Types of communication in project management play a vital role throughout the project in delivering project information and providing feedback among project stakeholders. So, in this article, we’ll discuss 9 types of communication in project management.
Table of Contents
Types of Communication in Project Management
Communication is crucial in project management because that plays a vital role throughout the project life cycle. Therefore, you should have good communication skills as a project manager to build effective collaboration among team members and stakeholders. A project may fail due to miscommunication and communication gaps. So, project managers should use appropriate communication methods to build effective communication to communicate with stakeholders (primary and secondary stakeholders). However, you’re responsible for delivering the right information to the right person.
Therefore, project managers should identify appropriate communication methods they need to use to communicate with the stakeholders. So, let’s explore types of communication in project management.
Meetings
Project meetings are a vital type of communication in project management. Every project manager uses this method to communicate with team members and stakeholders. Accordingly, they discuss the project’s progress, bottlenecks, and more information regarding the project by using the meetings. However, as a project manager, you can use face-to-face or online meetings that depend on your needs and requirements. Read More: 06 Types of Meetings in Project Management
Related Post: 08 reasons why team meetings are important for project collaboration
Gmail
Gmail is another vital type of communication in project management. Many project managers use this method to deliver information to the team members and stakeholders. Furthermore, you can attach project files, insert links, and insert photos as the features provided by Gmail. As well as, to deliver effective communication, you can use formatting options such as font, size, bold, italic, text color, and underline.
When managing a project, check your Gmail often to ensure that you read any project-related Gmail and ensure stay within the project progress. Furthermore, the following are the some benefits of using Gmail.
- To inform your team of impending meetings and deadlines
- To send individual Gmail to experts with whom you wish to communicate
Project Management Software
Project management software is a vital type of communication in project management. You can use project management software to communicate with your teams as a project manager. Project management software has many features. Therefore, you should select them according to the needs and requirements of your project. Read More: 5 tips for successfully introducing new tools to the project team.
Related post:
- 14 top most effective collaboration tools for project management
- 10 benefits of project management software
Surveys
Many project managers use surveys as a type of communication in project management. Furthermore, surveys are also an excellent method for anonymous communication. This means you may solicit feedback from your project teams without them feeling nervous about your response. Therefore, project managers can use surveys as input to get votes from their project teams on crucial issues or improvements.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a vital type of communication in project management and is considered a verbal communication type in PMBOK 7th edition. However, brainstorming is a powerful tool that helps improve team communication by fostering collaboration, feedback, and trust.
Witten Communication
Written communication is another type of communication in project management. As a project manager, you can use this communication to deliver project information to your stakeholders. Typically, written communication includes project documents, progress reports, business case, and brief notes. These are crucial because they help you deliver essential project information, such as project vision, mission, objectives, tasks, milestones, deadlines, etc., with your team members.
Social Media
Social media is another vital type of communication in project management. However, this is considered a written informal communication type in PMBOK (project management body of knowledge) 7th edition. Many project managers use social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, blogs, and more to deliver project information to external stakeholders, contractors, vendors, customers, etc.
Discussion Boards
The discussion board is a vital type of communication in project management because of interaction with seniors, team leads, and their members. Providing the opportunity to understand each other’s attitudes toward project activities, talents, and dedication helps exchange information and allows bonding among participating individuals. On the other hand, discussion boards help project managers with problem-solving, decision-making, and understanding the hidden skills of team members.
Presentations
Presentations are another vital type of communication in project management because they provide detailed insights to increase project performance effectively and efficiently. Using presentation as a communication method will help stakeholders come up with suggestions and questions that bring more clarity to ideas and options. However, you can conduct a presentation in a particular way, but that depends on your needs and requirements.
For example,
Consider speaking at project milestones to teach experts how to accomplish a certain activity or task. You may wish to deliver a presentation in person or by video call, or you may select to make a document format of your presentation for individuals to view.
Important💡 With all types of communication, provide useful information and feedback such as confirming the degree to which stakeholder(s) heard the message, determining if stakeholders agree with the message, and gaining and identifying other helpful insights.
Conclusion
Types of communication in project management play a vital role throughout the project and help stakeholders perform their roles and responsibilities effectively and efficiently. As discussed above, types of communication include meetings, Gmail, project management software, surveys, brainstorming, written communication, social media, discussion boards, and presentations.