1. How important are communication skills in project management?

In any organization, communication plays a vital role in managing the project. When one working as a group the common complaints which register the most are lack o communication. On to be successful in being the project manager he/she should possess excellent communication skills. Communication is not only about perfection; it must improve from day to day. The project manager should spend most of the time in the conversation. Communication speaks not about speaking or listening to the one’s words; it is about conveying the content accurately to the opposite persons. Whatever the person says it should be understandable to a different person. Better communication improved by adjusting with the environment, i.e., one should come to know the opposite person can understand which language by that the person should express the content in his imperative language then the opposite person can understand the material quickly. By maintaining the proper word also helps in achieved excellent communication. If the above qualities cannot found, then there is a lack of communication in the member. If proper communication is not maintained, then it leads to conversation and also points to the failure of the project. If one possesses poor communication, then he cannot express the goal of the project by that it results in the project failure. Usually, communication is of two types they are active communication, and the other one is passive communication.

2. Was Herb the right person to be assigned as the project manager?

According to my opinion, I would not suggest herb as the project manager one of the reason is he is not interested, and the other reason is the person was not experienced in the role of the project manager. As mentioned in the case study, the herb was the one who possesses the experience in research and development and also in the subject matter expert (SME) in manufacturing engineering. So, I prefer to make him the manager for R&D department. By that, he can deal with the task which is assigned by the manager of the project.  This would be helpful in future works. As the case study didn’t speak about Bob, Alice, and Betty so we cannot talk about them so herb should not be appointed as the project manager. Making herb as the project manager is not a quick decision.

 3. There were communications issues with Alice, Bob, Betty, and Frank. For each communication issue, where was the breakdown in communications: encoding, decoding, feedback, and so on?

Herb didn’t communicate with the team members who are in the team regarding the project. Being the project manager, he should talk with everyone who is in the group and should motivate them regarding project success. The main reason for miscommunication with Alice is he is not familiar with the language which Alice speaks coming to Bob he was encoding because he needed the communication with the engineers. When coming to Betty, she needs the procurement cost Betty not included in the meeting which was conducted by the herb. 

References

Effective Communication in Project Management. (2018, January 17). Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://www.teamgantt.com/blog/why-communication-is-important-in-project-management/

Was the herb right person to be assigned for the project Manager? – yieldstudy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2019, from http://www.yieldstudy.com/was-the-herb-right-person-to-be-assigned-for-the-project-manager/