Communication as the most essential element of project management

Discuss about the Importance of Communication in Maintaining Quality and Timely Delivery of Project Activities.

Scholars have speculated that communication might be the most essential element in project management. In fact, Russell-Simons et al (2016) and Gillard (2017) strongly support the idea that communication, together with other cornerstone areas in project management, plays a major role in ensuring that there is a trade-off between project stakeholders and that the project is achieved to the best quality. 

Developed by Phoenicians in 3500 BC, the term communication traces its origin from a Latin word ‘communicare’ meaning to make something common (Connolly & Reinicke 2017). Thus, according to the author, the term communication emerged from the idea that communication creates a common understanding. The author adds that communication mainly entails a transmission of meaning between people in either non-verbal or verbal ways. According to Lui (2016), the single most important element of a successful and quality project is communication and how it occurs among project managers. Hence, from this argument, all the success and failures of any project depends on the nature of communication that occurs before, during and after the project, meaning that the success of a project finds its roots in effective communication.

Project Communication as a Process

Vanickova (2017), Shakar et al (2017) and Berube & Gauthier (2017) write that communication entails the process of gathering, interpreting, and disseminating any form of information, to anyone who might need such information. Therefore, in the context of project management, communication emerges as the most important element and influencer of quality output because project management is all about exchanging information (Varajao 2018).

Scholars (Bakshi 2017; Bengtson et al 2018; and Geng et al 2018) give high regard to communication in project management so much so that it has been branded the ‘lifeblood’ of projects. This is because, in every project, the project managers have to collaborate, collate, integrate and share knowledge and information to achieve project objectives (Kostalova et al 2017). Thus, understanding the communication process is an imperative affair to both scholars and project managers.

Basically, communication has three main components namely the sender/transmitter, medium/channel, and a receiver. In this model, according to Gadekar (2017), Laursen (2018) and Kachoka & Hokins (2017), verbal or non-verbal information flows from the sender who encodes the message to be passed through the channel/medium to the receiver. Ideally, for communication to be effective, all the components of the process must be effective and fully functioning, otherwise, the information will be distorted. The sender must be able to speak or encode and deliver the message, while and the receiver must be effective in listening or receiving the information (Sato 2016).

Project Communication as a Process

Scholars have done much study on the role of feedback in project communication. For example, Crayon et al (2017) aver that when feedback is delayed, absent or not forthcoming, project managers must intervene to rectify the situation. This is because the objectives and scope of any project rely on gaining effective feedback from team members, and therefore the project may fail is there is no feedback. Williams (2017) also argues that the process of any kind of project requires constant proposition of ideas so that the methodologies and scope of the project can be explained to all stakeholders.  Therefore, when there is no feedback, it may be impossible to propose, sell, or resell the project ideas.

While the project communication process has widely been given attention by scholars, Gillard (2017) notice a paucity of research targeted at project communication planning. According to Shakar et al (2017), understanding project communication planning is essential to every project manager because it is only through the understanding that effective communication can be established. In this regard, Vanickova (2017) writes that proper project communication planning requires two basic elements namely: the communication needs of the project and the relevant communication techniques that can be used to meet those needs. The author states further that the main project communication needs across all kinds of projects include passing information to the stakeholders in a timely manner and facilitating effective planning through timely delivery of reports. Hence, when project communication is tailored to these needs, the project objective is highly likely to be achieved in a quality manner.  However, a major question that arises from this body of literature is that what is the process of achieving effective project communication plan? Who should be involved in project communication plan? This study will delve into these issues to identify the role of various stakeholders in project communication planning and how it can be successfully achieved. 

Russell-Simons et al (2016) and Gillard (2017) agree that for a project to be successfully achieved, stakeholders and project managers must agree on an effective project communication plan, especially in complex projects. However, as argued by Vanickova (2017), this plan may be largely ineffective if there is no detailed definition of the project lines of communication.

Determining the lines of communication and information management methods is a fundamental practice at the beginning of every project. On that note, Russell-Simons et al (2016), Gillard (2017) and Shakar et al (2017) propose two most effective lines of communication: informal communication and formal communication.

Feedback in Project Communication

Formal communication occurs in three main directions namely: downward communication, upward communication, and horizontal communication (Connolly & Reinicke 2017). According to Russell-Simons et al (2016), downward communication is where information flows from top to the bottom levels of the project management team. The main purpose of downward communication is to pass information about policies, goals, and strategies to subordinates (Lui 2016).  Upward communication involves the supply of information to the upper levels of the project management team in a bid to disseminate information about what is happening at the subordinate levels, while horizontal communication entails the exchange of information between persons of the same hierarchical ranks for coordination purposes (Berube & Gauthier 2017). Noteworthy, a project may also involve diagonal communication which is the exchange information between persons of different levels of the project team; as well as external communication which is the passing of information to people who are not part of the project team (Connolly & Reinicke 2017).

On the other hand, projects also largely involve informal communication usually through rumours, grapevine, phatic communication and social groups (Shakar et al 2017). Gillard (2017) also argue that informal communication may consist of true or false information and may emanate from anyone, towards any direction. Grapevine normally means to communicate information that is relevant to the team members’ needs, while phatic communication entails the use of words to deliver information about how one feels and rather than meaning (Lui 2016). All in all, it is important to note that informal communication often emerges without any influence from the project managers although they may largely influence the manager’s effectiveness.

From a sheer organizational project point of view, communication is regarded as a core competency that enables project managers to connect with every other member of the project team to communicate actions, goals, and strategies (Connolly & Reinicke 2017). According to the author, delivering quality projects becomes almost impossible when these components (goals, strategies, and objectives) are not communicated because otherwise, the project would result in unnecessary risks and jeopardized budgets.

