Communicating Effectively

To prepare for this assignment, view the multimedia program "The Art of Effective Communication." In this program, you will observe a piece of communication in three different modalities: as written text, as audio, and as video. Pause after receiving the communication in each modality, and reflect upon what you interpret the message to mean. Think about the content and tone of the message. Record your interpretation of the message after receiving it in each modality. Then reflect upon the experience by considering the following:

How did your interpretation of the message change from one modality to the next?
What factors influenced how you perceived the message?
Which form of communication best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message?
What are the implications of what you learned from this exercise for communicating effectively with members of a project team?

Post your interpretation of the message as it was delivered in each of the different modalities, pointing out what, if anything, changed about your interpretation from one modality to the next. Then share a synthesis of your thoughts regarding what this activity implies about communicating with members of a project team. What did you learn that will help you communicate more effectively with others in the future?

I have learned over the years privately and professionally to watch and observe different styles of communication using body language and voice tone to determine and decifile the message an invidual is trying to relay rather by email, v/m or face to face. By asking additional questions to gain insight, it very important to repeat the question for a clearer picture and to be on the same page. By repeating the information that was just stated. I can relate to the email, because yesterday I sent out a similiar email to different divisions who are currently late with their data, causing my report to be delayed. You have the opportunity to be tactful and word the email currently vs. face to face that may indeed send signals that you aren't necessarily trying to convey. The email was serious, but to the point. The voice mail explained how important the information was but not that it was urgent. Although, the face to face wasn't urgent, it was important for Mark to know that Jane made a special stop to come by his cubicle to receive the information she needed. It is important to "say what you mean and mean what you say" and rather you are giving someone advice or receiving information that you be precise and clear on instruction and write the details down to make references.

Project Post-Mortem.

One way to learn best practices and avoid mistakes on a future project is to review the results and activities from a project that you have completed. This is referred to as a project post-mortem.

A project that I have worked on in the past that was successful included automating two mainframe reports into a web based system, which was accurate and did not require tweaking or adjusting at the end of each month. The project included designing a new report which was user friendly and eliminated printing and manual distributing. Staff was limited and everyone had to be trained on the new system, once the programmers understood the old program in order to design the new design.

The Scope of Work was included, Stakeholders including Management, CIS and a PPT presentation which described the details and the report complex calculations. The project was cumbersome and time consuming. The project success largely is due to the advances in technology which eliminates any programming and simply allows departments or divisions to enter the data; the software produces the reports and has graphics which alert departments on their performance.