Week 3 Blog Assignment: Communicating Effectively. This week we look at a message from Jane to Mark about an ETA for a report. She needs this report to complete her portion of the project. We look at email, voicemail and face-to-face. I interpret each message depending on the urgency of the information needed. We live in an email generation where everything is emailed. When I look at each, I see a progression of urgency starting with email and then ending with face-to-face. For example, we received escalated emails from the call center concerning an upset policyholder on how their claims were handled. The email gives a brief description of what happened. The claim was denied wrong or right or the claim was paid but the policyholder believes they should have got more money. The email ends with what the customer wants. We have 24 hours to respond to the email. The second form is a warm transfer call. The call centers places a call to the claims specialist because the customer is irate and they want their situation handled immediately. By doing this, we can look at the information right then inform the call center representative whether or not the claim is going to be paid or reviewed again. Lastly, we may be visited by a supervisor or a leader in the company concerning a claim that has escalated all the way to them. These are the “BIG” ones where the policyholder is threatening to sue or call the media. The face-to-face conversation is similar but has a greater since or urgency that the first two. As I review Mark and Jan situation, this is my take. If she sends the email, she needs the information but the sense of urgency is not a top priority. If she leaves a voicemail, then the report is needed very soon but if she comes to him face-to-face, then he is late and she needs the report yesterday. I believe the face-to-face really conveys the true intent of the message. It is obvious Mark is late with the report and Jan needs it now to complete her portion of the project. She is trying to be nice about this situation but it is becoming a problem. From this I have learned that communicating with a project team is at the top of the list. Communication should always be clear, concise and focused. This helps everyone stay on target. One should always avoid ambiguity and always document oral communication. As I communicated with a project team, it is my goal to always remain consistent in my communication with each of them. I want to always remain on topic and try to remain on schedule. I want to motivate them to value the client and stakeholders so that we can present a great project to them.