Early in my project management career, someone told me that if it felt as though I was overcommunicating, I was probably getting close to communicating enough. Someone else said that 90% of a PM’s time should be spent communicating, with the rest of the work falling into the other 90%. Ignoring some rather dodgy math, the message was clear. Workplace communication and collaboration matter (and even more so today, with software in place to aid it).
That was a long time ago, but not much has changed. Communication is still a critical skill for project managers. Today we focus more on background and context rather than just the work. We try and ensure that project managers and their teams understand why a project is being done, how it will benefit the business and so on. We try and empower those teams to make changes to their work when necessary. And we seek to ensure stakeholders always have accurate, complete, contextualized information.
That’s a much broader communication scope, but that simply means that communication matters more than ever in the workplace. Today’s teams are often more distributed, making the need to validate understanding an essential part of effective workplace communication. They are also more autonomous, further increasing the need for solid understanding. And they must work together more, extending the definition of communication to include workplace collaboration.
Collaboration Software for Workplace Communication Excellence
Perhaps little wonder then that IDC reported last year that it anticipates the global market for collaboration software to more than double by 2027. Organizations are seeking to invest in the tools and technology that will allow their teams to work more effectively. But hang on a minute.
Project managers and teams have been communicating and collaborating effectively for decades. It’s part of how they operate, part of who they are. They don’t need new tools that are going to force them to work together in a different way, utilizing different technology. They need that technology to integrate with how they are already working together—around plans, task execution, work and resource tracking, etc. Project teams know how to collaborate in the workplace; they just need it to be easier.
That’s where Sciforma comes in. We integrate the ability to collaborate effectively with the ability to manage projects and programs. Instead of shifting between different tools, teams can focus on what they do best, with the solutions helping them to accelerate delivery, share best practices, and ensure that innovative, high value solutions are delivered consistently.
And because Sciforma’s PPM software consolidates all of your project information to provide a portfolio-level perspective, the workplace collaboration and communication benefits don’t stop there. PMOs can work with project managers, product owners, executives and other stakeholders. Those same executives can work more effectively together on planning and replanning activities.
Communication of decisions and changes becomes faster and more straightforward across the workplace. Misunderstanding and miscommunication is eliminated. The entire strategic planning and delivery process becomes more efficient, while delivering improved benefits.
And when your teams communicate and collaborate as one, without having to move from one tool to another, the workplace savings translate directly to the bottom line. That’s an easy benefit to communicate.
Learn more about the benefits of visual collaboration for digitalization in our expert webinar.
Andy Jordan
Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras based management consulting firm with a strong emphasis on organizational transformation, portfolio management, and PMOs. Andy is an in-demand keynote speaker and author who delivers thought provoking content in an engaging and entertaining style. He is also an instructor in project management-related disciplines, including PMO and portfolio management courses on LinkedIn Learning.