AtTask

I stumbled across Peter Taylor's book, The Lazy Project Manager, and would like to share some of his insights into successful project communication. Taylor suggests, and I agree, "Reporting is not about communicating." In my conversations with executives, very few have ever really wanted to get into the "nitty-gritty" of a detailed report—they want the Reader's Digest condensed version or the 20,000 foot view.

Allow Mr. Taylor and myself to make a couple of suggestions that will help communicate the important information in a manner that will be easily digested by stakeholders and members of the project team:

Separate Push and Pull Communications. Detailed reports are important and should be made available for people who require a deep dive into the data. This information should be someplace where it can be easily retrieved (pulled) and reviewed. Information sent (pushed) to stakeholders and team members should be the highlights and include anything that requires future action.
Separate History from Future. I was in a meeting with our CEO a few days ago and he suggested that reporting on what happened last week is only of value if it points to action that is going to take place this week. Although historical data is important, business leaders, project leaders, and team members need forward-looking information that focuses on future required actions.
Focus on the Needs of the Information Receivers. Everyone on the team doesn't need the same information. Executives and project teams have different needs. Don't waste stakeholder's time getting too granular about the details or neglect to give team members what they need to get their work done. When sharing information determine what information each team member needs to help them make the project successful—no more, no less.

This type of communication might not come naturally to everyone at first, but with a little focus, anyone can become a more efficient communicator. As we've talked before, these are the types of skills that the project management professional of the future will need to be successful.

Do you think managing project communication like this makes sense? What do you do within your organization to encourage effective communication?