Want to Be a More Effective Project Manager? Develop Your Communication Skills
Posted April 10th, 2015
Being an effective communicator is essential for being an effective manager. If information does not flow freely and clearly between you and your team, you can expect deadlines to run over, targets to fall short, and everyone you work with to feel frustrated. No matter what kind of projects you manage, you can use these tips to develop your communication skills.
- Establish Your Trustworthiness – When people trust you to lead them, they will listen more closely to what you’re saying and give your communication the attention it requires.
- Strive to Be Transparent – When people feel like they are not getting the full story, it makes it harder to trust the information they are getting. Unless information must be kept confidential, it’s always best to put everything out in the open.
- Provide Focus and Stability – When things don’t go as planned, your team looks to you to deliver the information they most need in a calm and collected manner. Don’t let the emotion of the moment compromise your ability to communicate effectively.
- Be Objective and Fair – When there are conflicts in the workplace, it’s the manager’s job to mediate them. Make sure that you bring all parties into the conversation, eliminate any bias, and always look for the objective solution.
- Stay Confident – When project managers rely on confidence rather than arrogance, they build trust with their team and rally support around shared objectives.
- Lead By Example – When a manager comes off as a hypocrite, it shatters his credibility. Be your own ideal employee and your team will follow suit.
- Maintain Energy and Motivation – When team energy is low it’s up to the project manager to elevate it, and be creative in doing so. Effective leaders know how to communicate in a way that motivates and inspires, raising the energy level using words alone.
- Stay Consistent but Flexible – When communications are all over the map or strictly rigid, they are either confusing or impractical. Try to be consistent in the things you say and the ways you say them, but acknowledge that different circumstances require different appraches.
- Commit to Accessibility – When a manager is inaccessible, the flow of information dries up. Makes sure your team can always get the answers they need whenever they need them.
- Achieve Clarity – When a communication is muddled and confusing, it does a disservice to both you and your team. Try always to condense complex concepts down to their simplest and most essential points.
- Show Respect – When you don’t feel respected by a communicator, it’s only natural to discount their information. Show respect to everyone on your team regardless of their age, position, or performance.
If your goal is to enhance your project management skills and secure a promotion, Bayside Solutions can help. Contact our team today.
