Communications

A key ingredient to expectation setting is properly preparing for and planning communication. Most project managers spend approximately 90 percent of their working hours engaged in some form of communication: conferences, meetings, writing memos, reading reports, and talking with team members, top management, customers, clients, subcontractors, suppliers, and so on (Stuckenbruck and Marshall 1997). Given this premise, shouldn’t communication be planned as thoroughly as a budget or schedule?

In the pre-kickoff meeting, set the stage for how communication will be planned. Open your door to bad news from the client and encourage the client to openly communicate without fear of reprisal. In turn, assure your client that you can and will communicate openly, even when the news is bad.