Image you are at the mercy of a
team member sending you information, it impacts his submission deadline, as
well as yours. Now consider the use of email, voicemail, and face-to-face
methods for conveying your urgency.
Here is such conversation between
Mark—who
has the information, and
Jane whose waiting; and used email, voicemail, and face-to-face to try to obtain the information.
Jane's Email--was like… hey Mark, umm,
still need that data--unsure what that
data was as it was not identified, but Jane needed it. The first sentence
gave me the impression that Jane was poking fun at the fact Mark had to attend “that
all day meeting”. To me, Jane’s voicemail, her tone and reflection of her voice
provided the importance of the information she was waiting for; the
face-to-face, even though I encourage this over email or voicemail, lacked the urgency she displayed in the voicemail. The face-to-face
came over as a casual conversation and not one where the sole purpose of the
conversation was the need for information.
In all three cases, Jane lacked the
detail of what the data was supposed
to be, and nor did she indicate her deadline—the
date or time. Jane did provide an
alternative, emailing the data,
verses waiting for Mark’s report to arrive—the
report contained the data she needed for her report.
Reflecting on Jane and Mark, my office, and Portny et al (2014) Project Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. I recognize, and will convey, the importance of relaying information in a manner that fits the media to which it travels.
We know an email,
unorganized,
running together, lacking clear purpose or need is pushed to the wayside—maybe
not the trash, but close. In this electronic media age, emails reach
individuals easier; they are not required to be in the office, at their
computer.
As an instructor of an information report, I told my students to
write the subject line in
such a manner to catch the eye of the reader; the
same applies here. Write emails to catch the eye of the intended reader,
without unneeded distracting information increases the probability it will be
read. Ensure all information is clear, lacks confusion, due dates, brief
explanation to why the information is needed, and end with appropriate
acknowledgement. In addition, before sending, assign an importance or use
options to set up a read receipt. Do not blame the recipient for delay in sending
information if you forget to give all the details.
If you know you are a poor email
writer, and lack the time to do a face-to-face
conversation, consider calling
and leave a voicemail. Here too, there are considerations for an effective voicemail
message. Forget the monotone, as that will drive someone to accidentally delete the message. Speak in
the same manner as if you were face-to-face; interject a sense of urgency in
the tone of your voice without shouting; and have simple notes to guide you in
what you need to speak on. Follow-up with an email, incase the voicemail gets
deleted and there is no means of knowing they listened until a gap opens up
affecting project deadlines.
Face-to-face (f2f) should be
considered your first option in conveying information as you can influence
their attention span—on you, and obtain immediate feedback whether they
understood the conversation and tasking(s) associated with it. Understanding
the individual you conduct an f2f enables you to know what approach
to use—formal
or informal. Formal has the individual sitting upright, full-undivided
attention, while informal allows them to relax. In either case, when seeking
information make sure to convey up front the need for the conversation, what
you need—do not be vague, deadlines involved, and alternatives to provide the
information to you in a timely manner.
Bottom Line:
No matter the method of seeking or
conveying information, never forget to remind folks the impact everyone has on
the project, it is a team effort, and everyone needs to pull his or her weight
for the project to succeed.
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.