From what I can read and I understand, project managers have a hard job when wanting to manage projects successfully. They may be prepared and have planned all necessary steps, might  be fortuned by skilled and motivated teams, they may moreover have so much luck that their client can express project requirements in a clear and distinct way. They might have thought about possible risks and took steps to mitigate them. They may even have managed to get the budget they requested. How many ‘may’s and ‘might’s have I used? Many? Yes, many but not enough. Even with so many mights which go right, they still can not be sure they can yell ‘done’  on time or be successful at the end.

Why? Well it is all about communication. Bad communication will make your project fail, good would give a legitimate chance of succeeding.

Our colleague Richard Joerges found in the archives of TED Conference 2002 a video describing how people sometimes talk, send messages, inform one another that everything is developing as agreed and fail to communicate their real problems or concerns.

The video is a presentation of Chris Bangle (famous car designer for various auto mobile companies like BMW, Fiat or Range Rover) in which he talks about how it pays not only to talk but also to say what’s in your mind and how to build trust between team members.

You may watch the video here: