to the topics directly addressed
in this book. The techniques identified in the Guide that are also pre-
sented in this book are italicized in Table 1.3. It is safe to conclude that
the PMI, sponsor of the PMBOK® Guide, is in accord with scholarly
researchers and business professionals in that PMI recognizes similar skills
and competencies as being essential for inclusion in a project manag-
er’s communication tool kit. References to The PMBOK® Guide—Sixth
­Edition are found throughout this book.

The Role of Communication in a Project’s Life Cycle

According to the PMBOK® Guide, communications flow to project team
members and other stakeholders throughout the project life cycle. A proj-
ect life cycle is the series of phases that a project passes through from start
to finish; it is the basic framework for managing the project. The phases
may be sequential, iterative, or overlapping. Chapter 2 describes different
types of project life cycles and their management methods in more detail.
Communication is critical at every stage of a project’s life cycle. Effec-
tive communication ensures timely and appropriate planning, collection,
creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitor-
ing, and ultimate disposition of project information.8
If the previous paragraphs sound overwhelming and abstract, let’s
turn to Joseph Phillips, author of five books about project management,
for a concrete example that you might more easily relate to. In a recent
article he describes the following scenario:
10 Project Communication from Start to Finish

Your favorite project team member enters your office. He says, “Hi.
Got a real problem I could use some help with. I’m having a tough time
understanding the project requirements on this deliverable.” And you
hear, “Blah, blah, blah, problem, blah, blah, tough, blah.” It’s not that
you don’t mean to understand your team member, it’s just that you’re not
listening. You’ve got a bazillion things racing through your head; you’re
juggling seven different projects.
If only projects were as easy as, I communicated something to you
and you did what I asked. Sometimes you, the project manager, have to
do a lot of begging and pleading. You often know what needs to be done
and you need to transfer that knowledge to your project team members,
along with motivation, so they will go do it. And when you don’t know
what needs to be done, you expect your sub-project managers or team
members to figure out approaches and solutions, sort out the details, and
report the results back to you.
Phillips explains that communication is tough but easier when the
project manager plans to communicate. Communication planning comes
down to this key question: Who needs what information, when do they
need it, and in what modality?

Who

Not all stakeholders need the same information. For instance, functional
managers need to know information related to their employees on your
project, such as schedules and time accountability. The project sponsor
and key stakeholders need information on the project status, finances,
and any variances in cost and time.

When

Depending on the stakeholders, information needs vary between daily,

weekly, monthly, and “based on conditions in the project.” For example,
your project sponsor may ask for weekly status reports, but the project
champion may ask for status reports just once a month. The secret is
to schedule and, if possible, automate the communication demands as
much as possible. Using your project management information system
 Introduction to Project Communication 11

you can create macros, templates, even auto-generate reports on a regular

schedule.

How

The best practice is to give stakeholders the information they need in

the modality they’ll be expecting. Some prefer a quick e-mail. Others
require an extensive spreadsheet, report, and executive summaries. Some
communication is expected in quick, ad-hoc meetings, while other mes-
sages may be best transmitted as a formal presentation accompanied by a
PowerPoint slideshow.

The project manager must be at the center of communications.

Philips concludes that, to be effective, project managers must listen to

what’s coming at them, what’s being discussed among their project team,
and what they’re telling the stakeholders at every phase of the project life
cycle. “You, the project manager, must be at the center of communica-
tions; you have to be the communications hub.”9

Overview of the Sequence for Success Model

The conceptual model that is at the heart of this book is called the
Sequence for Success. It consists of five levels, each one building atop the
previous one, with the pinnacle representing productivity, project success,
and organizational success. The following section of this chapter explain
what’s involved at each of the five levels and why it is located where it is
in the model.

