SPaMCAST 138 - Jo Ann Sweeney, Communication

Welcome to the Software Process and Measurement Cast 138! SPaMCAST 138 features my interview with Jo Ann Sweeney.  I think we would all agree that communication is an important tool for taming the clash of organizational perspectives, for creating a platform for collaboration or in other words for making projects work.  Our interview covered these points and more and is a must for all of my listeners! Meet Jo Ann Sweeney Some years ago my husband and I were having an argument. We had opposite views and seemed to be going round in circles. I couldn’t understand why. Then the penny dropped. It was all about perspective. He sees things in black and white; I see in shades of grey. Once he realised I understood his point of view he expected me to agree with him. For him my understanding equalled agreement. Since then I’ve come to realise this same clash of perspectives happens in organisations all the time. Leaders and employees have very different outlooks that can undermine the whole organisation. Either they trust each other’s perspectives and are willing to collaborate. Or they use up huge amounts of energy trying to coerce each other – creating frustration, resistance, delays and escalating costs. In my 25+ years with multinationals, SMEs, government departments and charities I’ve come to realise this is all about relationships of trust. And about people listening to and understanding each other; being willing to put themselves in other people’s shoes. Today I lead Sweeney Communications , a consultancy dedicated to helping communicators and project professionals deliver communication activities that build trust and rapport with their audiences both internally and externally. My role invariably is as a catalyst, asking the difficult questions that help clients understand what their leaders expect of them. Then holding their hands while they win the buy-in of key people – executives, team members, government, customers. Much of what I’m learning I share through the CommsAbilities blog  and ezine ; and the annual virtual Worth Working Summit Jo Ann Sweeney is a chartered marketer and trained journalist, and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and of the Institute of Internal Communication.   Shameless Ad for my book! Mastering Software Project Management: Best Practices, Tools and Techniques co-authored by Murali Chematuri and myself and published by J. Ross Publishing. We have received great unsolicited reviews and the book has been picked up as a text book for university level work.  Have you bought your copy? Contact information for the Software Process and Measurement CastEmail:  spamcastinfo@gmail.comVoicemail:  +1-206-888-6111Website: www.spamcast.netTwitter: www.twitter.com/tcagleyFacebook:  http://bit.ly/16fBWV Next!In the SPaMCAST 139 we will return to the Metrics Minute and tackle one or two of the financial metrics that are important for projects.