The Art of Effective Communication: Interpretations

This exercise proved to be quite interesting; the written message seemed to be extremely wordy and came across as timid. The message felt as if the writer was almost afraid of being a nuisance or pest. The voice-mail was an entirely different story; it started off with the same tone of timidity, but quickly became assertive and borderline demanding. The speaker’s voice emphasized the importance of the report data that was needed. The face-to-face video seemed to take a step backwards; it did not give off the same feeling of timidity as the written notice, but it did not seem as assertive as the voice-mail  The speaker’s body language and ending smile lacked assertiveness as well, making the request seem less important.

This exercise is attempting to illustrate the importance of communicating with your team members in the appropriate manner for the appropriate situation. When dealing with many different people that each have potentially different personalities (and work ethics). It is imperative that, as a project manager or instructional designer, you communicate both clearly and effectively so that your team can operate smoothly. It is especially important in a case such as this, in which a deadline is in danger of being missed; one cannot afford for a team member to misinterpret the level of urgency of the requested task. This could be the difference between success and failure. When I take on either of these rolls I will have to make a conscious effort to maintain a clear and concise line of communication with my team members, especially in relation to meeting deadlines on project deliverables.

Post Mortem Of A Failed Project

I took on a household project in 2008 that, in retrospect, should have been left to professionals. I decided to build my own custom home theater in the basement of my home in Atlanta. I had a rectangular shaped 30 x 14 foot room in which I wanted to build a three level platform in order to simulate stadium seating for watching movies and entertaining guests. I performed my “research” by looking through multiple home theater magazines and web sites. I was on vacation and planned to begin and complete the project in 13 days (the amount of time that I had left before returning to work).

Unfortunately the project was a complete and utter failure. If I had any knowledge of the project management process (or common sense) I would have been a lot more thorough during the planning phase of the project, make sure that my research was more thorough. If I had performed a feasibility study I would have realized several things:

·         I did not possess the  carpentry skills that were required to complete this project

·         I did not own some of the required tools needed to complete this project

·         I did not even attempt to set a budget for the project, thinking that whatever money that I spent would pay for itself in the end.

·         I did not research the design specifications for the type of platform that I was building

When I measured the area for the platforms I did not account for the crown molding at the base of the wall. I measured and cut three platforms, but had to re-cut each of the platforms to adjust for the molding. Additionally, I had to purchase a particular type of electric saw and a much higher grade of wood that I had previously anticipated, for durability purposes. When all was said and done, the upper platform collapsed under the weight of the seats because I did not build the proper support structure underneath. The project ended at that point because I could not justify the cost of starting the project over (to my wife, LOL).  If I had properly researched my project, looking at blueprints of other similar projects; setting an appropriate budget, which would have included determining the proper tool set and properly pricing the required wood. In short, my project required management.