Communicating In Different Ways

            I have read and listened to an interoffice message in three modalities.  First I read the message in the form of an email, then listened to it as a voicemail, and finally watched a video of an office colleague delivering the message to the recipient (Multimedia program, from website). 

            As I read the email I got the clear message that the sender needed Mark, the recipient, to supply her with information and that it was required for her to complete the work.  I felt that the need was strong and her wellbeing with her job depended on it.  Since I could re-read the message it was clear that the recipient had two options, supply the complete report, or just the needed information.  When listening to the voicemail I also understood the same meaning as in the email, yet I felt that it lacked the urgency that the written format provided.  I believe that I would have a higher probability of forgetting to get back to Mary or supplying the information needed than from the written email. Also I don’t think the option of just getting the needed information to Mary instead of the complete report was as evident in the voicemail as with the email.  The scenario of Mary talking to Mark and giving the message face-to-face proved to be the weakest form of what I believe Mary wanted to get across.  Her speaking style and tendency to soften the expectations of her request left me thinking that it wasn’t a big deal if I got the information to her or not.  If I was Mark and I was very busy with many demands on me I might let that request fall on the priority list.  I think I would appreciate someone communicating more directly with me and providing stronger details of what they needed.

            In the project management text, communication is categorized as formal or informal (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008).  I think that in the multimedia program the forms of communications could be seen in one or the other of these categories. The case of the email, it was preplanned by its nature of being written and provided a record of what was communicated.  It was a formal form of communication that gave the recipient the opportunity to revisit the message and perhaps have a higher possibility to fulfill the request of the sender. The voicemail could probably be seen as preplanned, but it had some limitations in its form.  There is no way for the caller to know if the recipient is giving their complete attention to their voicemail calls at the time they listen to them.  Once heard there may be low likelihood that the recipient will listen again to make sure they totally understood the message.  The face-to-face communication might have been informal due to coming across Mark unexpectedly and thinking about her need at that moment.  This might have influenced the demeanor of the communication.  With this face-to-face communication and probably most, there are so many influences that effect what the recipient understands or remembers.  In the video Mary communicated in a style that seemed to be weak and passive in voice.  Her affect was passive and almost apologetic.

            By putting this set of communication examples in a project setting I would make the following assumptions.  First, I believe that the more formal the communication can be the better for the project.  This is especially true if the communication can be in writing.  Written communications allow the communicator to carefully select their words, maintain focus,  and have a format that provides accountability measures to assure that those that receive the messages have received them (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008). 

References

Multimedia program. The Art of Effective Communication. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html.

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.

An Ill-Timed Staging

          There is a project in my past with an outcome that I was never very happy with.  Years ago I undertook to direct a play for a non-profit organization.  I had a lot of experience as an actor in plays before this and some support experience in set construction, but had very little with the role of director.  I came to be in this position because a group of people and fellow actors had a particular play they wanted to have staged.  I was asked to take on the role of director so the play would be staged.  As I look at the production of a play through the eyes of the information I am getting in this class on project management it becomes apparent to me that play production is a great example of project management.  The process involves goals and objectives that are time sensitive, there are many differentiated skills that must take place at correct times to be successful, many tasks must be coordinated to take place at specific time, and the manager must have the buy-in from stakeholders both drivers and supporters.  In all it is a highly complex undertaking.  Because this play was a production for a non-profit and not staged as a business event, the judgment of success will not be strictly seated in monetary gain or loss.  As I review my conclusion of failure or success I look at many different aspects of the process. 

          The show had many supportive stakeholders in the roles of actors and stagehands.  This contributed to the level of success that took place.  However when I look back at the experience of the production I see many areas that were weak and I did not handle correctly.  The result of these mistakes created a production that did not come together smoothly at the point when all components should be coming together.  When staging, scenery, costumes, and lighting needed to be meshed together for the final production problems began to arise.  Advertising and marketing were weak and therefore slow to get off the ground to secure ticket sales needed to fill the house. 

          The biggest insufficiency in planning on my part was an overall schedule of the work that needed to be done.  There was no doubt that the part of staging this play that held the most of my attention was the actual directing and working with actors, however in a play that amounts only to a percentage of the work that must come together and work as a single unit.  All of them have individual time lines and yet must knit together with the acting to be a show in total.  I lacked a scheduling system that was sophisticated enough to make the work happen with efficient effort and maintain the continued satisfaction of the supportive stakeholders such as the costume and scenery crews.  If I had the knowledge of the Gantt chart (Mindtools, website) (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008) as a tool I would have been able to attempt to fix my problems.  I had many deadlines placed too late and this caused rushed and frantic work to be done at the last minute.  This contributed to the cast being more nervous than necessary and lowered the quality of the acting.  

          In the area of marketing and ticket sales, I would have benefitted from using linear responsibility charts that record personnel and tasks.  (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008).  In the Portny text an example of a matrix that shows the roles that different leaders will take would have helped on two counts. One, it would have specified tasks that were under the each person’s prevue.   Second, it would have assisted in making sure that all duties were accounted for and no steps left out of the process (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008).

                                                                   References

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.

Mindtools (2011). Gantt Charts. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_03.htm.

Initial Contact

          Welcome to the beginning of this blog.  The purpose of this blog is to accompany me on the journey through my class that will correct all past inabilities to plan, organize, schedule, create, and finalize my life, or at least that part dealing with instructional design and educational endeavors.  Within this blog I am likely to be directed to write posts that will gauge my progress on the subject of project management as it relates to instructional design.  While for me, this will be a steep curve with a lot of learning; it will be a great path to be traveled.  I hope you will join me.