I am thinking back to an email that a colleague of mine responded
to last year. I can't remember exactly
what the topic was, but it was addressed to all of the eighth grade teachers
and to our assistant principal. The
email was a response to an email conversation that had to do with some
discipline issues with students. One of
my colleagues responded very passionately to the email. Words were sent out in all caps, there were
countless exclamation points, and many bold and highlighted words. As I read, all I could think was "wow,
that is one mad eighth grade teacher".
As it would turn out, the email did not sit well at all with the assistant
principal. He was furious with this
teacher. He felt this email was
completely out of line and very unprofessional.
As it would turn out, the teacher didn't mean for the email to sound
angry, she just wanted to make some points about the topic. What this teacher did not take into
consideration was how this email would be perceived. For many an email with all caps and many exclamation
points means anger. This is not
effective communication. This was also a
pretty tough lesson for my colleague.
With as much technology as we have today, and as connected as we
are as a species, it is fascinating to think that we still can have a difficult
time communicating with one another. If
I have learned anything over the past couple of weeks about project management,
I would say I have learned this; project management is an art form that mixes
organization, vision, facilitating, management, leadership, responsibility and
communication (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, with Kramer,
2008). Maybe the most important of all
of these pieces is communication. A
project manager has been likened to the conductor of an orchestra (Stolovitch,
n.d.). I would describe communication as
the conductor's baton. The baton is a
tool that can greatly help the conductor because it helps clarify the
music. (Thompson, personal
communication, May 16, 2012). Communication
is the same type of tool for the project manager. Good communication helps create clarity in a
project.
For this week's blog post we were asked to interpret a message
delivered in three different modes.
These modes were the message as an email, a voice mail, and as a
face-to-face conversation. We were then
asked to synthesize our perceptions on the message in each mode. The message is being sent from one worker to
another, and the subject is a missing report.
The worker sending the message needs the report because they need data
in the missing report to finish their own report by a given deadline. Here are my initial thoughts on each mode
immediately after seeing or hearing each mode.
I decided to have a little fun with this part, and delivered my thoughts
in the modes presented to us in the blog assignment media presentation.
Email Response
The message seems pretty calm and straight forward. The author is saying they need something very
soon, and they are somewhat apologetic by saying they understand the recipient
is very busy etc. There is nothing in
the email other than the text that says this is important. In other words, no all caps exclamation
points, bold or flagged comments.
Voice Mail Response
Face-To-Face Response
In the end, a couple of things can be taken away from this week's
blog prompt. First, of the three types
of communication demonstrated this week, the one that seemed most effective to
me was the voicemail. The message was
professionally conveyed with a tone of seriousness and without the apologetic
nature that seemed to show itself in the face-to-face conversation. The second take away from this week is that
communication is as critical piece of the project process and cannot be
overlooked. One has to consider the
experiences and of each stakeholder, and communicate in ways that will are most
effective for the stakeholder. In other words,
it will be very important to get to know the stakeholders and communicate with
them in the manner they are most accustomed and comfortable (Burdovich, &
Achong, n.d.).
References
Burdovich, V. (Writer), & Achong, T. (Writer), (n.d.).Strategies for communicating with stakeholders[Web].
Available from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher?type=Course&id=_551248_1&url=
Portny, S., Mantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S., Sutton, M., & Kramer, B. (2008). Project management: planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NH: John Wiley & Sons.
Stolovitch, H. (Writer) (n.d.) Project management and instructional design [Web]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/framset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id-2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/excecute/launcher?type=Course&id_51248-1&url=
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ReplyDeleteGenise
DeleteI must say the way you brought across your response in this week’s blog post in the form of text, audio and video was very neat, impressive and creative. The observation you made about how the lady was apologetic in her request was a great point. Even though as project managers we want to be seen as respectful and friendly, we must also be professional and firm in our request. The choice of words must be examined and used carefully, otherwise the message is perceived in the wrong way.
Genise,
ReplyDeleteGreat idea using the different modalities to address this blogging assignment. I agree that Jane came across as apologetic, almost as if she didn't want to ask him about it, but there was no one else willing to do it for her. As you mentioned in your introduction, emails can be mutated dependent upon the tone with which the reader reads it. On a webpage designed to give examples of the best ways to use emails to communicate the following tips were given, "Ensure that the content of your message is clear, and not open to misinterpretation. And ensure that messages cannot be perceived as aggressive" (West Dunbartonshire Council, n.d., pg 1).
Jessica
West Dunbartonshire CounciLast. (n.d.). Using email to communicate effectively. Retrieved from http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/law-and-licensing/equality-and-diversity/communicating-effectively/e-mail/
Genise,
ReplyDeleteMany that are in education or are just plain not computer literate make the same mistake of inappropriately sending out e-mails with all caps and exclamation points. They do not understand how that appears to the reader and how e-mails can be incorrectly interpreted.
What I have settled into doing these days is writing as little as possible using very little detail and no adjectives (if possible). I am also polite using words like “please” and “thank you”. I also re-read what I have typed, not just to check for typos, misspelled words and proper grammar, but to see how I would interpret my message if I were the recipient and not the sender. Often times I end up re-wording things to take out unintended meanings and to be honest, sometimes to filter out my true feelings and keep the communication professional.
Portny et al. (2008) state that sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner is essential to a project. Perhaps the eighth grade teacher should have shared the information only with a choice few who could effect change versus the many she sent it to.
References
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project
management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
I agree the voicemail was the most effective way to communicate the information. I also agree that the reason is because of the way the message needed to be addressed. You said the face-to face scenario seemed apologetic. That is true and that wasn't the way the woman wanted it to be portrayed. If you seem too passive in a conversation, someone might not take your seriously. I still think she should have asked a direct question to get an immediate answer, instead of saying, "let me know". The choice of words might help the effectiveness of the communication better than the forum of which to deliver the information.
ReplyDelete