The role of communication
The role of communication was emphasized from the initiating all through the closing stage of the project. The two members who were entrusted with ensuring the success of the communication function were the team leader and the secretary. The reason for this is because they were in charge of the day to day running of the team and therefore had to be on top of the communication function. To ensure the success of the communication function in the team, the two individuals above undertook a variety of measures. To begin with, they got a good communication app for the team. The aim of using a team communication app was to have all the essential information in one spot. To ensure this, the team utilized the Wassup communication app by Facebook, which made it easy to manage information in the group since it was centralized in one area. Besides, the team also made room for emotional conversations where informal communication was handled . We came to realize that informal communication was vital in forging unity and motivation in the team where the team could engage each other on topics unrelated to the project. Here, they could also share their stress and concerns for easy resolution.
Moreover, we got an online project management tool that enabled us to be in constant communication with each other. The tool was fundamental in tracking the progress of the project tasks and also ensuring that everyone was on the same page. Further, to ensure the success of the communication function in the team, the team leader made sure to make the mission and vision clear to everyone which helped everyone to consolidate their understanding of the company goals and hence were able to communicate with each other more effectively. Additionally, the team leader took upon himself to frequently ask the team how they conceived the current communication channels and mediums in the group and where they wanted improvements to be made.
LESSONS LEARNT
I learned various lessons by participating in the project. One of the critical lessons I learned is on the importance of problem resolution during a project. I learned that projects are not smooth, and there are many challenges which can crop up requiring for practical solutions to resolve them. There are many causes of conflicts in projects, for example, cultural differences, variations in project priorities, personal issues, resource competition, communication barriers, poor planning, and the conflicts emanating from the team-setup. However, conflicts are not entirely damaging but can also be beneficial if they are well managed. I learned that in order to manage the conflicts in teams effectively, it is crucial to first prepare for resolving the dispute by acknowledging its occurrence, discussing is impact, agreeing to a cooperative process, and also agreeing to communicate to handle the conflict. The second steep understands the situation by clarifying positions, listing assumptions and facts underlying every position. The third step in the resolution of the conflicts is by reaching agreement over the contentious issue . The second lesson I learned by participating in the project is regarding the importance of a project charter. I realized the constituent parts of the project charter have utmost significance in the project. For example, the problem statement lists the issue to be addressed by the project. On the other hand, the business need addressed showcases how the project supports the strategic goals of an organization and how the project solves the customer’s problems. On the other hand, the objective section illustrates how the organization will improve its processes while the scope shows exactly what the project will focus on. Finally, the resources section highlights the assets necessary for the team to complete the project while the deliverables measure the benefits of deploying the project. Another important lesson I learn by participating in this project is regarding the importance of metrics in projects. I go to learn that several performance indicator metrics are helpful to project team leaders and managers in ascertaining the achievements of the set goals by assessing the overall health. These metrics are diverse and are divided into groups, including quality and productivity metrics. For the productivity metrics, they include the milestones completed, billable hours, return on investments, and project cancellation. On the other hand, the quality metrics include customer satisfaction, net promoter score, the customer complaints, and the budget changes.