This exercise was very interesting and gave me plenty of opportunity to reflect on my communication skills. I do wish there was more context provided. The lack of context left me feeling like I am grabbing at straws when writing my critique. Below is a synthesis of my thoughts on the message in different modalities.
My interpretation of the message only slightly changed from the three different modalities. In many cases I always feel that documenting messages like this is always better. I thought Jane’s email was appropriate but I also recognize that it could have been perceived as having a sharp tone. In the email Jane, was understanding to Marks schedule/workload and she demonstrated that she could be flexible by asking to have just the data that she needed and allow him to send the whole report at a later time. Email is always hard to read with regards to tone. I could see many people taking her comments about his busy schedule and comments like “I really appreciate your help” as insincere and fake. However, the interpretation of the tone really depends on the relationship that these two individuals have.
After I listened to the voicemail it was clear that Jane was not insincere but sounded a little panicked. She tried to keep a professional tone but I sensed she was concerned and concluded that she might have asked for this report on several occasions at this point.
The biggest change in my opinion was after I viewed the face to face. Jane’s body language and her tone was so laid back that it really did not seem like she was that worried about receiving the report. Either that or she was trying to be too friendly but really needed the report.
I think this activity was supposed to imply the importance of using the correct tone and modality with regards to communicating your message. However, as stated earlier the lack of context really made it challenging to draw conclusions on which modality was supposed to convey the true message.
I am not sure if I directly learned anything significant about communication from this activity. I can say that while reviewing this video I also reviewed our course text and would say that Jane made the right call about putting this request in email because Mark might not review it in a timely fashion because he is in an all-day meeting and if Jane misses her deadline at least she has documentation to prove that the matter was out of her hands and she did her due-diligence. She also has demonstrated that she is holding others accountable for their responsibilities. While PM might not feel that they are in a position of authority if all of the stakeholders agree to participate in the project and accept everyone’s role then in turn they are also accepting that as the PM Jane will follow up with the people involved in the project (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008, pg. 299). Once again this scenario does not confirm that Jane is the PM or that Mark has agreed to his assigned responsibilities but if we make that assumption than it is clear Jane is trying to conduct herself in a professional manner as the PM. I guess I also learned that while it is important to be flexible as the PM, it is also important to convey a sense of important/urgency when communicating with others involved in the project. By doing this you are demonstrating the value of everyone’s tasks and explaining that missing deadlines has a great impact on the project and could result in others missing their deadlines (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008, pg. 300). Jane did this by letting Mark know that his report is an important piece of the project that needs to be reported on. She convey this urgency by explaining that she needed data from him to include in her report.
References
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.
Amanda Primiano 
Amanda,
While reading your post, I was struck by and interesting thought. Your comments about lack of context made me think of communication plans and how they might influence the choice of media. My other thought was that different approaches might work better with different people. I am very visual and have a pretty good system for prioritizing messages and establishing tasks based on them. I hate voicemail as I recently had a bad experience with it. As a result, I tend to put off listening to voicemail recordings. Also, I have trouble remembering audio. Face-to-face is fine, though in my situation is not practical unless by Skype and would require me to take notes. In contrast, anyone who wants to get my husband’s attention is best doing it by phone. He is usually overwhelmed by emails and is not available for impromptu meetings.
I just had a third thought – if Mark was in meetings all day, it is likely the only way he could be reached is through email and text.
Diane
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Diane,
Very interesting thoughts. In theory I like your idea that different approaches work better for different people however I doubt the PM will have the time to accommodate to everyone’s preference. I think it is up to the people involved in the project to recognize what they respond to best and make sure that they keep up with the mode of communication especially if it is not their preference of communication. As a PM I would probably not go out of my way to accommodate everyone’s preference but I would probably use different methods when I realize that someone is not responding to one of them. For example, I had a person on my team ignore my emails and while I like having a record of communication I was forced to pick up the phone and get the update from them verbally.
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Amanda,
Your thoughts on the voicemail made me pause and reconsider my views on the email. I was more pragmatic and chose the email as more effective, mostly based on a checklist that managed time and documentation better, but did not include diplomacy on any level. Diane wrote about how using different methods work for different people. I have found this to be so very true in so many walks of life. And in working with large groups, your point to not being able to accommodate everyone’s preferred communication method is certainly valid. Every circumstance is unique and must be analyzed accordingly. Fun assignment, and thanks for your challenging post.
Michael
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Amanda,
Very interesting viewpoint. I like your approach, how you have not made the conclusion that there is agreement that Mark will create the report. Jane may have been able to start by thanking Mark for agreeing to help out or identifying the person who has offered his services. In any case, I found it amazing that you addressed it from the standpoint that Mark would be able to read the email when he had a chance. I know when I need to communicate with someone on an urgent matter, I try to meet them face-to-face. If that does not work, I try to call them. If they are not available, I do leave a message so they can hear my voice and then follow up with an email. I will place in the email that an attempt was made to visit/call them. This communication speaks of an urgent matter, so getting a hold of them seems imperative.
Steve
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I really enjoyed reading your prospective, Amanda.
It appears that you examined the wording of the email and that’s something that I failed to do. When reading the email, I did not feel that Jane’s comment about Mark’s schedule busy schedule or her comment- “I really appreciate your help” as insincere. I thought she was simply acknowledging or expressing understanding of his schedule and how he may be prioritizing when she too- had deadlines to meet. I think she threw in- “I appreciate your help” to still be polite in addition to expressing urgency.
I too expressed the importance of putting the request in writing but you took it a step further by mentioning her creating a document trail and doing her due diligence which are both really important.
Thank you for sharing your insight.
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Hi Amanda
Quite interestingly that you mentioned that the video did not reveal that Jane was the PM. It is left to assume that she is. Well, I assumed. One thing that is pointed out though is the urgency of having Mark’s report to complete her report. This shows that they are dependent on each other as a team. The communication is internal and she needs to ensure that the two way communication remains open. The face-to-face is the best way to communicate if she wishes a response right away. Mark can answer her right there and communication signals will be exchanged without misunderstanding. As a matter of fact, if Mark has the report, he can hand to her right there, or email it to her right there so she can see.
Stacia
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