Level 1—Cornerstones

The Sequence for Success model has two cornerstones at its base level.
The first cornerstone is diversity appreciation; the workforce is becoming
increasingly diverse, and diversity is a competitive advantage for project
teams and their sponsoring organizations.
12 Project Communication from Start to Finish

Organizational
success
Productivity

Loyalty Commitment
Job satisfaction Trust

Work relationships

Interpersonal communication

Diversity appreciation Cultural competence

Figure 1.1  Cornerstones of the sequence for success model

The second cornerstone is cultural competence; differences in team

members’ cultural values, customs, and communication patterns require
project managers to be skillful in navigating among these differences.
Culturally competent project managers know how to develop positive
relationships with diverse team members that will positively impact
members’ loyalty, satisfaction, and productivity.
Let us now build on these cornerstones (Figure 1.1) to create a frame-
work for the rest of the book. After reading this chapter, you will see how
project managers who appreciate diversity and who have cultural compe-
tence are more likely to experience project success.

Levels 2 and 3—Interpersonal Communication and Work

Relationships

Getting along with peers, team members, bosses, sponsors, and other
stakeholders is mostly a matter of communication. To build strong
relationships with all these constituencies you must interact with them
 Introduction to Project Communication 13

Organizational
success
Productivity

Loyalty Commitment
Job satisfaction Trust

Work relationships

Interpersonal communication

Diversity appreciation Cultural competence

Figure 1.2  Communication and the sequence for success

regularly. As you will read, there can be no relationship if there is no com-

munication. Therefore, communication and work relationships are the
next building blocks for project success. We will set these building blocks
on top of the two cornerstones already in place (Figure 1.2).
Let’s think a little more about the impact of your interpersonal com-
munication. If you’re a project manager, your daily interactions with your
team typically centers on these ten topics, right?

1. Procedures
2. Guidance
3. Policies
4. Work conditions
5. Work problems
6. Solutions to work problems
7. Deadlines, goals
8. Corrective feedback
9. Positive feedback
10. Raises, promotions, and advancement
14 Project Communication from Start to Finish

You might want to add to this list of topics, depending on your own
unique project, but these are the top ten things that managers talk about
on the job. You already know that your communication style when inter-
acting with your team about these topics will significantly determine how
well they do their jobs. Their performance depends on the clarity, accu-
racy, and timeliness of your instructions, information, and feedback.
But did you know that your communication style will also determine
what they think about you as a team leader? An interesting study of 363
adults with an average of eight years of work experience focused on what
they considered to be a “good boss.” Contrary to what you might pre-
dict, the researchers found no evidence that the workers evaluated their
bosses according to how the bosses used their authority, control, or power.
Instead, the most important factor for judging their bosses to be good or
bad was the extent to which the bosses showed appreciation, respect, or
high regard for the workers. This factor is called “affiliation.” By the way,
sex did not seem to influence the workers’ ratings of the quality of their
leaders. Both male and female workers rated both male and female leaders
as “good” bosses if their communication was high on affiliation.10

Good project leaders show appreciation, respect, or high regard for

the workers.

Making an effort to develop relationships with your project team will

make your job easier. Ever wonder why your people don’t comply with
your demands/requests? After all, you are the leader. Here’s why: your
job title may give you authority, also known as position power, but if
you want to influence your team, you also need personal power. Personal
power derives from your credibility. The elements of managerial credibil-
ity are:

• Rank—position in the hierarchy

• Expertise—skill or knowledge
• Image—personal attractiveness
• Common ground—shared value
• Goodwill—personal relationships
 Introduction to Project Communication 15

It’s that last item on the bulleted list that we’re talking about here.
Goodwill is how you get your people to put up with poor working
­conditions, long hours, stressful deadlines, and ambiguity. Goodwill is a
product of personal relationships.

Position power = authority

Personal power = credibility

Level 4—Key Emotional Conditions

Let’s add another building block to our Sequence for Success model, one
that captures key emotional conditions caused by strong relationships.
“Wait. Why should I worry about emotions and relationships with my
team?” you may ask. “I have to work with these people, but I don’t have
to like them.” True. In fact, if you ever find team members that you like
well enough to become friends outside of work, that’s a bonus. More
often, however, the people we consider to be friends will disappear from
our lives when they (or we) leave the organization.
On the other hand, a strong case can be made for trying to develop
positive relationships with your team, so that certain emotional condi-
tions occur. Among these key emotions are loyalty, satisfaction, commit-
ment, and trust, represented by the new building block in Figure 1.3.
Notice that “liking” is not on this list of emotions. You can trust people
without liking them. You can also feel loyal, satisfied, and committed to a
project without liking the actual work.
Project commitment means that your people will:

