There is a point of time when a person realizes that knowledge and experience never end, they are dramatic and they are expandable in all means and every aspect or direction of life...fortunately we might humbly be parts of journey in professional corporations or organizations where mentors had spared no effort teaching us every piece of information they can give at its right time...and the best of them can be at our career life is: Communication.
As we observe the lack of communication that leads to many issues during the project’s life-cycle, the “unspoken” ideas which turn to assumptions or failures, it is also as crucial to address the importance of types of communication conducted.
Mainly, there are two lines of focus for project manager to keep eye on: 1. Client (Project Sponsor) Communication and 2. Internal (Team & Management’s) Communication
Clients can vary into infinite types; individuals, corporates, governmental, military, medical...etc. One type of client can surely not be dealt with as the other, in some minor cases, they do might be alike, eventually...human nature kicks in when thinking behind the layers of quality compliance, necessary documentation, chain of commands and any “wrap” a project might shape into.
Having the quality of understanding your peer or opponent I believe is a must in successful project management, it is neither a skill, nor a checklist of the documents you might exercise, it is the ability to adapt to your sponsor’s or team’s needs and understanding, a client who had never dealt with the systems you are expert with will always project your knowledge as Xeonian** , a team member who had never heard of a “WBS” or a “BAC” would also suggest that these are not his/her arena, they would resist the temptation of fighting the good fights. the odds to project’s success, they simply would not anticipate what you do, they do not understand your Xeonian.
Out of my experience through the years, being a textbook person does not always get you make your case right, the intangibility of communication makes it an effortful process, it is the right determination of way to reach to the project’s needs, human needs human, and a project manager is someone of “people”, she/he is the superstar of knowledge and the heroic fighter against failures, the master of people and the master of process. A project manager is simply the person who is willing to go dive into the intangibles (absorbing the client pressure, setting the correct expectations)...
To sum up, Communication is a whole huge universe to go through, it is not only how good we are sending e-mails or making phone calls. It is translating the Xeonian into every language spoken on earth...and sometimes maybe beyond…
**Xeonian: term of the author (Majd's) terming in which project management language is sometimes not understandable by whom we are dealing with regardless of their position, background or years of experience.
