Communicating Effectively

This weeks post will be about communication. Most of us have probably played the game as a kid where someone whispers a message in your ear and everyone passes that message on one by one. Once the message gets to the last person it usually is different. This is a problem with communication between two people, whether it's because they misheard or misinterpreted doesn't matter.
I will also be discussing how a message can seem to have a different meaning depending on the medium it is on. (Ex. voice mail, in person, and email)

My first interpretation is of an email. In this email Jane is informing Mark that she needs to know when he will be able to finish his report because she needs to get information from his report to finish hers. She said that he could also just send the information she needs to her via email. Part of the reason she is in a rush to do it is because she has her own deadline of when she has to get her report turned in. She also mentions that she heard he would be in an all day meeting.
My second interpretation is of a voice mail. It is the exact same message just left in a voice mail. I interpreted the message in the same way as before. I do feel it would be better as an email since Jane was requesting information to be sent back to her.
The final form of communication is a face to face conversation. I got the same interpretation of the message. The difference with the face to face communication is that I felt the need to take care of it right then and there instead of putting of until later.

One thing that I learned from this assignment is that the mode you use depends what information you are trying to get. As I mentioned earlier I feel if you are looking for an email back with information I feel an email is the best form of communication. Also I feel a face to face communication will get more immediate results.
Even though I interpreted the messages the same each time I understand how someone could easily get a different interpretation of the message based on the form of it. Facial expressions and gestures that you receive during a face to face communication give off another message while you're talking. I feel tone and urgency is the biggest difference you find with different modes of communication.

I learned that there are many different forms of communication that can be used in all sorts of situations. As a PM I would decide in advance and inform the rest of the team what forms of communication should be used either for all communications or at least in what situations.

Reference:

Laureate Education. (Producer). (2010). [Online]. The Art of Effective Communication. Retrieved from Walden University eCollege.