• I don't have enough time to hold hands with adults who being paid to do a job!
• I'm not a terribly outgoing person; I'd rather rely on my plans and occasional memos to keep everyone up to speed.
• I assume that if anyone has a question or concern, they'll come to me with it. My door is always open.
• I don't want to draw supervisor attention to the work his/her direct report is doing on my project.
• All they do is complain when I show up, so I avoid the irritation by doing other things.

Why You Should

You find out about problems before they come crashing in on you as showstoppers and/or you can learn about new opportunities before they disappear without your even having the chance to consider them.

You enhance the spirit of teamwork while you reduce any impression of 'upstairs/downstairs' among project team members.

You forge relationships and learn things that will make you an increasingly effective project manager.

You are much more likely to find and provide needed support to project participants who over-estimated their ability to get needed work done on time.

Credibility, Credibility, Credibility!!!!!

 

Some Tips On How To

If you're not predisposed to call people unless you have a specific question to ask or task to further, use your planner as a tickler file to remind you to reach out to the key contacts for your project.

Take the time to prepare for the call. Make a list of project-related topics that many of your key contacts would find interesting or useful. Add to this list, whenever possible, with tidbits that you get from the people you've called.

Make mental or physical notes to remind you of specific benefits and/or concerns that key contacts have. Whenever possible, reference them with some new information.

Always include an "Is there anything I can do to help you with your project work?"-type of question when speaking with participants.

If the key contact has a topic s/he'd like to discuss, be a very good listener. Avoid the urge to give a quick, pat answer unless you get a clear indication that quick answers are what they're looking for.

Don't prolong the call. If they're busy, be short, supportive and responsive (as in "Be sure to let me know if there's anything I can do.") If they're not busy, don't let the call slip into chit-chat if you can avoid it.