Knowing the components of the communications model is critical if the project manager must identify where a communications breakdown is occurring. Sometimes the breakdown occurs in the message. Sometimes, the concerns surface with the selection of media, and sometimes it is just noise.

A basic communications model includes a sender, a receiver, and a message. The message is transmitted through a medium (voice, written word, radio, television, instant message, Web page, and so on) after being encoded by the sender. As it travels through that medium, a variety of filters are applied (including language, understanding, physical distance, and so on) that alter the message as it arrives for decoding by the receiver. As the message is received, other distractions, or noise, may interfere, ranging from a ringing cell phone to a window washer dangling outside the window. The message is received and decoded and may prompt some feedback to the sender in a variety of different forms. Each of these components in the communications model represents both opportunity and risk: opportunity to enhance the understanding; and risk of losing the message.
The sender is the individual or group responsible for issuing the initial message. The sender’s responsibility is to “consciously construct” the information she wishes to convey. The message is the body of information the sender is attempting to communicate. As the sender builds the message, he or she has the opportunity to develop an idea into a comprehensive whole and to share information with clarity. He or she also risks providing information that is unnecessary, extraneous, or superfluous and losing the receiver in a sea of data.

The choice of medium is crucial in a communications model. As Marshall McLuhan emphasized in his classic work, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, “the medium is the message.” Firing a team member via e-mail is considered a violation of conventional business protocol. Firing a team member over a loudspeaker would be even worse. Firing a team member in a one-on-one conversation, off-site, might be considered reasonable and fair. The message is the same. Only the media change. Selecting media in the communications model is a critical issue, because the media can determine how the information is filtered, decoded, and received.

Media can be categorized in a host of different way. Some are intentionally one-way media (speeches, loudspeakers), while others are intensely intimate (oneon-one, face-to-face communications). Some are remote (e-mail, instant messaging, teleconferences),  while  others  are  direct (meetings,  presentations).  Some  are broadcast (television, radio), while others are far more narrow in scope (Web sites). The choice of medium can largely determine how a message is received and decoded.

It is up to the project manager to ascertain which medium is appropriate. If a directive is being issued and no feedback is desired or required, one-way communication may be fitting. If individual, confidential feedback is required, e-mail may be preferred over a team meeting. If the intent is to “wow” the customer or management, a formal presentation may be the correct route. The choice of medium is instrumental in determining how the message is received.

The receiver decodes the message through a series of filters. The most common filter is language. Technical jargon can obscure an otherwise crystal-clear message. Acronyms may leave the listener or reader awash in an ocean of misunderstanding. When encoding the message, the sender should be mindful of the receiver’s ability to decode it. Filters are somewhat exclusive to an individual or audience. Noise is not. Noise is any environmental distraction that may detract from the receiver’s understanding of the message. The smell of popcorn in the next room may be enough to shut down receipt of a message. A butterfly outside a window can be “noisy” enough to visually distract everyone in a meeting. A cold draft on the back of the neck creates a tactile noise that cannot be ignored.

Once the message is received and decoded, the receiver may provide feedback. Such feedback may be spoken, written, or conveyed through body language or attitude. As the feedback is provided, it becomes a message, and the cycle begins anew.

Communications problems occur when the model breaks down. These concerns manifest themselves in compelling ways. They become evident as problems with project communications. Examples include the following:

• Sender/Receiver Problems

•   Sender fails to send the message. (The project manager believed he or she sent an e mail, but it was never sent.)

•   Receiver fails to receive the message. (The customer’s e-mail system was down for maintenance when the message was sent.)

•   The message is received in a format that is not understood. (The message came with an attachment that was in an unfamiliar format.)

•   The message is received, but misinterpreted. (The project manager used the term network to refer to a scheduling diagram, but the customer believed they were discussing computer systems.)

•   The message is sent, but the sender is unavailable. (The customer is on a weeklong holiday.)

• Message Problems

•   The message is incomplete. (Only the first seven chapters of an eight-chapter book are transmitted.)

•   The message is sent to the wrong party. (The project manager delivers a message to his or her subcontractor to the customer by accident.)

•   The message is in the wrong language. (A project team member delivers an expla nation to the customer using extensive technical jargon.)

• Medium Problems

•   The wrong medium is chosen. (The project manager sends a sensitive message about the customer relationship via e-mail.)

•   The medium is misused. (The project manager leaves a 20-minute voice-mail.)

•   The medium is broken. (The e-mail system transcribes the message into unintelligible jargon.)

Most, if not all, of these problems have common solutions. Those common solutions are rooted in the notion that the more consistency that is applied to communications, the more readily the messages can be sent and received and the more likely they are to be understood. If status reports take on the same format week after week after week, team members know how to fill them out properly and can more quickly and efficiently update their status on the project. When the customers receive those reports, they know where to look for the information they consider germane because they have seen the reports before and are accustomed to seeking out the information they want. If a project manager knows that a team member always leaves voice-mails that are 30 seconds in length or less, those messages are more likely to be well received than if the messages vary from a few seconds to manyminutes-long diatribes. Consistency is the key.

The project manager seeking effective communication seeks some measure of consistency. The project manager must ensure that the messages are sent and received and that they are clearly understood by all parties involved. The way to ensure that actually happens is to use common approaches, forms, templates, and structures that clearly communicate what the receiver needs to know and when the receiver needs to know it.