As project managers, we are all very aware of the need to communicate to our project teams as well as our stakeholders. The basic formula for calculating possible communication channels is N(N-1)/2, where N is the number of stakeholders and/or project members. For all intents and purposes, project members are stakeholders as well, so stakeholders will be the general term used in this post.
Why is communication so important as well as understanding the number of possible communication channels? Let's first think about whether we are "project managers" or "project leaders". I tend to use this a spark to networking conversations. Warren Bennis and Joan Goldsmith call out 12 distinctions between managers and leaders in their Learning to Lead workbook. See how many of these you can recognize in your organization.
- Managers administer
Leaders innovate - Managers ask how and when
Leaders ask what and why - Managers focus on systems
Leaders focus on people - Managers do things right
Leaders do the right things - Managers maintain
Leaders develop - Managers rely on control
Leaders inspire trust - Managers have short-term perspective
Leaders have long-term perspective - Managers accept the status-quo
Leaders challenge the status-quo - Managers have an eye on the bottom line
Leaders have an eye on the horizon - Managers imitate
Leaders originate - Managers emulate the classic good soldier
Leaders are their own person - Managers copy
Leaders show originality
If you have been in any size organization, you will have surely noticed many managers and executive team members go off and make a decision on something they have absolutely no clue about. These decisions are being made because management feels they know more about the area or for whatever reason, just refuse to consult with the subject matter experts that can provide the guidance needed to make the informed decision.
This is how managers work, leaders do not operate in this vacuum. They talk with people to gather ideas, new ways of doing things, and more. Leaders offer information knowing that this will repay them many times over. Leaders listen to knowledgeable people and this helps them make an informed leadership decision, not a management decision.
So, why do I bring this up? In many of the organizations I have worked with, the management and executive teams seemed to have this understanding that those higher up on the organization chart knew more. This may be true in a small number of organizations, but for the majority it is not. This is where social media comes into play, but why?
Social media removes the bureaucracy and just connects people to people. These people are typically the ones that do know things, rather than those that are assumed to know them. There are real conversations happening, albeit in 140 characters or less. This is the beauty of it, though. It forces the crap out and delivers only the relevant information. These connections listen and provide unique perspectives on what challenges your organization and/or projects. There is no dotted line hierarchy for reporting, no "you cannot have this resource" discussions.
So, if we look back at the communication path calculation again. Let's assume we have 18 people we interface with directly. This is 18(18-1)/2 = 153 possible communication paths. Good for a manageable project. If we extend this communication path out beyond the walls of our organization and onto Twitter or Facebook, we have a much larger range of communication possibilities. Each "follower" is a communications path, so let's say I have 350 followers. This would put our communication paths at 350(350-1)/2 = 61,075. Compare that to our meager 153 communication paths by staying within the walls of our organization. This is one of the ideas behind "crowdsourcing", where we utilize the power of social media to assist in our challenges.
As project managers or project leaders, we need to learn to embrace social media to help us out where it is appropriate. Of course, company confidential or proprietary information would not be best served through crowdsourcing, however, steps can be taken to mask the actual product or project being developed to still allow you to leverage social media to your advantage.
How are you using social media for managing/leading your projects?
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