Cresa Blog

Communicating through Documents & Deliverables

By Phillip Infelise, Vice Chairman

In our past blog editions, we have covered a range of approaches and services that Project Managers provide.  Now, I think it is time to look at how we (should) communicate with our clients and our project team.  Often it is not what we say, but how we say it.  And written communication, deliverables, and documentation are needed to cover what we are not saying out loud.

Since we have come to accept that very few people ever read lengthy, detailed documentation—we need to adapt to that, and our documents need to catch the eye and focus on only the most important details.  And they must be visually appealing to do that.

-E-mails should be written with all the protocol of a formal letter, not a sound bite.  And the subject line should indicate whether action is needed or simply information is being provided.

-Action Items replace the former laborious Meeting Minutes so team members can focus on only that which is critically important.

-Project Memoranda seem to be a lost art and defers to e-mails, but there are circumstances when a situation or approach should be clarified in this more formal document.

-Deliverables should be boringly consistent – every document should be identical to any prior version.

-Color can be very effective if used appropriately.  Applying red, yellow, green light symbols to Action Items can really grab the attention of the reader to their follow-up needs.

-Complimenting the client by using their logo on documents is a nice touch (make sure your company logo is not bigger or more prominently placed than theirs).

-File Identifiers are important on each document so folks will know where to find it in the electronic archives, often many years later.

-Communicate to the client with commonly used words, not industry-speak.

-Talk less, say more and communicate facts; don’t tell stories just to fill air time.

-Be an Advisor, not a Reporter, as clients needs to know what is coming around the next bend, not hearing what already happened in the last few weeks.

-Phone Conversations is still an important form of communication particularly when sensitive or personal information is forthcoming in a written document and needs prior context.

Many times, a solid document/deliverable can communicate in a graphic way what would have taken thousands of word to describe.  Knowing when to talk and when to document is an acquired skill.

Finally, as a member of our national marketing team, I look at every document we produce as Project Managers to be an opportunity to extend our brand with a consistent identity that is recognizable and replicable.  That is to say, I want each client and project team member to look at a document we produce and immediately know – “that’s a CresaPartners piece.”

In the next blog edition, let’s have a little fun and look at some acronyms and industry speak that baffle our clients.  Maybe we will even make a few 2011 resolutions.

Tags: corporate real estate, PM

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 at 7:00 am and is filed under Project Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.