• Identify with the project’s goals and values

• Want to belong to the project team
• Be willing to display effort on behalf of the project and team

Research consistently shows that low commitment leads to absentee-

ism, turnover, and unrest. On the other hand, high commitment leads to
trust, quality and quantity of communication, involvement, and produc-
tivity.11 So if you treat your team well, they will work harder to ensure the
success of the project.
16 Project Communication from Start to Finish

Organizational
success
Productivity

Loyalty Commitment
Job satisfaction Trust

Work relationships

Interpersonal communication

Diversity appreciation Cultural competence

Figure 1.3  Key emotional conditions and the sequence for success

Level 5—Productivity and Performance Success

Let’s finish building the Sequence for Success model by adding another
block that represents productivity and success. The connection between
job performance and key emotional conditions is well established.
­Figure  1.4 illustrates that when team members feel a sense of loyalty,
commitment, job satisfaction, and trust, their productivity improves and,
ultimately, the project and sponsoring organization will succeed.
Want more evidence for the truth of this Success model—that com-
munication and commitment ultimately lead to success? In 2013, the
PMI published results of their survey of 1,093 project managers, exec-
utives, and business owners who were involved in large capital projects
worldwide. The business leaders agreed that the most crucial success factor
in project management is effective communication to all stakeholders. Fur-
ther, the study showed that highly effective communicators are five times
more likely to be high performers than poor communicators, as measured
by whether they finished the project on time, within budget, and accord-
ing to the original goals.12
 Introduction to Project Communication 17

Organizational
success
Productivity

Loyalty Commitment
Job satisfaction Trust

Work relationships

Interpersonal communication

Diversity appreciation Cultural competence

Figure 1.4  The complete sequence for success model

If you’re still not convinced that project managers’ communication

leads to project success, here’s even more evidence. In a 2012 review of
263 research studies across 192 companies, Gallup found that companies
in the top quartile for “engaged” employees, compared with the bottom
quartile, had 22 percent higher profitability, 10 percent higher customer
ratings, 28 percent less theft, and 48 percent fewer safety incidents.13
Let’s step back for a minute so you can get the big picture and see
where you are now. We started with acknowledging that today’s workforce
is incredibly diverse and that project managers must be sensitive to the cul-
tural differences people bring to the team. Upon those two ­cornerstones
we built a model for success. The model illustrates that daily interpersonal
communication leads to stronger relationships. Those relationships cause
feelings of trust, loyalty, commitment, and job satisfaction. These import-
ant emotions motivate people to work harder and be more productive,
which ultimately leads to the project and sponsoring organization’s success.
The most important implication of our Sequence for Success model
is that project managers must facilitate open, honest, and frequent com-
munication. “What?” you may ask. “If everyone’s spending all their time
18 Project Communication from Start to Finish

talking, when are they going to get the job done?” While you may be
tempted to tell team members to quiet down and get to work, discour-
aging them from interacting with you or with each other will backfire.
Companies that realize their workers are more productive if they have
more social interaction are taking some simple steps to foster internal
communication. Here are four examples. Bank of America observed
that employees working in their call centers who had formed tight-knit
communications groups were more productive and less likely to quit. To
increase social communication, the bank introduced a shared 15-­minute
coffee break each day. Afterward, call-handling productivity increased
more than 10 percent, and turnover declined nearly 70 percent.
In a second case, a pharmaceutical company replaced coffee mak-
ers used by a few marketing workers with a larger cafe area. The result?
Increased sales and less turnover. A third example is a tech company. The
workers who sat at larger tables in the cafeteria, thus communicating more,
were found to be more productive than workers who sat at smaller tables.14
Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist, presents a fourth exam-
ple company that facilitates communication in his book, Give and Take:
A Revolutionary Approach to Success. Grant describes a large telecommuni-
cations firm in San Francisco. The professional engineers who worked at
the firm were asked to rate themselves and each other on how much time
they spent giving and receiving information from one another. The results
reinforce the connection between communication and productivity. The
engineers who gave the most help were the most productive and were
held in the highest respect by their peers. By giving often, engineers built
up more trust and attracted more cooperation from across their work
groups, not just from the people they helped.15
In his book, Grant also tells how a former CEO at Deloitte improved
his communication style. The executive, Jim Quigley, set a goal in meet-
ings to talk no more than 20 percent of the time. “One of my objectives
is listening. Many times you can have bigger impact if you know what to
ask, rather than knowing what to say,” Quigley explained. As he increased
his questions, Quigley found himself gaining a deeper understanding of
other people’s needs.16
As you can see from these examples, simple steps such as arranging the
work environment to facilitate communication and encouraging people
 Introduction to Project Communication 19

