EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

KNOWING THE 7Cs

Presenter: Ivy M. A. Abu -PhD, PMP

PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2016

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INTRODUCTION

o What is communication?
The imparting or exchanging of information by
speaking, writing, or some other medium

o WHY COMMUNICATION?
Express feelings
Understand others
Prediction
Disseminate information
90% of PMs time (PMI)

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10

90

KEY FACTS:
Communication:
Spans entire project life cycle Most critical factor
WILL NEED TO CONSIDER:
Expected recipient -Stakeholders
Urgency of need for information
Availability of technology (DURATION)
Project environment i.e. Co-located or virtual team
NOTE

Nonverbal
Physical mannerisms( 55% of all communications)
Para lingual
Pitch and tone of voice
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2016

FORMAL
FORMAL
WRITTEN
WRITTEN

FORMAL
VERBAL

Based on the mode of presentation

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INFORMAL
WRITTEN

INFORMAL
VERBAL

HOW TO COMMUNICATE?
o Communication can be:
INTERACTIVE communication channel
PUSH
PULL

message

sender

receiver

decoder

encoder

Feedback
Based on the mode of access
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EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
A two way information sharing, involving one
party sending a message to be understood
by another.

PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2016

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Results of Ineffective communication

Source: PMIs 2013 Pulse of the Profession In-Depth report

PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2016

Effects:

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Source: PMIs 2013 Pulse of the Profession In-Depth report

PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2016

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
How to achieve?

o Planning
Knowing stakeholders &
Team members
Understanding project environment
Modes of communication
Tools or templates eg. RACI, fishbone, grid

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Achieving effective communication - 7 CS

o CLEAR
simplify ideas
avoid normalizations
action based
Avoid multiple negatives
eg:
v Teresa worked on a construction site last
summer, which may be her career choice.
Teresa worked on a construction site last
summer, construction management may be
her career choice.
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7 CS

o CONCISE
Vague words against powerful words
Not fewest, but strongest
Eg.
v You see, basically, our company Web
site has made available many of the things
you can use for making a decision on the
best product.

Our website presents a criteria for

determining the ideal product.
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7 CS

o COMPLETE
Call to action
Relevant information

Eg
v This is a reminder for the meeting in June.
vA gentle reminder for tomorrow's meeting
on the new communication policies.
The meeting will be at 10:00 a.m. in the
conference room.
Kindly indicate your availability.
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7 CS

o CORRECT
Error free
Proper use of Technical terms

Eg.
In reference to our conservation last
weak on systems analysis, we hear by,
officially invite you to complete
discussions.

PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2016

7 CS

o CORRECT
Error free
Proper use of Technical terms

Eg.
In reference to our conversation last
week on systems analysis, we hereby,
officially invite you complete discussions.

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7 CS

o CONCRETE
vivid facts
Keep message alive
Eg.
vThis software can helps managers perform
better.
This software helps managers to remotely
manage virtual team members with minimum
effort. It can be linked to ones mobile device,
thus always available for use, even out of
office.
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7 CS

o COURTEOUS
friendly, open, and honest.
Not abusive

Eg.
vI wanted to draw your attention to
your teams constant monopolization
of status meetings. It makes it difficult
for my teams to report on work done.
We also need time to do so.
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o COURTEOUS

7 CS

friendly, open, and honest.

Not abusive

Eg.
I must applaud you and your team for
the wonderful presentations during
status meetings. May I however,
request you do well to stick to your
30mins allocation to allow for other
team reports.
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7 CS

o COHERENT
Sticking together
Easy to understand
Eg.
vJust a quick feedback on your written
report. It was handed to Stanley to proof,
and he wanted to make sure you knew
about the department meeting we're
having this Friday. We'll be creating an
outline for the new employee handbook.
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7 CS

o COHERENT
Sticking together
Easy to understand
Eg.
Just a quick feedback on your written
report. Stanley is done with the proof
reading. Every detail is adequately
captured. Kudos.

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Conclusion

o Effective communication bridges gap

between:
Stakeholders
Culture & Organization
Perspective and Interests
RIGHT
TIME

RIGHT
FORMAT

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RIGHT
IMPACT

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THANK YOU
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