Answer

Introduction

For a project to be successful, the parties involved must be able to communicate effectively. The project life cycle thrives on effective communication. Even if the project plan is stellar, without good communication the project is doomed to fail (Binder, 2016). This is especially true due to the fact that projects are typically run by teams. It would therefore make sense that these teams must be able to communicate in order for each member to contribute to the success of the project. The PICOT study about leadership styles within the inpatient nursing unit has two types of communication recipients. The nursing leadership and the inpatient nursing unit are the direct recipients while the patients, community and sponsors are the indirect recipients. As a project manager, the first step in ensuring good communication is identifying your stakeholders for these are the people with whom you must communicate.

There are several stakeholders in this nursing project. The most important stakeholder in this project is the inpatient nursing unit. This is because the inpatient nursing unit is most affected by the leadership style within the unit. It is therefore important to engage the entire nursing community (nurses and nursing leaders) in the study as they are the subjects of the study. Communication with the inpatient nursing unit will include a formal request for their permission to be included in the study. This will be done through letters are emails which will be addressed to the leadership of nursing teams. Other communication will include questionnaires and interviews which the researcher will use to gather the required information. This stakeholder group will also be allowed to ask questions that may aid them in answering questions correctly. The PM also has the responsibility to communicate to the inpatient nursing team how this project may impact their work and the benefits that it will have on the inpatient nursing team.

The next stakeholder is the sponsor. This is the person(s) funding the project. It is important that throughout the project lifecycle the sponsor be given status reports and updates(Binder, 2016). Sponsors will not only want to know that their money is being used appropriately but they will also want to be informed of any changes or eventualities well in advance. The nursing leadership is also an important stakeholder because they are the ones who determine the leadership style within the inpatient unit.

 Another group of stakeholders is the inpatients. Since these patients are directly affected by the behavior of nurses in inpatient nursing team, they will be interested in the findings of this project. It is important to inform this group of the potential positive or negative effects that the project might have on them. However, project communication is not all about informing stakeholders of the impact or status of the project. The project manager must also communicate to the stakeholders how that may contribute to the success of the project.

A communication plan is very crucial to a project manager because it provides the PM with a guideline for communication with the entire inpatient nursing unit together with the inpatients (Binder, 2016). It basically describes the Who, What and Why of communication. A good communication plan is one that includes two forms of communication. For example, you may combine reading and writing or listening and speaking. Communication also depends on the structure of an organization for example horizontal or vertical. Communication may also be formal or informal (Binder, 2016).The most important communication tools for my project would be presentations, meetings and status reports. The best way to deal with barriers to communication would be the use of succinct and direct communication. This would ensure the stakeholders do not get tired of going through lots of unnecessary information.

Due to the risk of cultural barriers to communication such as beliefs and values, language, stereotypes, ethnocentrism and religion a good project manager must have in-depth understanding of cross-cultural and diversity management (Ziek& Anderson, 2015). The communication barriers would be disadvantageous to the project because they might lead to misunderstanding, conflict or inaccuracy of data. To that end, the barriers to communication will be addressed through diversity management. This means that the researcher will divide the audience and communicate with each group differently. For example, communication with the project sponsor may be done via email because this medium is fast. The nurses in the inpatient nursing units will be communicated to in person so as to build trust and encourage the nurses to provide the most accurate data. In additional, the PM may hold meetings with the local community. This approach is favored because it is more personal. Other barriers may also exist like the unwillingness of nurses to participate in the project out of fear. The researcher will therefore have to assure the nurses of anonymity and confidentiality(Muszynska, Dermol, Trunk, Ðakovic&Smrkolj, 2015).

Conclusion

      Stakeholder involvement is very crucial to the success of a PICOT project. Involving stakeholders in a project requires the project manager to be able to communicate with each of the stakeholders, taking note of their input along the way. The type and form of communication chosen plays a significant role in the success of project communication therefore it is essential to come up with a communication in advance. In creating a project communication plan, the project manager must also consider cultural and other forms of diversity which if not properly managed are likely to cause the failure of the project.