In Episode 41 of Season 4, hosts Merv Jersak and Tim Jerome build on previous discussions about leadership and oral communication. They explore how documenting decisions and creating a paper trail can improve project delivery. The episode emphasizes the importance of Project Management Institute’s five C's of written communication. They discuss professionalism and etiquette in email communication. The hosts also discuss balancing precision with conciseness, the need for adaptability in writing styles for different audiences, and techniques for effective documentation. They reference insights from author Neil Gaiman to illustrate how brainstorming on paper and organizing thoughts on the computer can enhance the presentation of ideas. This episode sets the stage for a week-long series on honing writing skills to boost project management success.

Main Take-Aways

Project managers must master the art of written communication:

• present your ideas in a clear, easily understood, complete manner
• be professional in written communication, employing good email etiquette
• learn to write persuasively with diplomacy
• develop good technical writing skills, both from a tactical and strategic perspective
• adapt your written communication to the audience you are messaging
• use paper to brainstorm and the computer to organize (per Neil Gaiman)

Show Notes

Today’s Project Managers Coffee Chat: Mastering Written Communication for Effective Project Management

 

00:27 A brief summary of previous discussions of communication as a lead in to this week’s podcasts’ focus on written communication.

01:14 The importance of creating evidence (i.e. project documentation) using good technical writing techniques for future reference.

03:32 Critical skills for written communication include:

03:53  1) the 5 Cs as depicted by Project Management Institute – three of which include clarity, conciseness, completeness.

05:49 2) professionalism, especially when writing emails, including etiquette in email communication.

07:53 3) persuasiveness, the ability to negotiate, and diplomacy are highly regarded writing skills.

09:41 4) it is important for project managers to have good technical documentation skills, both at the tactical and strategic levels.

10:58 5) project managers need to be able to adapt their written communication to their many audiences.

14:55 Project managers need to be aware that their written documentation lives on far into the future and so should adhere to the critical skills described in this episode.

15:43 Neil Gaiman's insights into writing: paper for brainstorming ideas and computer for organizing thoughts

18:25 Concluding summary thoughts and a look at upcoming episodes focusing on written communication skills.