Forms of Communication

“Communication-the human connection- is the key to personal and career success” (Meyer, 2001-2015).  I feel this quote is very true, from my own experience thus far with communication in the workplace and in my personal life.  Without communication, there really is nothing.  I know that sounds like a blank statement, but it is true.  Without communication in my field of education, for example, our students could not successfully move from one grade to another, or go home to parents who know how they are doing in school.  Without communication in the healthcare field, nurses and doctors wouldn't know what is going on with patients.  Without communication businesses could not run smoothly.

As assigned this week, I read the email sent to Mark from Jane I felt Jane is feeling it is somewhat of an urgent matter.  She is coming across as if she knows that Mark has other things going, but she really needs his help regardless of what he is doing all day.  By stating “I might miss my own deadline if I don’t get your report soon” Jane makes the matter more urgent for her and more personal for her.  This is now something that affects her career/deadline at work.  The email is polite and states Jane’s appreciation of Mark’s help in the matter, but I feel like this may have been something that has been going on for a while now, since it seems like Jane may be nearing the deadline now.

Next I listened to the voicemail message from Jane.  To me, the message seemed stern.  I think the tone of voice was so flat that Jane communicated a lack of kindness.  When there is no inflection in a person’s voice and they don’t say “have a nice day” when they end a message it seems rude.  I do not expect a “have a nice day” on emails, but on voicemails I do.  I never hang up a phone after leaving a voicemail without saying "have a nice day." 

Oh dear, I think the face-to-face conversation was the least friendly of all the conversations.  Jane seemed to be squinting or (almost) rolling her eyes when she spoke.  Since she was saying the entire conversation at once without Mark talking back, it made it tough to feel it was a true conversation.  Her facial expressions were not making me want to help her at all.  I am thinking Mark may have felt the same way.  Although I like the idea of meeting with someone face-to-face, then following up with an email to assure the conversation is documented, I just do not feel her domineer suits me.

Jane did not seem to communicate that Mark had important things to do as well.  She was pushing for her deadline to be met, not stressing any empathy toward him.  I think it is important, no matter how stressed you may feel at the moment, to assure you communicate to the other party that you care about their feelings and needs.  Mark may not be a sensitive person, but there is a chance he is.  He may also be the type of person that gets frustrated easily with someone asking him for something when his is busy.  I think it is best to know the person you are dealing with and communicate with their personality.

 

Resources

Meyer, P. 2001-2015. BrainyQuote. Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/pauljmeye190945

"The Art of Effective Communication" Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

 

 

Learning From a Project "Post-Mortem"

Projects can be a tricky business, that’s for sure.  There are so many details involved.  One must keep track of what the client wants, assure all stakeholders are on the same page, and assure timelines are met.  I learned a lot about this type of business from working in the sales department when I first graduated college, in what I call my first career.  I was working for a promotional products company out of St. Louis, MO.  The Edward Jones account was my “baby” so to speak.  I was the assistant sales representative for the account.  Anything Edward Jones needed with their logo printed on it, I handled it.  I found out very quickly the detail that goes into managing the accounting by shadowing my boss. 

Looking back, I recall a very large order in which Edward Jones wanted their logo printed on Waterford Crystal vases.  The stress alone from that order is still present in my body as I think back to the time I went through the process of ordering the vases from Waterford, assuring the logo was in the proper placement on the vases, nothing would be broken, the shipments would arrive on time to the location, etc.  Nothing went terribly wrong with the order in the end, but I recall several small hiccups along the way.  My boss and I stayed many late nights to get this order to go as planned.  My husband and I often joke about the two month time span when he did not see me (I was working on this project).  In the original conversation with Edward Jones they had wanted a particular vase that would be backordered for too many days to meet the deadline, so we had to have them pick another vase.  This caused us to have to re-work the way the logo would set on the new vase because there was no clear place for a logo on the other vase.  My boss and I had some scary moments in which we thought the etching company had incorrectly etched the logo on the vases.  It was an extremely expensive order and the largest budget I have ever worked with and possible ever will.

After helping to run such a large-scale successful project like this, and many more over the course of three years, you would this I could easy place a small order and assure it goes fine.  OH NO!  I was so upset, angry, and downright mortified with myself this summer when I ordered t-shirts for our community volleyball league.  The shirts were the same design, but the kids, men, and women had different colored shirts.  I placed the orders for sizes never once thinking for a second that the two older kids who wore adult sizes would receive the women’s color instead of kid’s color, until I got them.  I ended up reordering the two shirts I messed up and paying for them myself, since it was my fault.  The problem with reordering such a small order with the t-shirt company is that they charge nearly double for such a small order. 

Had I thought back to the days I spent with Edward Jones and that Waterford Crystal order, I would have known the importance of paying attention to detail.  I would also have a little more in my budget (the cost of a couple of shirts).  The first stage of this project was when a group of friends and I got together and decided we wanted to have t-shirts made for our volleyball games.  That was the planning process.  When relating this to the project management world, this was a kind of “kick off meeting” as mentioned by Greer (2010).  During this meeting I should have done more initial planning by discussing the sizing as it related to the details of the shirt colors.  I took notes on the shirt sizes of each person wanting to order and knew of a lady that could make the shirts for us.  Projects large and small need alike must have another set of eyes to look over the plans, in my opinion.  Greer (2010) calls this “review and input,” which were both lacking from my project.  I took on the entire project myself and did not ask for anyone to review it and never asked anyone for input before placing the order.  My mistake and it cost me. 

 

Resources

 Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

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Jenny Hogg