Knowing that communication, feedback, and conflict resolution are such an important part of maintaining an effective project team, you should keep the following considerations in mind when planning and managing your team and its activities:
- Estimate the number of communication channels on your team. This will help you better define how complex your communications will be and how consistent and organized you must be.
- Take an inventory of your communication skills, and develop your listening skills. Practice active listening regularly.
- Think about the types of communication you will use and decide on how you will use them. You will probably want to use verbal communication in status meetings as you discuss issues informally, but to record the decisions, you will want to write them down in some kind of weekly report.
- Study and understand the methods of resolving conflict. When you resolve an issue with a method other than problem solving, ensure you understand why, and the possible consequences.
- Practice conflict resolution using the problem-solving method as much as possible.