Communicating Effectively

Multimedia Program: "The Art of Effective Communication"

Having listened/read the distinctive communication in each modality (linked above) I feel that all of them seemed respectful and direct. However, on a very small level I feel that the voicemail was forgettable. I felt that it was something that I could possibly get ignored. On the face-to-face approach I felt that it might be a bit abrasive and maybe unusual. I preferred the email communication overall. I may be accustomed to receiving emails primarily and can prioritize any requests that I receive in that format much better. All in all I feel that the message was well composed and therefore suitable for all modalities. Each message was different in terms of how personable it was. Clearly the face-to face interaction was most personable but I do not feel that it improved the quality or importance of the message.  The general message of this resource is to underline the importance of communication. I learned fairly quickly that clear and concise communication is a difficult thing to accomplish and it can be very frustrating when you are on a project with someone who seems to disregard the importance of communicating well. I have learned that being direct, fast and respectful is the best way to communicate when working as part of a team.

Learning from a Project “Post-mortem”

I worked on a project for several months that was extremely disorganized on the client side. There were many issues that came up through the duration of the project but one issue that would continuously affect the project negatively was missed deadlines. This is a huge issue and will no doubt negatively affect the project from top to bottom. There is no good way to measure appropriate development of deliverables if you have an ever changing goal. This leads to instability in every aspect of the project and can hugely affect the mood of the staff involved. I do feel that there could have been something done in order to re-focus the project. If the project manager had spoken directly, honestly and respectfully to the client about how very destructive this behavior was it would not have been repeated so often. Bringing this to their attention would have opened up the lines of communication and allowed them to see how negative of an affect this was on the overall success of the project.