Effective Project Management

Section A Communications

“Then you should say what you mean,” the March Hare went on. “I do,” Alice hastily replied; “at least – at least I mean what I say – that's the same thing, you know.” “Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter. “Why you might just as well say that ‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!”

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) .

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.

Surveys have shown that the biggest problem in organizations is communication. This is because of the variety of communication channels and because they are rarely planned.

The objective of communication in business is: ‘to transmit information (however complex) accurately and concisely from one person to another in the most easily understood way’.¹

Communication can be grouped into three main categories used at different levels in an organization:

Formal	Semi‐formal	Informal
Normally external	Internal	No written constitution
(contracts)	(job procedures)	(requires team building)
Takes time	Careful design	Fast to respond

Set out below (in loose groupings) is a list of communication channels and their allocated categories, together with suggestions for how they could be used on ...