The people side of a project or what some call the “softer-side” of project management is an evolving concept. Each organization will differ on what “soft skills” are valued within it, but it is clear that communication is one of the most critical to master. Communicating to executives and other levels of management is one of the most important and visible components for a project manager. The timeliness, quality, and means of how information is disseminated can dramatically affect the outcome of a project. It can also influence the perception of others in how effective you are as a project manager.

There are five areas that you need to master when looking too successfully to improve your communication to executives. The areas are:

• Think before you speak
• Be accountable
• Listen and watch the signs
• Delivery
• Dealing with emotional roller coaster.

These five areas assume one key thing that you have a solid mastery of the basics of project communication from planning through closure. Before I move forward let’s start with a quick review of some of the basics just to make sure we are on the same page.

Like most processes, the start of the communication process begins with planning. Communication planning involves determining the information and communications needs of the executive stakeholders and project team. Being able to identify the specific communication needs for your project is critical to it delivering successfully. It is important to point out that the planning process is interdependent with the overall planning process for the project.

The most important document that comes out of the planning stage is the communication plan, which is basically the game plan for how, what, who, where, and when of the capture and transfer of project specific information. From distribution mechanisms, reporting strategies and closure activities the communication process provides a solid grounding in best practices for effective and productive project communications.

So, with that brief and high-level stroll through memory lane on how to provide a solid communication foundation for your team, let’s dive into the deep end and go into more detail on these five steps to master in order to improve your communication to executives.

Think Before You Speak

You now have all the information you need. You and the team have had a chance to process it and have decided on a course of action. You need to now let the rest of the world specifically your executive team or sponsor know to gain their approval.

Before you do anything you need to take a step back and think. Think about what you are going to do and how. Think about the following:

Set clear goals for what you want to accomplish with your communication. Determine the probable outcome once the information is communicated Determine the best way to say it especially if the message needs to delivered to multiple audiences Distinguish valuable and actionable information from context

You want to make sure that you don’t blow the opportunity by leaving the communication to chance. Taking a step back to assess the best course will provide huge benefits.

Accountability

Language does not merely express values, but embodies values, without which it could not function as a medium of communication. — Grice’s Cooperative Principle. As the project manager, you are the authoritative voice of your project to the outside world. You must be credible and accountable for all your communications. That accountability will help build the trust that you need to gain the confidence of your executive management or sponsor.

Recognize your role in creating successful communications. Identify internal as well as external factors such as other project findings, mergers, organizational restructure that could impact the success of your communication being clearly understood by the intended audience. Determine ways to mitigate the impact that factors outside your control may have. Finally, make sure to establish both formal and informal feedback loops within the team and your executives. You need to know that your message was clearly understood and that it met your objectives. You won’t know that for sure unless you ask.

You don’t want to wait to see if the team provides you with a clue that they heard your message correctly because it will be too late if they didn’t.

Listen and Watch

We often forget that listening and observing are critical to being able to communicate well. There is an art to being able to listen and watch in order to take that data, and use that to improve your communication on the spot. A project manager needs to be aware if the message is being heard and acted upon correctly and, if not, to be able to immediately take steps to change what is needed in order to achieve the desired result of the communication.