My name is Ashley Matsui and it’s my job to communicate (timelines, expectations, bad news, you name it. I am on it). And when it comes to communication I am a hands-on kind of girl.

I like to communicate directly with a live receiver on the other end. I like quick, to the point, IMs; Email messages with subject lines that let my recipients know what client, project and request are being discussed; Phone calls with at least 1 talking point that will result in an answer or an action; and finally, face-to-face conversations are an art that has never been lost to me. All solid, no BS, cut-to-the-chase, ways of communicating quickly and efficiently.

But Blogging. Blogging?  Communication by Blog. Hmmm, sounds weird and unpredictable to me. Who is my audience? How do I plan meaningful information? What is the goal? What can I expect? What can you expect?

Deep breaths…I am always up for a new experience. Especially one that may result in something awesome, whatever that may be. So perhaps, though not on customary stop on my never-ending trip down the Communication Highway, this “effective communication by Blog” theory may be worth my time and if it results in something awesome, like a comment, I will feel like I communicated successfully. (Always the goal. Always.)

Good communication is based in information. Information on your audience, expectations, and what needs to be done in order to accomplish goals, are all going to make you a better communicator. Also key to good communication is proper documentation.

For the purposes of communicating, the audience has to be understood– and I understand, I am blogging to the project managers/producers, business development leaders and hopefully, even a few “C”-levels of the world, all working in this fast-paced world of strategy and web development.

As far as expectations go, mine are manageable– maybe I’ll get a comment. As for your expectations, I’d like to think that my mini-breakdown of effective communication would be helpful if you were looking for something on this topic, and that maybe I made this Blog somehow relate to something you’ve experienced or in some way valuable.

From expectations come goals. And from goals come the means by which to achieve those goals (to-dos, action items, and the like informational tasks). And from there, finally, comes the all important documented plan to execute. These final points are more critical to the success of a project, not so much the success of my first Blog. And so, I’ll stop there.

But before I do, let me make one last point on communication– that is, once your plan is in place it’s all about keeping people in the loop.  Weekly status reports and 10-30 minute daily/weekly meetings with your teams and your clients are tried n’ true ways of people keeping honest and on-track. Thereby ensuring successful, on-time and under-budget project launches.

I think that is it for my first Blog. What did you think?

It occurs to me that likely, the most valuable document in a project is the weekly client-facing status report. Hear me out here, it’s not a boring as it may sound– the status report works on many levels and I am a huge fan/believer/proponent of the document!

I’ve been asked, “Why waste time on a status report when you already have a project plan?”

Really, do I even have to dignify this with a reply? Fine…status reports serve as timely snapshots of a project plan. Status reports should only show the most immediate and current work needs as well as red-flags and/or modified timelines that the client needs to know about. Keeping a client apprised via a formal weekly document will be a huge help in managing their expectations– because they are updated weekly, issues are less likely to come as a shock to them and necessary steps to avoid issues can be addressed proactively and/or as they arise. The status report should give a nice, concise window into what is being worked that week related to the project deliverables.

Also, project plans usually have internal deliverables and timelines that a client doesn’t necessarily care about. A client status report helps to focus on the “here & now” of a project. So, you see…a status report is needed in conjunction with a project plan. It helps compliment the details of the plan with summaries and works to focus communication on immediate needs rather than the long-term goals of a project.

The simplicity of a status report is what makes me the happiest! It consists, at its most basic-level, of a task-title; a delivery date; a resource (responsible party); red-flags/notes; and a document timestamp. And that is it!

Revisiting the status report weekly for updates takes all of 15 minutes and I find it also helps focus me on the project– especially when the project might be just one of 3-5 active projects I am working on.

I’m telling you, the power of the client status report is great! Catch the fever…and Happy New Year!