A successful project is likely to be one that has communicated enough, at the right time and to the right people. Information has flowed between the parties involved and the project has moved forward in a favourable wind. If there are problems, bad communication can make the situation worse, and good communication can improve the conditions for the success of the project itself.
Text Satu Vikman
Photos Satu Vikman
Reaching thousands of recipients through the media. But managing media contacts requires specific skills.
The aim of communication is to support the objectives, timing, efficiency and quality of the project. The content, target groups, channels and objectives of communication should be defined. These are handled by a good communication plan. In a difficult situation, crisis communication is needed. Internal communication is a chapter of its own and a prerequisite for success in a hectic project world where rapid response is often required. However, for many project professionals, communication can be a tricky business and is fraught with misunderstandings and misconceptions.
Haven’t we already been told about this?
The number one rule of successful communication is repetition. Your core message must be repeated, often and preferably in different communication channels. Few things in any context are such that they immediately stick in the minds of the recipients and trigger the desired behaviour or action. It is more likely that your message will be lost in the information overload. Only if your message is really well targeted, timely and in the right place can your communication succeed once and for all. For example, an update on a water outage in a housing association. A drill-down message and email info reaches you and gets the message across.
If your issue is more complex, you can be almost certain that a media release or fact sheet from last summer’s seminar has not been widely received, even by your closest target audiences. The newer or stranger the issue, and the further removed it is from the recipient’s everyday life, the more repetition you can expect.
What on earth is this supposed to mean?
In the project world, there are professionals who communicate in their own professional terms. This reduces misunderstandings and ensures that we are talking about the same things, in the right terms. But when communicating to the outside world, to the ordinary citizen or neighbour, jargon should be forgotten. If the recipient doesn’t understand half of what you’re trying to say, the communication won’t work. You might even arouse irritation. This is particularly important to pay attention to in presentations. Make your presentation specifically for that audience. Are they in the same field as you? Can you expect your point to get across? The same applies to written communication. Avoid awkward sentence structures and passive voice. Say who is doing what, when and why.
Do we need all the different channels?
When you communicate like a pro, you have to pay attention to where the messages are going. Today’s communications environment offers almost endless possibilities for communication. There are clever websites where you can present large amounts of data in real time, send newsletters or WhatsApp messages, use social media or organise an info-conference.
Social media channels are also almost mandatory for project communication. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram, for example, are channels that almost everyone follows. When setting up an account, you need to make sure you have the resources and skills. A poorly managed social media channel that lacks interactivity and up-to-date content does not reflect well on the project’s capabilities. And no matter how much you want to be funny or even ironic, you need to be consistent with the genre. Your brand identity needs to be consistent from situation to situation and channel to channel. Sure, you can be different on Instagram than in a stock exchange release, because the recipient wears a different hat.
And let’s also remember the websites. If your latest news is from a couple of years ago and your customer references from the last decade, how do you describe what you do?
When information does not flow
For a project, a stalled or scarce flow of information is almost a sure death blow. How can you succeed if you don’t know what you are doing? In practice, internal project communication can cover all communication and interaction, including meeting practices, memos and their distribution, communication channels and their rules of the game, internal meetings and teleworking guidelines.
It is a good idea to have internal communication practices in place from the start of the project. With external communication constantly looking for new audiences and scanning the environment, internal communication rules are needed right from the start. You can always improve, but it is difficult to make major changes in the middle of a project.
As with everything we do, successful communication comes from being consistent, focused and planned. Add a dash of courage and openness and the ingredients for great communication are in place.
Author:
Satu Vikman is a communications consultant and entrepreneur based in Sumatra, Indonesia and Helsinki, Finland, with a special interest in project communications, water management, infrastructure and construction.
