What happens when project communications go wrong?
- Different people get different messages, resulting in doubt, concern, confusion and rework
- Costs are not automatically included in the budget
- Stakeholder needs, risks, benefits and costs not fully appreciated
Potential barriers to project communication
- Too much jargon/technical language altering the receiver's perception of what is being said
- Environment not fit for purpose
- Lack of empathy for receiver’s attitude/personal state
- Selective listening
- Time zones/geography
- Culture/language
- Distractions/other priorities
What to do when communications go wrong: dealing with conflict
- Avoiding- don’t want to get involved with the situation
- Accommodating- go along with what is being proposed without challenge, which can lead to wrong ideas being developed
- Competing- try to get their own way
- Collaborating- ideal situation
- Compromising- will sacrifice some of what they want to get a deal
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| Thomas-Kilmann model (1992) |
- Negotiation is a process for reaching agreement, where conflict may occur
- It can be formal, informal, competitive (e.g. haggling), collaborative (the ideal, as both parties get more than could be achieved alone)
- Process- understand the need for negotiation---planning (understand the other side’s position and know who has the power to make the decision)---discussion---proposal and agreement---review (is the agreement being acted on?, lessons learnt)
Glossary
- APM = Association for Project Management
- Negotiation = a process for reaching agreement, where conflict may occur
References
- Association for Project Management (2014), APM Project Management Qualification Study Guide, Association for Project Management, Buckinghamshire.
- Thomas and Kilmann (1992), Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, Tuxedo, New York.
