Project Management

Communication is the most important component within any project. The success of most projects, whether handled by a dedicated project team or a cross-departmental team, depends upon a set of crucial communication skills and techniques. Interestingly all project and development managers that I currently work with agree: Communication and human interaction make or break a project.We sometimes forget that project communications refer to the specific behaviour and techniques used to motivate, lead, delegate, and report back to all stakeholders working on the project.

While planning is important, sometimes there are other actions other than ‘to plan’. This question gets you thinking about the key things to do now. Often at the beginning, especially on big projects, people focus all effort on planning.

What can I do at the start to increase the likelihood of success? What skills will I need to complete this project, and who are the right people for the team? How do I influence and persuade these people to be committed to the project? What are the major deliverables for this project? What are the major steps in my project plan? How detailed does my plan need to be at this stage? What can I do to ensure there are fewer risks during the course of the project?