The Three C's of Project Management

You probably have not heard of this anywhere...and this is because I made it up myself. Nonetheless, it is something I have been quite preachy about my team over the last couple of months. This is what I call as the three C's of Project Management. Read On:

Communicate Early - A Project Manager must make all attempts to be the first to relay critical information to the necessary parties. Being the person expected by everyone (especially management) to be "on top of everything", it is highly important the the PM be the first to know what is happening within the project. He should be the first to cascade issues up to higher management. This is especially true if there are issues that are beyond his control.

Communicating early also provides some important advantages in the whole area of communication.

1. By communicating early, your statement is taken as truth. Every other statement made on the same topic is validated against what you have said. There is already a certain level of acceptance made on your statement, as opposed to people who reported after you - who end up being defensive on whatever it is you have already mentioned.
2. By communicating early, you can spin your statement in the manner you desire. You can frame your statement in the vantage point that is most favorable to you or your team. You don't end up being defensive and trying to explain yourself or preparing for a rebuttal.
3. By communicating early, you exude proactiveness to your management and subordinates. You look like you are doing something important and useful which is obviously what management expects.

Communicate Often - A Project Manager needs to be able to present a certain level of predictiveness within his project. One way of doing this is by communicating at regular and predictable time frames. The frequency of this reporting also has to be taken into consideration. One cannot have very long gaps between reporting. A good number would be two weeks though it can always change from weekly to monthly. When the gap is too long, information tends to be stale and loses value (see next C). When in doubt, its better to communicate more often than fewer.

There are times that it may seem that your communication is not being well received by your stakeholders. It may seem that it is not being read. Nonetheless, it is still important that communication still persist amidst the lack of interest. When the time comes, that status report will actually be of value especially when things get sticky.

Note however that if status reports and other communication methods are not being received well... there is probably an issue with the last C which is...

Communicate Value - Value connotes importance to the recipient of the information. You need to be able to communicate what the recipient of the information needs to know. For most status reporting, what is important to the reader is the status of schedule, budget, scope, and quality. In order further understand how to communicate value, follow these simple steps:

1. Who will receive my message/communication?
2. What would that person most likely ask me about the project?
3. What is the message that I want to say?
4. If I said the message in the manner that I just did... would the recipient understand it?

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Communication is approximately 90% of what a Project Manager does on a daily basis. It is therefore very important that a Project Manager achieve a high level of proficiency in this area to be considered effective in his duties.

And so there you have it, the three C's of Project Management.

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