This week were asked to receive a request for information through email, voicemail and then face to face to determine which form of communication most clearly stated the intent of the message. The message was an informal reminder to submit needed back ground information on a project. The recipient was involved in a long meeting that day which had nothing to do with the communicated request. I found that in this case, communicating the message through voice mail was the best. It allowed me to hear the inflection of the request as well as to replay the message if needed. The email was poorly written and difficult to follow without the inflection that a voice can give to a message. The face to face message was too informal and if given during the break from the long meeting could easily be forgotten. A voicemail message can be checked when the receiver is ready for the message as opposed to over the cube wall in between meetings as was the case in this scenario.
According to Portny et al. (2008) formal requests should always be completed in writing or if in a face to face meeting a follow up email or document should be sent. This scenario was an informal request so a voice message or clearly written email would be best. Stopping someone in the hall or peeking over the cube to deliver the reminder just asks for it to be forgotten. Ultimately, we should always attempt to use the right form of communication for the subject matter and the recipient. Portny et al. (2008) succinctly states “The key to successful project management is effective communication – sharing the right messages with the right people in a timely manner “ (p. 357).
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
