Jul 30, 2024
How Hypertasks Improves Project Communication: A Guide
Hypertasks transforms project communication by combining an inbox with Kanban boards, keyboard navigation and AI powers. This simplifies information flow, team collaboration and improves project visibility and decision making.
Introduction: The Communication Problem in Project Management
Communication is the lifeblood of project management. It means team members are aligned, tasks are clear and project goals are met. But in many organisations project communication is spread across multiple tools and channels, resulting in information overload, missed updates and decreased productivity.
This article will show how Hypertasks solves these problems by providing a single solution that combines task management with communication. We'll look at the importance of communication in project management, the different communication methods and channels and how Hypertasks' unique features can change your project communication strategy.
Why Communication is Important in Project Management
Communication is key in project management for several reasons:
Alignment: Communication ensures all team members understand project goals, objectives and their individual tasks.
Transparency: Clear communication means stakeholders can see project progress, challenges and successes.
Problem solving: Open communication means problems are identified and resolved quickly, minimising project delays.
Team cohesion: Regular communication builds trust and strengthens team relationships, leading to better collaboration.
Risk management: Timely communication of risks allows for pro-active mitigation.
Stakeholder management: Consistent communication keeps stakeholders informed throughout the project lifecycle.
Types of Communication in Project Management
Project managers need to be good at different types of communication:
Formal vs Informal: Formal communication is official reports and presentations, informal is quick chats or ad-hoc meetings.
Verbal vs Written: Verbal is face-to-face conversations and phone calls, written is emails, reports and instant messages.
Internal vs External: Internal is within the project team and organisation, external is clients, vendors and other external stakeholders.
Push vs Pull: Push is actively sending information to recipients, pull is recipients retrieving information from a central location.
Synchronous vs Asynchronous: Synchronous is real-time (like meetings), asynchronous is delayed (like emails or task comments).
Communication Channels in Project Management
Project managers have many communication channels to choose from:
Emails: Traditional but often too much for project specific communication.
Instant messaging: Quick for informal communication but can be chaotic.
Video conferencing: Good for remote teams but time consuming for frequent check-ins.
Project management software: Centralises project related communication and task management.
In-person meetings: Good for complex discussions but not always possible for remote teams.
Shared documents: Good for collaborative work but soon become outdated.
Task boards: Visual representation of project progress, often lack robust communication features.
The Hypertasks Approach to Project Communication
Hypertasks solves project communication problems by combining a powerful inbox with Kanban-style task management. This addresses many of the common communication pitfalls:
1. Centralised Communication Hub
Hypertasks has an inbox that rivals top email clients so team members can process notifications and updates quickly without leaving the project.
Learn more about Hypertasks' inbox
2. Contextual Conversations
Every conversation in Hypertasks is tied to a task or project so you don't have to search through endless email threads or chat channels.
3. Asynchronous Workflow Optimisation
Built for asynchronous communication, Hypertasks is perfect for remote teams across different time zones. Team members can comment, update or ask questions on tasks at any time.
4. Keyboard Driven Efficiency
Hypertasks' keyboard first approach means you can navigate and respond quickly, reducing the time spent on communication tasks.
Learn Hypertasks' keyboard shortcuts
5. AI Powered Communication
Use AI to supercharge team communication:
Summarise long task discussions
Get writing assistance for better messages
Learn about AI-powered auto-summaries in Hypertasks
6. Visual Project Management
Hypertasks combines the power of Kanban boards with communication features, so you have a visual representation of project progress and task discussions.
Try Hypertasks as a visual project management tool
Using Hypertasks as a Communication Plan
A communication plan is essential to make sure the right information gets to the right people at the right time. Here's how you can use Hypertasks to implement a communication plan:
Identify Stakeholders: Use Hypertasks' tagging feature to categorise tasks by stakeholder so relevant information is easily accessible to each group.
Define Communication Frequency: Set up recurring tasks in Hypertasks for regular updates, team meetings or status reports.
Choose Communication Method: Use Hypertasks commenting for task specific discussions and the inbox for project wide communication.
Establish Communication Protocols: Create a task or document to outline communication guidelines, such as response times, meeting schedules and escalation procedures.
Monitor and Adjust: Regularly review your communication plan using Hypertasks filtering and sorting to see task completion rates and response times.
Learn how to filter tasks in Hypertasks
Team Collaboration with Hypertasks
Hypertasks helps team collaboration in several ways:
1. Realtime Updates
Team members get instant notifications when a task is updated, commented or mentioned so everyone is up to date with project progress.
2. Collaborative Task Management
Multiple team members can work on the same task, comment, attach files and update progress in real-time.
3. Transparent Workflow
The Kanban board shows the project workflow so team members can see all tasks at a glance.
4. Information Sharing
Use the forward slash menu in task descriptions and comments to format text, add checklists or insert images and videos.
Learn more about the forward slash menu in Hypertasks
5. Task Assignment
Assign tasks to team members quickly using the 'A' shortcut so responsibility is clear.
Hypertasks Simplifies Communication Channels
Hypertasks simplifies communication channels by:
Reducing Email Overload: Move project related communication out of email and into Hypertasks so discussions are contextual and easily accessible.
Minimising Chat App Distractions: Use Hypertasks for task specific discussions so you don't need constant chat app notifications.
Centralising Project Information: Keep all project related documents, discussions and tasks in one place for easy reference.
Asynchronous Communication: Allow team members to contribute and stay up to date on their own schedule, perfect for remote or distributed teams.
Push and Pull Communication: Combine push notifications for urgent updates with a central place for team members to pull information when needed.
Measuring Communication with Hypertasks
Hypertasks helps you measure communication effectiveness in several ways:
Task Completion Rates: Use Hypertasks sorting and filtering to see how fast tasks move through your workflow.
Response Times: See how quickly team members respond to comments or task assignments.
Board Activity: Look at the frequency and quality of updates on your Kanban board to see team engagement.
Inbox Zero: See how often team members get to Inbox Zero as a measure of communication processing.
Learn how to get to Inbox Zero with Hypertasks
Hypertasks Best Practices for Project Communication
To get the most out of Hypertasks for project communication:
Clear Task Titles: Write short and descriptive task titles so everyone can quickly understand.
Task Descriptions: Use the rich text editing in task descriptions to provide all the information.
Comment Purposefully: Use task comments for specific questions, updates or clarifications related to the task.
Mentions: Use the '@' feature to notify team members when they need to contribute.
Process Your Inbox Daily: Aim for Inbox Zero daily so you don't miss important communications.
Auto-Splits: Use Hypertasks Auto-Splits to auto categorise incoming messages so inbox processing is easier.
Keyboard Shortcuts: Learn Hypertasks keyboard shortcuts to navigate and communicate faster
Learn to navigate Kanban boards in seconds
Summary: Hypertasks for Project Communication
Communication is key to project success and Hypertasks solves many of the common communication problems in project management. By combining an inbox with Kanban task management Hypertasks is a single platform for project communication that brings team collaboration, project visibility and information flow together.
With keyboard shortcuts, AI communication and auto categorisation Hypertasks helps project managers and team members communicate better and faster. By centralising project discussions, reducing email overload and providing a visual representation of project progress Hypertasks keeps teams aligned, informed and on track to deliver projects.
Ready to get started with project communication? Hypertasks is for teams of all sizes, with a generous free tier to get you going. Our "Get Hypertasks free" button is on every page so you can sign up with your Google Account and start your journey to better project communication today.
When you use Hypertasks for project management and communication you're not just using a new tool – you're adopting a more efficient, transparent and collaborative way of communicating. See the difference for yourself.
