This is Mark Phillips’ guest contribution to PMP.
“Let the meaning determine the word, not the other is the most important thing.”
George Orwell
Mark PhillipsGeorge Orwell’s essay Politics and the English Language, is the final essay in his Penguin Book Why I Write. He criticizes writers of his time for using premade phrases to express their thoughts. These pre-made phrases, he believes confuse their intentions, and worse, muddle their thinking and make it difficult to understand what they are saying.
He cites his time as an example the phrase: “The Fascist Octopus had sung its swan song, the jackboot was being thrown in the melting pan.” He says, “It is possible to assume that the writer isn’t seeing a mental image of the objects he names. In other words, he’s not really thinking.”
These phrases may not be used in our daily project management lives but there is a lesson Mr. Orwell can teach. Too often, we resort too often to pre-made project artifacts when managing projects. We pull out reports we have used multiple times. We use the same schedules that we have used for years. To send reminders and budgets into spreadsheets, we use the same words for each project. We might alter the text or colors in our to-do lists. Every project is tackled with the same tool-kit.
Reusing documentation can pose a danger
Pre-made phrases can be dangerous, just as Orwell warned about. Communication is key to any project’s success. It is how people get the information they need in order to make informed decisions about the project. It allows people to see what is happening, what needs to be done, and how they feel. It directly affects how people act and the actions they take to move the project ahead.
Clear communication is key to the receiver’s understanding of the project. It builds trust and shows we are sensitive to the receiver’s needs. This helps us move the project closer to our goals. When communication is not clear or on-the-shelf, people feel like they are just another cog in the machine. They may feel neglected and uncared-for. This can lead to disengagement or mistrust which can move the project and our team members further away from our goal of a successful programme.
Artifacts are similar to words and convey meaning to our team members and paint a picture to our stakeholders. They are communication objects. They can be useful if the receiver understands them correctly. They can become impediments if they are not understood correctly by the receiver. They can become noise and fade into the background with all the other information we receive every day. As project managers, we can pay attention to the communication objects we create in order to ensure their usefulness.
Orwell stated that pre-made phrases and stale metaphors could save you a lot mental effort, but can also make your meaning unclear for both your reader and yourself. By paying more attention to what communication objects we create, and how they are sent out, we can improve the quality of projects. We can ensure that everyone in our projects understands the importance of communication objects, increase trust within our teams, and have more success with our projects.
About the author: Mark Phillips is an adjunct professor at Lawrence Technological University’s College of Management.
