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School's Out -- It's a Communications Thing

By Carl Pritchard, PMP

If you had the joy of attending a high school or college graduation ceremony in recent weeks, you heard talk of "beginnings and endings." "This is a time of renewal and opportunity,"they often say," a time to look ahead while not forgetting what the past has taught us."And then, caps are thrown in the air, photos are snapped and people who have been together for years go their separate ways. In some cases, their paths will never cross again. For many of us, our high school and college friends have drifted off to some nether world, outside the realm of Google, and likely never to be heard from again. It's a communications thing.

Reflect on those individuals you've stayed in touch with. What did it take?

• Ongoing common bonds
• Refreshing the communications channels
• Mutual benefit to keep the relationship active

Project "School"

As the summer season rolls into full swing, it's not unlike the end of the school year. Many projects are winding down (intentionally or not) because of the season. In Europe, July and August will be extremely quiet, as it seems entire nations shut down. Team members are heading for other environments. The Northerners will head south; the Southerners will head north; the Easterners will head west. Everyone will head for other environments, full of energy and promise for the summer ahead. If we're going to keep the "old gang" of our project teams together during this inevitable lull, we need to learn from our personal experiences -- we need to stay in touch.

Ongoing Common Bonds

Everyone has a summer. Whether they use it to replace the gutters or head for exotic climes, they have a summer. In school, teachers used to be ardent about having students write about "What I'll Do on My Summer Vacation." Teachers had a good reason for that -- it kept them connected to their students and created a sense of mutual continuity for the participants who would meet again after the summer was over.

As project managers, there's a powerful lesson to be learned there. Creating the ongoing common bonds with our team members gives us a clear sense of where their minds will be when the break is over. If Marie is spending her summer cleaning gutters and picking up extra cash, I can't expect her to arrive back on the project full of vision and zeal from foreign lands. If Rene is spending the summer sipping beverages with pineapple and tiny umbrellas, I may anticipate the occasional "drift" from reality as the project swings back in at the end of the summer.

How can I get these two team members back on the same page? I can do it now. I can do it before they swing away from my project to their summer activities. I can get some insight on what they're going to be doing and look for ways to optimize it. I can nudge them to remember their teammates as they set off on their separate ways. One of the nicest gestures I ever received as a professional was from a peer of mine who was visiting his family in Jordan. He brought me a decorative plate from his hometown. I have no idea what his investment was, but it created a sense of continuity that I know I wouldn't have otherwise had. Suddenly, I was part of his trip home. The cost of the item bore no influence on its impact. I was able to imagine him, in the bazaar, selecting this particular item on my behalf.

This doesn't mean that team members have to lavish gifts on one another. But, if we can point them in the direction of thinking about their team members when they're apart, we may be able to build far stronger bonds. A backscratcher from a friend bought at Pedro's "South of the Border" may be held in far higher esteem than awards and plaques at the end of the project. And, these small tokens create a sense of teaming and shared experiences.

Refreshing the Communications Channels

During the summer season, responsiveness can change. Some people become more accessible when they're on the road, while others can turn practically invisible. How will you stay in touch during the summer season? Postcards? Cell phones? Smoke signals? As we prime to go our separate ways for vacations and other summer activities, it's important to iterate something that should have been done at the beginning of the project -- the communications plan. Such plans should include the key stakeholders, their preferred modes of communication, their contact information and the best times to reach them. That information can change radically in the summer season. It may be essential to identify alternate contacts, alternate modes and different approaches to getting messages across.

Granted, the classic "Weather is here, wish you were wonderful" post card is not the best project communications tool, but it beats silence. Summer communication doesn't have to be about the project, but, instead, will probably be more favorably received if it's about the team members. Becoming the summer conduit for information can go a long way toward ensuring that team members have a sense that others are thinking about them, caring about them and interested in them, even when they're not around. The project manager has a wonderful opportunity to distinguish himself or herself in this environment.

Mutual Benefits

There are many shared benefits in keeping relationships going. If you return to the original example of graduation, think about those individuals from high school and college with whom you still have ties. Those ties may not reflect the kind of day-to-day interaction that you once had. Rather, when you deal with them now, it's to share a dramatic moment or event. It's an opportunity to rekindle a positive sentiment. It's an opportunity to nudge these acquaintances toward the notion that you care about them as individuals.

In the project universe, we sometimes become so heavily focused on the "need to achieve" (as David McClelland put it), that we forget about the intrinsic human "need for affiliation." The latter need is the social effort that Maslow felt had to be in place before individuals could have a positive sense of self-esteem, but it's one that doesn't often present itself in the project environment. With school out, that opportunity is front and center.

Carl Pritchard, PMP, is a senior instructor with ESI International and is the Principal of Pritchard Management Associates. He is the author of Risk Management: Concepts & Guidance, second edition (ESI International, 2001). With J. LeRoy Ward, he co-produced the CD audio series The Portable PMP Prep-Conversations on Passing the PMP® Exam. He is the U.S. Correspondent for the British project management magazine Project Manager Today. He can be reached at carl@carlpritchard.com.