Being a good communicator is an attribute that invariably appears on every list of highly desirable qualities for any project manager, anywhere in the world. And it’s not without reason: Communication is extremely important in project management. If you don’t communicate with your team, they won’t know what to do or when to do it. In turn, if you don’t know what your team is up to, you won’t be able to track the progress of your project, which will lead to its failure.
You must be able to maintain open and accurate communication channels with all levels of a project, including project members and stakeholders—from the ground up. Inadequate or unclear communication can result in faulty assumptions and poor work quality, whereas overloading a stakeholder with information can result in them shutting you down.
Effective communication is interactive communication that relies on either nonverbal, verbal, written, contextual, or subjective components to convey a message and to obtain feedback.
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Let us now begin with the topic “Project Management: Interactive vs. Push vs. Pull Communication.”
The PMBOK® Guide distinguishes three types of communication:
1. Communication that is interactive
2. Communication by Push
3. Push and Pull Communication
Communication that is interactive
The term “interactive communication” is fairly self-explanatory. It is, as the name implies, a multidirectional mode of communication. When you need an immediate response and the information you’re communicating is sensitive and could be misinterpreted, you use interactive communication. It entails one or more people exchanging thoughts and ideas in real time, with participants responding in real time.
In-person interactive communication is preferred by project managers. When communicating via media such as video conferences, phones, meetings, and so on, a project manager may be unable to detect the stakeholders’ facial expressions and body language.
Consider the following example to better understand this concept. Assume you need to meet with stakeholders to discuss the progress of a project, or there is a problem with the project. It would be preferable to use interactive communication rather than sending messages via email and having them respond via email. Rather than being unsure of what is going on, you should call a meeting or a video conference so you can explain the problem to them and get feedback.
Any face-to-face contact is an example of interactive communication.
Meetings
Conference Calls
Conference Push Communication / Video Calls
Push Communication
This type of communication is from sender to receiver and is preferable when you want to distribute information but don’t need an immediate response—or if the matter you’re trying to convey isn’t urgent or sensitive. However, as soon as the recipient sees the message, they must take action.
Memos, letters, emails, reports, faxes, and other forms of push communication are all examples of push communication. It is typically done through some written medium rather than face-to-face. The one disadvantage of this type of communication is that the sender can only determine whether or not the message was successfully delivered. Some email systems can notify you when an email is opened, but this feature cannot guarantee that the recipient comprehended the message being communicated.
As another example, suppose you have a technical problem that requires immediate attention, and you notify your company’s technology department to resolve it. You email IT, but no one is available that day, so your email was not received. You only know that the email you sent was delivered successfully. You have no idea if it has been received. You won’t know the email was received until desktop support arrives to fix the problem.
Communication by Pull
Pull communication does not entail attracting a reader to read your message. Pull communication, on the other hand, is all about giving a group access to common information. The receiver, on the other hand, must recover this information. This method is used when there is a large audience that needs access to information.
Make use of this type of information when communicating information. If a recipient does not read your message, it has no bearing on the project. Pull communication is known to be the most appropriate type of communication because information will be accessed only when needed. Pull communication methods include posting information on websites, wikis, knowledge repositories, bulletin boards, and so on.
When you enroll in one of SPOTO Learning project management courses, you might encounter a pulls communication scenario. You require more information on the subject and begin your search for relevant information from the Articles/eBooks available on our website.