Studies by Russell-Simons et al (2016) indicate that meeting project timeline, goals and budgets are essential to an organization’s survival. As organizations the urgent need to enhance project success emerges, the face other complex problems such as the need to embrace innovation, expansion of global priorities and financial constraints (Lui 2016). However, as the author argues further, tackling these problems becomes a lot easier in the presence of effective communication. 

Project Communication Planning

Research by Towers Watson, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Forbes indicate that most organizations are aware of the importance of communication in delivering quality and successful projects (Shakar et al 2017). However, according to Vanickova (2017), what still remains unclear how much of the impact effective communication has on project quality and outcome. Little research also exists on the impact of project communication on the timely delivery of projects (Connolly & Reinicke 2017). Nonetheless, in an attempt to evaluate the essential role played by communication on project success, various scholars deliver interesting insights that are worth noting.

For instance, according to Gillard (2017), for every amount of money spent on projects, several other amounts are at risk of wastage. Research by Varajao (2018) reveals that 56% of project finances are at risk of waste in the absence of effective communication. However, despite these speculated risk, research revealed that many organizations are currently still not making enough efforts to effectively communicate important project information especially the information regarding strategic initiatives and their importance within all levels of the project organization (Lui 2016). Yet, as Vanickova (2017) argues, it is impossible to execute project plans if managers are not able to effectively communicate.

Bakshi (2017), Gillard (2017) and Russell-Simons et al (2016) indicate that effective communication promotes quality projects by allowing project stakeholders to be high performers (performance defined by delivery of projects on budget, on time and with achieved project goals). For instance, Bakshi (2017) found that projects managed through effective communication are 14 times less exposed to losing project finances, through waste, than those managed in poor communication. Nonetheless, Gillard (2017) claim that project managers have to communicate effectively regarding time, costs, quality and scope as the main elements of successful projects. Time has a huge influence on cost, while cost also needs to be communicated to clients or project sponsors, stakeholders, and functionaries. It means that for projects to be completed on time there must be an effective communication of costs and other essential elements to relevant project stakeholders. According to Vanickova (2017), this relationship means that communication is the foundation upon which all elements of the project (finance, human resource, risks, environment, and compliance) rest, so much so thus without communication, projects cannot be delivered to the required quality and within the required time. The following figure illustrates the speculated relationship between communication and project quality and timely completion:

Formal and Informal Communication in Projects

Research by Geng et al (2018) found that most project managers recognize the fact that poor communication contributes to poor project results. According to the study, 9 out of 10 project managers opine that effective communication before, during and after the project is critical to the success of projects. Nonetheless, according to Gillard (2017), they also know that factors such as inappropriate understanding of the importance of communication among project team members and improper language used to deliver project related information as some of the major barriers to effective information in projects. In an attempt to eliminate these barriers, project managers have always used workshops and consultations as a key strategy.

During the project duration, there is a need for information generation and sharing among all stakeholders and proponents of the projects, an activity which is mostly done by the project managers (Connolly & Reinicke 2017). However, according to Gillard (2017), stakeholders can also independently generate information and share them with other project proponents through various communication channels. More importantly, in community-based projects, sharing of such information helps in understanding the objectives, rationale and the expected outcomes which promotes the introduction of new interventions.

Yet, all these initiatives can only be facilitated through the training, workshops and consultation sessions (Lui 2016). For example, according to the author, agricultural extension projects can easily be coordinated if both the project managers and the involved group are able to hold frequent workshops and consultations for effective guidance on the various agricultural practices that promote crop productivity. Russell-Simons et al (2016) also claim that workshops delivered through various media have proven to be effective in gaining support from external stakeholders to facilitate timely project completion because, through those workshops, project managers are able to rally support from the public and private sector organizations. Vanickova (2017) cites an example of an agricultural extension project in the Philippines where managers developed a communication plan to attract contributions from the government and participation from the public by generating high-level public interest. According to the author, the plan was effective in creating partnerships, collaboration, and consultation between external and internal stakeholders and led to a quality and timely achievement of the project objectives.

Hence, the use of oral, written and electronic communication during projects emerge as an essential ingredient to successful projects. Equally, communication strategies such as workshops and consultations play a big role in facilitating successful project communication. However, what are the impacts of effective communication on project quality and timely completion? This study aims to explore some of the possible answers to these questions.

The Core Competency of Communication in Projects

The study, therefore, aims to identify the importance of communication in quality and timely delivery of project activities.

Research Objectives

1. To explore the effectiveness of communication in identifying quality delivery of projects
2. To explore the effectiveness of timely delivery of projects

Research Strategy

The study will take the systematic literature review methodology. According to Smith (2010), systematic literature review refers to the collection of data from previous research studies on the current area being studied. Therefore, there will be a collection of data from peer-reviewed journal articles retrieved from online databases such as EBSCO and Proquest. As recommended by Bernard (2011), the retrieval of journal articles will be followed by extraction of data by identification of major themes emanating from the selected journal articles. Data analysis will be conducted through thematic data analysis technique, which entails the identification of major themes from the journal articles and using them to answer the research question.

Resource Requirements

Being a literature review report, this study will take the form of a desktop research. hence, as recommended by Groat & Wang (2013), the study will require a computer set, internet, note taking materials, and data storage devices. The researcher may also need to be enlightened on how to conduct thematic data analysis and a method of data analysis.

The study is expected to take a maximum of 5 days from the selection of journal articles to compilation of the full report. The following figure illustrates the project timeline:

	1/5/2018	2/5/2018	3/5/2018	4/5/2018	5/5/2018
Selection of journal articles
Identification of major themes
Analysis of major themes
Writing The whole Report
Presentation of the report

 

References

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