The Importance of Communication

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.

— ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

One of my most memorable stories of poor communication occurred while I was a running a Managed Services team. I had been tasked with running our Monthly Business Reviews with the client, and this was during one of those.

Everything had gone well during the meeting. Given my openness with communication and constant vigor with full transparency, there was nothing that I spoke to which was a surprise to either the Client, or the Contracting Agency. We had experienced many hiccups and delays to our timelines due to access issues but, we were still early on in our project; the Client was aware of these issues, and was not at all surprised. I proceeded to highlight our wins (minimal at the time), and was wrapping up.

Everyone was happy, and the Client was specifically happy that we were wrapping the meeting early, as she had mentioned her need to leave early anyway. I asked if they had any questions, to which they responded no, and proceeded to call an end to the meeting when the Product Owner jumped in. Now, you may be thinking that as the Product Owner, it’s his right and responsibility to speak in such a meeting, and you would not be wrong. There was a reason that I took on those items which required the most communication with the Client however.

He proceeded to, in his own jumble of words, repeat what I had just said. The problems with this were that I had already said it all very clearly and concise, while his reiteration was very confusing to all participants, and that there was absolutely no need to repeat it. Additionally, the Client had just thanked us, and was getting ready to go to her next meeting, when the Product Owner stepped in, completely disregarding her time and other commitments.

It was at this point that I happened to glance over at the faces of my Program Manager and one of the contracting agency’s VPs, and they were both just stunned. You could see that they were trying to hide it, but it was very easy to read the “What are you doing??” in their expressions. It wasn’t very long afterward that they both decided that a change was needed in the team structure, and let the Product Owner go. The Program Manager was frequently on calls with us and the Client’s stakeholders, and had seen that this was a common issue.

The Moral: Effective communication is a critical component as a Product Owner. I like to follow the below steps in order to ensure my communication is effective and WORKs.

What and WhyWhat are you trying to communicate? Why is it important? If you can’t answer either of these questions, then wait to speak/write.
Open and TransparentAs a PO, it is your responsibility to communicate between the Development Team and Stakeholders.  You serve nobody, including yourself, if you try to keep information from getting out.
Respect your coworkers’ time If it can be done via a simple email, don’t schedule a 60-minute meeting.
Keep it simpleClear and concise should be the cornerstone of effective communication. Ensure that your audience understands the material you’re presenting, but make sure you understand it enough first.  ~ If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. – Albert Einstein

Never underestimate the importance of knowing when NOT to talk. It is said that there is no such thing as a stupid question, but speaking for the sake of being heard is one of the most undesirable traits in (and out of) the workplace.

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Hi! I’m Mike. I have almost 15 years of technology experience in product, engineering, and architecture. Prior to that I have several years of business management experience in the hospitality industry.
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