We all know that good communication is important in project management. It helps to keep the project on track, reduce misunderstandings, and contributes heavily to project success.

But, sadly, there is also another benefit to good communication, depending on the type of organisation you work in. Because sometimes communication isn’t about getting your message across, it’s about being seen to be giving the message out.

Every organisation is in some way political. Even the smallest of organisations has people with varying aims, but the real problems happen when you get to large organisations. These have many different people, all of whom have their own goals, as well as trying to progress the organisation’s aims.

And, unfortunately, sometimes your project can run afoul of these different aims. Recently, a project I was working on was moving happily along with two different parts of an organisation. We were rolling out a new technology into one part of the business, and had left open the possibility of the other part getting involved later on.

But all the communication had been of a rather low-level, informal style. People on both sides knew what was happening, because middle management had been speaking to each other, and passing messages up or down their chain as needed.

However, when push came to shove, and the second half of the organisation had to decide whether to get involved or not, suddenly the communication seemed to have been for nothing.

You see, as no formal communications had been passed across – the other side of the business wasn’t a stakeholder – one side could claim the other hadn’t given them enough time to consider the options. This was despite the relaxed communications of middle-management.

Sometimes, you have formal communications just so you can prove you have had the communication. It may not be project management, but it’s something project managers need to do.