Communications Skills for Project Managers - by G Campbell (Paperback)

About the Book

What is the most important responsibility of a project manger? Effectively communicating with others on the team. Learn how to keep everyone in the loop--even when setbacks occur--to ensure project success.

Book Synopsis

This invaluable resource explains how to ensure every component of a project is understood by the people responsible for execution to drive your project to completion and success.

According to the Project Management Institute, over 80 percent of a project manager's job is communication--yet most project management books hardly discuss it. However, Communications Skills for Project Managers focuses on communication skills such as how to:

• keep those on the project team--as well as upper management--involved and informed;
• establish a plan for communication;
• effectively present to stakeholders;
• compete with other initiatives within the organization;
• convey reasons for change;
• and more.

Even a project that is brought in on time and on budget can be considered a failure if those outside the project team weren't kept informed about progress and goals. Communications Skills for Project Managers provides practical advice and strategies for overcoming shifting organizational priorities, constantly evolving expectations, and leadership turnover through the power of clear communication to consistently produce results.

From the Back Cover

"Considering how important the area of communications management is for successful projects, this book has been long overdue. Project managers will find its contents invaluable, as they will gain an appreciation of the dramatic, positive impact of effective communications on their projects. Mike Campbell's book is right on target!" -- Walter A. Viali, PMP, Principal Consultant, PMO To Go LLC; past President, PMI Houston Chapter According to the Project Management Institute, over 80 percent of your job as a project manager is communication. But you're so busy with all the other project tasks that you hardly have time to contemplate this crucial role. Even if you've got every component of your project fine tuned and humming, it can still fall short if you haven't convinced leadership of its value, told everyone exactly how to implement it, and prepared everyone for the changes that new projects inevitably bring. In fact, poorly communicated project information can doom even "perfect" projects to failure. You need to apply the same level of care in sharing information about projects as you do in designing and executing them. Most project management books gloss over the importance of communications--or ignore the issue completely. But the success or failure of your project is likely to hinge on your skills to manage not just processes and schedules, but people and their expectations, change and its impact, and information and its role in your organization. Communications Skills for Project Managers gives you all the practical advice and strategies you'll need to ensure total project success--where projects not only work unto themselves but drive the organizational growth that they're designed (and expected) to accomplish. With this invaluable guide, you'll learn how to keep your project team, upper management, and all other stakeholders involved and informed every step of the way. Written by a certified Project Management Professional(R) and brimming with powerful examples, practical tools, templates for repeatable processes, and a complete case study, Communications Skills for Project Managers ensures that your best project efforts will resonate with every person and every group they're designed to help.

About the Author

Michael Campbell, PMP (Houston, TX) is an experienced project manager and co-author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Project Management, 4th Ed." and author of "Bulletproof Presentations." He is a Managing Director for Energy Practice at MCA International.