to interact informally pays big dividends. Talking, listening, and asking

questions are learning experiences. Enjoyable learning experiences. The
more you learn about your team and the more they learn about each
other, the easier it is for everyone to work together toward a common
goal. That’s the key to project management success.

Talking, listening, and asking questions are learning experiences.

Summary
The basic premise of this chapter is carried throughout the book. ­Simply
put, the premise is that communication is a key knowledge area for
­project managers from start to finish.
The PMBOK® Guide is identified as the primary resource for p ­ roject
managers. The organization of the Guide is explained, and the sections
about the importance of communication in a project’s life cycle are
highlighted.
This chapter also introduces a conceptual model that is the frame-
work for the book’s premise—the Sequence for Success. Beginning with a
description of the two cornerstones of diversity appreciation and cultural
competence, the chapter shows that project communication should be
frequent, open, and honest. Frequent, respectful interactions with team
members and other stakeholders (level 2 of the model) will result in stron-
ger work relationships (level 3). These relationships, in turn, will foster
the key emotional conditions of trust, loyalty, commitment, and job satis-
faction (level 4). People feeling these emotions are engaged in their work.
They are motivated to work cooperatively, which leads to productivity
and organizational success (level 5).

Questions
1. The PMBOK® Guide—Sixth Edition identifies ten key knowledge
areas for project managers. List all ten and give an example of a pro-
cess or activity the project manager must be able to perform, based
on that knowledge area.
20 Project Communication from Start to Finish

2. Explain how the PMBOK® Guide—Sixth Edition contributes to the

effort to secure recognition for project management as a profession.
3. This chapter proposes that effective communication is critical at
every phase of a project’s life cycle. Select one phase—initiating or
starting the project, planning or organizing and preparing, executing
or carrying out the work, and closing or ending the project—and give
an example of the communication behaviors that a project manager
will engage in during that phase.
4. The Sequence for Success model has five levels, according to this
chapter. Why do you think they appear in the sequence that they do?
In other words, what is the rationale for this hierarchy?
 Index
Accommodating strategy, 72, 76 Communication breakdown, cultural
Age diversity, 37–39 sources, 46–48
Agile project management, 24–27 Communication style
Avoidance strategy, 71–72, 76 culture and, 46
empathy and, 48
Block chain, 114 Compromise strategy, 72–73, 76
Conflict management, 69–76
Closed-ended question, 55 Conflict management strategies
Collaborate strategy, 73–75, 76 accommodating, 72, 76
Collectivism, 43–44 avoidance, 71–72, 76
Communication methods collaborate, 73–75, 76
agile project management, 24–27 compromise, 72–73, 76
waterfall project management, force, 73, 76
23–24 Context, 44–45
Communicating across cultures, Corrective feedback, 63–66
31–33, 118–119 Cultural competence, 12, 22
Communicating performance development of, 40–48
expectations Cultural competence barriers
formal training programs, 57–62 halo effect, 28
Tell-Show-Do formula, 56–57 opinion leaders, 29
Communicating with diverse workers, overcoming, 30–31
118 perceived similarities, 29–30
age diversity, 37–39 preconceived attitudes, 29
gender diversity, 39–40 recency effect, 28
Communication trigger words, 29
competence, 1 Cultural differences, 42
as knowledge area, 6–7 Culturally diverse workers, 69
as leadership skill, 7–8 Culturally sensitive communication,
organizational success, 4–5 118–119
and project managers’ success, Culturally sensitive project teams
2–4 Bennett’s model, 119–122
in project’s life cycle, 9–11, 22–23 culturally sensitive teams, 123–125
Sequence for Success model, 22, improvement plans, 122–123
80, 90, 110, 125–126 project manager’s responsibilities,
cornerstones, 11–12 125–126
interpersonal communication self-assessment tools, 118–119
and work relationships, types of diversity, 118–119
12–15 Culture
key emotional conditions, and communication style, 46
15–16 importance of, 41
productivity and performance
success, 16–19 DESC, 64–65
tools and techniques, 8–9 Directed question, 56
146 Index

