In the fast-moving world of business, communication is a vital tool. But, in spite of its undeniable importance, many of today’s organizations do not take advantage of readily-available project portfolio management technology engineered to help effectively organize, report and present data.
Successfully disseminating key information to stakeholders in an engaging, concise and coherent fashion can positively impact your organization’s business objectives and strategic decision making.
But, how do you effectively communicate to achieve the optimum outcome?
1. Dissect Jargon
In order to present data in a clear and succinct manner, you should craft your portfolio to cater for every level of expertise. This is especially important when talking to board members or stockholders, as it'll be unlikely that everyone will hail from a similar working background; at the very least, they will hold different positions currently.
Assessing your presentation during the production stage and successfully dissecting any jargon can help significantly to identify and alleviate any potential misunderstanding. One of the most challenging aspects of this pursuit, is ensuring that your presentation is amateur-friendly, whilst suitably non-patronising for those who have a much deeper understanding of the topic.
The resulting narrative should aim to inform all levels of expertise, without any condescension, and most importantly, should aim to deliver the greatest value, be that return on investment, cost effectiveness or another measure.
2. Provide Context
If your project is delivered in one context, but received in another, it will likely lead to misunderstanding on the part of your audience, or worse, a feeling of mistrust.
Transparency and repetition are two communication tools you can employ to maintain clarity of context. Successfully evaluating visibility and transparency within your presentation can significantly improve how it will be received. Meanwhile, restating and reiterating key circumstantial factors will provide a greater level of context and understanding.
Exhibiting your information in a form that not only enables potential stockholders or board members to all be on the same page, but also engaged in the subject matter, will alleviate any problems with misunderstanding and enable you to provide greater insight into your topic of choice, no matter how complex.
3. Over-Prepare
It goes without saying that presenting your product portfolio successfully and seamlessly is key to achieving the optimum outcome and can aid in promoting synergy and ending silo-mentality.
But, it is important to understand that the strength of your portfolio delivery comes not only from clear and succinct communication, but from also being well-enough equipped to deal with questions and off-topic discussion inspired by your subject-matter at hand.
This fact becomes particularly pertinent when considering the possibility of presenting to multiple people, such as a board-of-directors or similar. In situations such as these, discussion will often go beyond the topic directly at hand and you can be faced with very pointed and peripheral questioning.
Competently researching any likely avenues of conversation can substantially enhance your presentation performance. Gaining an understanding of surrounding subject areas will ensure you are equipped to handle direct questioning and can demonstrate knowledgeability.
Preparation is critical. When planning a presentation of magnitude, such as one on risk management, you will find you are at your most efficient when your content is creative, non-linear and stocked with all the detail you require.
4. Remain Current
In order to deliver a presentation that is both accurate and reliable, you should only include the most relevant data and statistics. Credibility stems first and foremost from being knowledgeable and trustworthy.
Producing content that only contains the most current information will help demonstrate reliability and accuracy, and is therefore directly associated with success. Analysing your project portfolio before you present it to ensure that all content is up-to-date will not only help to breed trust and manufacture a stronger rapport with your audience, it will also eliminate the possibility of being tarnished as disingenuous.
Your resulting presentation should aim to balance the elements of relevance and timeliness, whilst ensuring that authenticity and reliability are maintained throughout. Modern PPM and presentation software, such as SharpCloud, can help to streamline the knowledge transfer process by automatically synchronising and updating data, ensuring that your presentation remains up-to-date and relevant.
Conclusion
Today more than ever, effective communication is crucial to succeeding in the world of business. Presenting your projects in a clear and succinct manner, understandable and engaging to all, is integral to a successful presentation. Meanwhile the provision of context will ensure that potential stockholders or board members are all on the same page and invested in the subject matter.
Ensuring that you are well-equipped to deal with questions around the subject matter of your projects and off-topic discussion will demonstrate knowledgeability, whereas producing content that only contains the most current information can help you to breed trust with potential directors but also eliminates the possibility of being tarnished as disingenuous.
There has never been a better time to take advantage of today’s communication software to effectively organise, report and present your projects and portfolio in an engaging, concise and coherent way, and achieve your optimum business objectives. Book a discovery call today and join the host of organisations that already use SharpCloud to manage project portfolios better.