How to Communicate Up, Down, and Sideways in Your Company
Think about a carpenter’s tool belt. It’s strapped around his waist for easy access to the tools he needs to do the job, wherever his is. He can be up a ladder one moment needing a hammer and level or on the floor the next, needing pliers and a tape measure. As long as his tools are within reach, he can get the job done. Undoubtedly, though, he has a favorite. It may have been the first tool he purchased many years ago starting out as a carpenter, or one given by someone that meant a lot to him.
As a project manager, you have access to many project tools. You may use a work breakdown structure (WBS) to define what needs to be done to finish a project. Or, one of your favorites may be the risk register for cataloguing and managing risk. One of my favorites is the 4-blocker status report that shows accomplishments, next steps, risks, and discussion points all on one page. It is a great tool for executive debriefs and keeping the project moving forward.
While all project tools are great…I have to say that my absolute favorites are any that have to do with project communication. There is no way a project can be successful unless everyone knows what is going on relative to a project’s current status, next steps, and what is expected to complete the project. You can’t use a project tool to communicate effectively, however, without an understanding of the multi-directional aspect of project communication.
What exactly is the multi-directional aspect of effective communication? All that this mouthful means is that you need to communicate in different ways when you communicate in different directions. For example, communicating project status to a C-Level executive is very different than communicating status to an engineer in the trenches banging out code. In other words, project communication goes in three directions: Up, Down, and Sideways.
Communicating Up
Communicating Up is getting the word up the food chain to those above your position. This includes your boss, executives and other stakeholders that have a vested interest in the success of the project you are managing.
Why Communicating Up is Important – This group can make your life easier or miserable, depending on what and when they know about what is going on. For example, if you know a project runs the risk of not making it due to a lack of resources, this is the group that can reallocate resources or reprioritize other activities so that your project meets its deadline. If you come to them too late in the process, they will ask, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier when we could have done something about it?”
Challenges of Communicating Up – The biggest challenge with communicating up is that everyone is extremely busy and doesn’t have time for the long, drawn-out explanation of what happened, why it happened, or what went wrong. You may only be able to get a sound bite in while you are walking with them down the hall or rushing to your next meeting together.
Which Project Tool Should You Use? To communicate a message up, 4-blocker status reports are most effective. Make sure the information is brief, succinct and quickly nets out where things stand. Otherwise, you run the risk of their eyes glazing over or losing interest, and a decision not being made. This group relishes face-to-face conversation or a short (one or two line) email that gets right to the point.
Communicating Down
Communicating Down is communicating to the cross-functional resources from various departments that temporarily roll up to you while your project is being worked on. To further clarify this distinction, it does not reflect anyone’s subordinate position relative to you.
Why Is Communicating Down Important? For obvious reasons, this group needs to be apprised of project status because they are on the front lines getting things done. They know the intricacies and nuances of what is being worked on and can provide you with the feedback (both good and bad) that you need to keep a project moving forward.
Challenges of Communicating Down – As with executives, this group is extremely busy…just in a different way. They are most likely overloaded, overwhelmed, and under great pressure to get their work done. They receive pressure not just from you as their project manager, but also their functional manager and possibly other project managers. You need to be careful to not bury this group with too much information that will unnecessarily slow them down or cause them frustration or aggravation. Just give them enough information to get the task at hand done.
Which Project Tool Should You Use? To communicate your message down, use weekly status meetings, 1-on-1 conversations, updated and proper project documentation (requirements, specifications, etc.) and emails with a bit more explanation on the background of why decisions were made one way or the other. This will give them enough information to be comfortable in doing their job.
Communicating Sideways
Communicating Sideways is often overlooked. You communicate sideways with peers and colleagues that are at similar levels as you in the organization. While it’s not a requirement to effectively communicate with peers, it sure makes everyone’s job that much easier.
Why Is Communicating Sideways Important? Your peers run other departments that you may rely upon to get your job done. You may need resources from their departments, or deliverables to be finished in a certain way, or just a plain old favor every now and then. By maintaining positive and respectful communication with your peers, you will find that all of these things will flow that much smoother.
Challenges of Communicating Sideways – Sometimes you just might not like a peer. Perhaps their personality makes them hard to communicate with. They may run their department differently than you, or make you jump through hoops before they say “yes” to your requests.
Which Project Tool Should You Use? Lunch. That’s right; lunch is the best project tool when it comes to communicating with peers and colleagues. That time away gives each of you the opportunity to understand each other’s position and needs, commiserate over what’s wrong with the company, talk about how to make things better, and just get to know each other better. You will be amazed at what a profound difference it makes to have some semblance of a relationship with your peers.
Just like a carpenter has a favorite tool, you as a project manager have many project tools at your disposal. Never lose sight of the fact that any project tool related to effective communication will provide a substantial return on your investment.
