Project Management Case: International Communications (Essay Sample)

International Communications
Student’s Name
Institution’s Name:
International Communications
Ineffective communication in project management is often the root cause of most projects. Poor communicators repeatedly make similar communication mistake because they are unaware of the consequences of this (Pritchard, 2004). Samuel is a victim of ineffective communication who makes numerous communication mistakes again and again. To begin with, Samuel constantly makes the wrong assumptions that leads him to big communication problems with everyone. For instance, he has a wrong perception that Ireland and Boston are not any different from Dallas. He makes a wrong assumption that Angelique’s intention is to make significant changes to the project thus delaying the project. Secondly, Samuel lacks regular communication and meetings. He fails to arrange specific time and days to meet with the project team so that everyone is kept on the same page (Binder, 2007). Regular meetings and communication are important aspects that helps to keep the project flowing smoothly.
Furthermore, Samuel provides the subcontractors with overly optimistic targets. He expects the German and Japanese subcontractors to complete the project before time without excuses and negations. He is only interested in the early completion bonus that is provided for if the project is completed before the scheduled time. In addition, Samuel lacks a system for approving changes as well as tracking any changes done to the project (Pritchard, 2004). Significant changes are done to the project without his knowledge. He seems not aware of the changes made on equipment specifications as well as performance requirements on the Japanese subcontractor. In addition, Samuel is not a flexible project manager. He is not open to suggestions and opinions from others including Angelique and Penny not knowing that their suggestions could be of much help to the project.
Angelique should decline to Penny’s call demanding her to travel to Dallas to meet Samuel. Samuel needs to arrange regular meetings at a certain interval in order to review the way the project is running. He lacks proper preparation so that meetings are scheduled well in advance and project team players are made aware in advance. In this case, Angelique has the right to refuse to travel to Dallas as the meeting had not been provided for in advance. Indeed Michael ought to have acted on Samuel bad behavior to prevent such an occurrence in the future. Samuel’s comments about Angelique were insensitive and rude. As the vice president of Thomson Industry’s projects, Michael ought to have taken a disciplinary action against Samuel. Penny, just like Angelique should report Samuel to his boss concerning his...