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.