Distributed teams conducting performance reviews,

best practices, 106–109 66–69
communicating with, 104–109 conflict management, 69–76
culturally diverse, 106 negative information and corrective
leading, 105 feedback, 63–66
Diversity appreciation positive performance feedback, 69
communicating with diverse receiving formal communications,
workers, 37–40 51–56
definition of, 11, 21
strategies for welcoming and Gender diversity, 39–40
supporting diversity, 36–37 Grapevine and emotional intelligence,
workplace diversity benefits, 34–36 86–87
Diversity awareness continuum,
119–120
Halo effect, 28
High-context culture, 44–45
Emotional intelligence
Hofstede’s dimensions, cultural
case example, 88–89
differences, 42
daily interactions with team, 87–89
definition of, 84
grapevine and, 86–87 Individualism, 43–44
highlights, 85–86 Informal interpersonal
Empathy, 48 communication
and amount of information, 96 emotional intelligence, 84–89
neutrality vs., 94–95 employee engagement, 89–94
throughout project’s life cycle, rapport building, 94–100
95–96 trust, 80–84
Employee support groups, 37
Engagement Low-context culture, 44
impact of, 90–91
organizational, 93–94 Masculinity, 44
overview of, 89–90 Media sensitivity, project managers,
team, 92–93 115
Ethical and professional conduct Mentorship programs, 37
codes of, 128 Monochronic culture, 45
cultural differences and ethics, 130
heightened emphasis on ethics, 127
project managers’ ethical behaviors, Neutrality, 94–95
129–130 Nonverbal communication, 96–98
Ethical issues, 127–130
technological communication, Open-ended question, 55
116–117 Opinion leaders, 29
External stakeholders and trust, Organizational engagement, 93–94
83–84
Perceived similarities, 29–30
Femininity, 44 Performance feedback, 63–69
Force strategy, 73, 76 Performance reviews, 66–69
Formal interpersonal communication PMBOK Guide, 23, 109
communicating performance communication as knowledge area,
expectations, 56–62 6–7
 Index 147

communication as leadership skill, Supportive communication attributes,

7–8 100
communication tools and
techniques, 8–9 Team engagement, 92–93
overview of, 5 Technological communication
Polychronic culture, 45 advantages of, 110–111
Power distance, 42–43 block chain, 114
Preconceived attitudes, 29 disadvantages of, 111–112
Probe, 55 ethical issues for, 116–117
Project commitment, 15 guidelines for channel choice,
Project’s life cycle, 9–11, 22–23 112–114
media sensitivity for project
Rapport building managers, 115
attributes of supportive overview of, 109–110
communication, 100 teleconferencing, 115
empathy, 94–96 Teleconferencing, 115
nonverbal communication, 96–98 Tell-Show-Do formula, 56–57
verbal communication, 98–99 Trigger words, 29
Receiving formal communications Trust
asking questions, 54–56 elements of, 82
listening, 51–54 establishing, 80–82
responding, 54 external stakeholders, 83–84
Recency effect, 28 trustworthy talk, 83
Rumors, 86
Uncertainty avoidance, 43
Sequence for Success model, 22, 80,
90, 110, 125–126
cornerstones, 11–12 Verbal communication, 98–99
interpersonal communication and
work relationships, 12–15 Waterfall project management,
key emotional conditions, 15–16 23–24
productivity and performance Workplace conflict, 70
success, 16–19 Workplace diversity benefits, 34–36