Question

Project Management Question

Review and analyze a recent example of communication you received at your workplace.

Identify the components of communication (stimulus, filter, message, medium and destination).

Discuss any examples of “noise” and/or verbal/non-verbal barriers.

Discuss whether you felt the sender used an appropriate channel of communication and why.

Answer 1

Importance of communication with recent example-

Before any further discussion first we have to understand the importance of communication in project management. For successful execution of project management, first we need an effective communication. If we look at the project managers, then we will find that more than 90% of the time spends in communication by the project managers. Communication generally needs two things. First one is sender and second one is receiver. Sender gives the information to receiver using the medium and the receiver decodes the information and uses this information according to their comfort. There are several methods of the communication in the project management. For example as project managers, we must collect the data for the effective management of project and for that we use different kind of communication methods. Communication is a vital thing for the effective project management. If I am working in a company as a project manager then I have to provide the correct information to the stake holders and this information is given by the project manager team. Now we understand the communication with my personal experience. I am working in a power sector company and I have to manage and coordinate the power project as a project manager. I have to collect all the data from the project site and then organize it in a proper way to make it more effective and clear. I got the mail from the stakeholders of the company regarding the progress of the project in a particular format and to attend the meeting regarding the status of the project. They need all the progress and status of the project in MS excel format. It means that they want to communicate me with written data with verbal communication by attending the meeting. So here I experienced two forms of communication first is written communication and another one is verbal communication. So this is the recent communication which I recently experienced at my workplace.

So at workplace generally we experience many kinds of communication like electronic communication through email or phone, verbal communication through meetings, presentations etc and written communication like letters etc. So we use the different kind of communication channels according to the requirement.

Components of communication-

Generally there are five components of communication:

1. Stimulus
2. Filter
3. Message
4. Medium
5. Destination

1. Stimulus- Stimulus can be defines as the things which force us to create the message or the things by which we can generate our message. We can divide stimulus in two parts. First is internal stimulus and second one is external stimulus. Internal stimulus is our brain and external stimulus can be our eye, nose, ear, mouth and skin. So we respond to stimulus by formulating the message. We can formulate the message verbally or in written form.
2. Filter- Filter can we defined as our perception regarding the information. The perception is decided by the other host variables. These variables are called as filter and these variables are responsible to make our personal perception regarding the information. When our mind observes any information then first it decides that which kind of information is it? So the filters help us to make our final perception on the information.
3. Message- Message is the actual information which we want to transfer. This is bunch of the information which we collect according to the requirement. For effective communication, message should have the proper and correct information in a systematic way.
4. Medium- When we coded the message and take the decision to send the information collected then we need a medium so sent this information. The medium can be the internet email, verbal communication, written communication in the form of reports, presentations, letters etc. We can also use the non verbal medium to transfer the message like gestures.
5. Destination- Destination is the other end where the information is received by the receiver. After receiving the message this is up to the receiver that how they treat the information. Receiver uses the received information according to their comfort.

Barriers in communication-

Noise- ‘Noise’ can be treated as the physiological barrier in communication. This problem may occur due to the problem in physical state of receiver. For example during the communication through telephone, if the receiver has some reduced hearing problem, then he may get the improper information. Background noise is also responsible for that kind of noise.

Verbal Barriers- Verbal barriers are also a reason for improper communication. Sometimes a improper tone or talking in high tone can be a reason of verbal barrier. Sometimes language problems can a reason of verbal barriers in communication.

Non Verbal Communication- If we sit in a improper way during the meeting then it can be a reason of non verbal communication barrier. So out posture should be good during communication. Sometime our facial expression and eye contact can be a reason of improper communication. So our facial expressions and eye contact should be good during the transfer of information.

Sometimes I feel the sender use an improper communication channel to give the information. For example I contacted at the project site regarding the status of the project then the officer at the site just called me and gave all the information on phone. After that how I can record the status of the project and how can I interpret this information in a written format using excel sheets or power point presentation? I was unable to prepare a report regarding the information and progress of the project. So in this case the proper communication channel was not used by the sender’s end. So we must think about the communication channel before exchanging the information.