Communicating Effectively

This week in my EDUC-6145-1 Project Management class at Walden University, I was asked to view a multimedia program called “The Art of Effective Communication (Laureate, n.d.).” In this program, I viewed a project manager named Jane communicating with someone named Mark about a deadline. The message was presented in three modalities: email, voicemail, and face to face. I am asked to interpret the message as it was delivered in each modality and point out if anything changed in interpretation from one point to the next. I am also asked to share what it implies about communicating effectively to members of a project team and what I learned that will help me communicate more effectively.

Jane is asking Mark to send an ETA on the missing report. She explains that she will miss her deadline if he does not send the report soon. She starts off with “I know you have been busy in that all day meeting.” She then asks him to let her know when he can send the report over, or if he can send the needed data in a separate email. All three modalities contain exactly the same message, but the three modalities convey different communication tones.

I perceived the email as a passive “please help me” tone, i.e. the project manager pleading for them to send the product; however, there is really no way to interpret the sender’s tone in this email. How it is perceived may depend entirely upon the receiver’s mental state and mood when it is received. It doesn’t adequately show the urgency that should be conveyed. However, email is a good follow-up tool or a way to send information when you want to track a conversation, but it does not properly convey tone and body language. On the other hand, the voicemail does convey the proper tone minus body language. Her tone is still “please help me”, but it comes across as sincere and clearly sends the urgency message. However, I think that a voicemail is simply too easy for the receiver to delete and forget. In contrast to email and voicemail, the face to face message comes across as directive and urgent. Jane's body language is clear—I need this now. There can be no question whether or not Mark received the message. However, I recommend that Jane follow up the face to face meeting with an email so that the conversation is documented and Mark has a reminder of it (Portny et al., 2008).

It is amazing how the same message seems so different in the three modalities even though it is exactly the same words. This shows that the way you send the message is important. Some people only communicate in email. Although, email provides a good way of tracking the conversation, there is a possibility that the urgency of the message will not be conveyed. In a phone call, even though the tone is evident, it is too easy for the receiver to dismiss and forget the message leaving the sender wondering if it was received. However, the face to face communication was straightforward, sent the proper urgency through tone and body language, and allowed the receiver to ask questions.

What I learned from this analysis is that it is important to choose the modality that fits the situation. Neither email, voicemail, nor face to face is a one fits all solution to effective communication. If it is urgent, face to face is sometimes the best way to communicate and then follow up that with either a phone call if the demand is not met. If it is simply information, email is appropriate. However, if it needs a direct response that is not time sensitive, then email or voicemail is appropriate. I personally would follow any one of the three up with one of the other modalities depending upon the urgency and importance of the message (Portny et al., 2008).

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). The Art of Effective Communication [Multimedia file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.