Engineering is no longer the solitary role it used to be. These days, Engineering has developed into a large cross-functional collaboration, often spanning multiple companies, countries, and cultures. So, how does one apply one’s communication skills to best navigate this new engineering industry and yield the best results? In my experience, leveraging these key points below has enabled me to be successful over the last decade.
Encourage Progress Through Proactive Communication
Engineering projects these days are complex. Lots of moving pieces, individuals and sometimes multiple companies involved with a single project. That can add a lot of opportunities in which projects can come to a standstill. These delays can kill a project which is why I have taken a more proactive approach in an attempt to keep projects moving forward.
When presented with multiple options on how to proceed in a given project, my goal is not to leave a conversation until the team has aligned on a direction to move forward. I have witnessed the classic “let’s revisit this next” too many times, where the week passed by and nothing was actually accomplished aside from burning a week. In my experience, encouraging the team to agree on a direction, at least for the short term, yields better results and enables progress. Make the decision based on the latest information you have, knowing there is always a risk your decision might not be the best one, but it’s often better than no decision being made at all. You will need to balance this proactivity with not making any decisions that can hurt your project, but enable progress (even if slow) is continue to be made.
Tailor Your Message to the Right Audience
One thing I have learned is not everyone needs all the details. As a Project Manager, you might be very involved in all the details or you might only have a high level understanding of certain things. What’s important is assessing who your audience is and what information they need to make decisions to keep projects moving forward.
When I am talking with my peers about a project and we are discussing how we want to proceed, we will get into all the details, discussing risks/rewards, potential options, and whatever else is required for us to figure out how to keep moving. When the expectation is to share project updates or risks with leadership, communicating only the facts and highlighting the specific options available can make it easier for a higher-level audience who is not in the details to be best equipped to make a decision to aid the project. Leaders always have the ability to ask for more clarity. What they are limited on is time, so identifying what information is most valuable to them is a great exercise to work on their and your own benefit.
Base Decisions on Facts, Not Assumptions
There can be a lot of uncertainties in a project, including promises from suppliers and hopes that designs will not have any issues. A communication technique that can help a project manager is focusing on the facts. If every potential scenario or risk is taken into consideration, the number of variables would be so immeasurable that it would be very difficult to have any confidence in any decision made.
Instead, evaluate information and/or concerns while considering the likelihood and/or severity of the information you are processing. This can aid you in determining if the information you are trying to consider for your project is critical (needs to be taken into consideration) or is of such a likelihood or severity that bringing it into your decision-making is not worth the time based on the current info you have.
Spot and Respond to Nonverbal Cues in Your Team
As a project manager, it’s your responsibility to remove obstacles that can prevent your projects from being successful. So, looking for non-verbal communication cues from your team can be just as important as things spoken out loud. During casual conversations or meetings, keep an eye out for non-verbal signs of frustration or concerns from your team members. If found, find a private opportunity to find out what’s causing their concerns. These could be issues related to the project that you’d like the chance to address to keep things moving smoothly.
Close the Loop to Build Trust and Save Time
Closing the loop is a more advanced communication technique for project management. While not necessarily required, it helps make communication more efficient. It prevents the need for extra steps in an already complicated channel. Assigning tasks to team members and having to reach out to them multiple times to ask about the status of their tasks can be a time sink. Instead, by proactively providing those updates on a routine basis or after large milestones, the need for the PM to request them is eliminated, which can save a lot of communication time over the life of a project.
