Week 3 Blog Assignment

Three Forms of Communication: An Experiment and Analysis
This week I was given the same message in three different formats and asked to analyze my understanding of and reaction to the message based on the mode of delivery. The message was as follows.

Hi Mark,
I know you have been busy and possibly in that all day meeting today, but I really need an ETA on the missing report. Because your report contains data I need to finish my report, I might miss my own deadline if I don't get your report soon. Please let me know when you think you can get your report sent over to me, or even if you can send the data I need in a separate email.
I really appreciate your help.
Jane

Text Only

When I first read the email, I automatically assumed that Jane and Mark were co-workers. If any hierarchy exists between the two, then Jane is the subordinate. Her tone in the email is almost apologetic. If she had any authority instead of explaining why she needs Mark's overdue data ("I might miss my own deadline"), she would have placed more emphasis on him missing his own deadline. Also, Jane mentions that Mark is "helping" her, but really Mark is slacking at work and needs to get his information to Jane ASAP.

But, despite Jane's apologetic tone, this email is a paper trail that Jane could use to prove that Mark is to blame for her own work being late. If I were Mark, I'd worry about who Jane copied on the email and I'd be sure to respond in a timely manner.

The major flaw I see with the email is that it's not organized well. She rambles a bit about another meeting that Mark may/may not be involved in. Dr. Stolovitch, in his video program Communicating with Stakeholders, says that written communications should begin with a clear purpose. Jane's email starts with casual small talk. She doesn't end with clear action items for Mark. She doesn't break her information into separate sections.

Audio Only

When I heard the audio version of this message, I sensed urgency in Jane. If I were Mark and got this voice message, I'd still respond quickly. Jane took the time to call me and her voice sounded concerned. I'd be less worried about a paper trail that could be used to point the blame in my direction.

In Person

Upon watching the video of Jane, she seems polite and apologetic. The actress is smiling, however, which makes me think that she's not as concerned as her voice mail and email made me believe. The informality of the drop-in request makes me think that she's being cautious about her deadline, but isn't overly worried. As Dr. Stolovitch points out in his video "Communicating with Stakeholders," tonality and body language are important elements in communicating in person. If her body language was less relaxed, perhaps her message would be better received.

Analysis

If you had asked me which form of communication was the most effective before this experiment, I would have said that in person communication. Body language, I thought, was the most important element to effective communication. But what works best in my personal life isn't always the most effective for a project. Written communication allows for easy documentation between parties, thus avoiding ambiguity.

Jane's face-to-face drop-in meeting with Mark seems to meet Portny et al's qualifications for an "informal meeting" (2008, p. 357). In fact, if I were Jane I'd take Portny's advice and follow-up this in person meeting by confirming, "in writing the important information that was shared" (2008, p. 357). Dr. Stolovitch agrees that oral communication should always be documented. So even if Jane's personal meeting was powerful and dynamic.

Though the email wasn't wonderfully organized or clearly worded, it was still a better means of communication in this instance.

Resources

Multimedia Program: "The Art of Effective Communication"

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

Video Program: "Communicating with Stakeholders"

Post Mortem Analysis and PM Interventions

Employee Training: Post Mortem Analysis
After months of persuading, our company’s HR department finally agreed with my ISD department that our annual employee training would be much more effective if delivered as online interactive courseware.  Previously, all of our training was sent out via email as a PowerPoint file.  Employees were supposed to view the slides, then print and sign the completion certificate at the end of the presentation. As I’m sure you can guess, all the employees learned to just skip to the last slide, print the page and sign the form.  There was no instruction, just pointless paperwork. 

As the lead instructional designer, I was given the pilot course to build.  I was excited and creatively stimulated.  The kicker? The training had to be designed, developed, and implemented in a week.  Seven days(!!!) to create an interactive course and build an online LMS for all of our future training?

The Downsides

Portny et. al. define the “Define Phase” of the planning process as the creating of “detailed plans to describe how the project team will make [the project] happen” (2008, p. 78).  With such a time crunch, this project’s define phase lasted about an hour.  Many elements that Portny calls for (e.g., details, descriptions, schedule, budgets, and documentation) were done casually and quickly (2008, p. 79). Because of this lack of planning, decisions were placed in my hands and I didn’t have time to consult others.  The communication that Dr. Stolovitch argues is essential was completely absent.

The Upsides

In the end, the training was very well received and much talked about. Our HR department decided to slowly convert all of our training to online courses. While Portny says, “the success of a project depends on how clear and accurate the plan is,” I think we were lucky to have achieved some success despite the extensive confusion and disorganization of the entire project. 

Recommended PM Interventions

Having a project manager oversee this project would have avoided a number of the aforementioned downsides.  First of all he/she could have argued for a more realistic delivery schedule.  Also, the planning phase of the project would have been given more attention. Finally, the PM would have been able to facilitate communication between the instructional designer (myself) and the other stakeholders, rather than leaving me to my own devices. 

Resources

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

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

Video Program: "Project Management and Instructional Design"