Communication is the most important success factor in the realisation of a CRM project (any project actually). Everybody communicates but only few know how to do it well. Not providing an essential piece of information at the right time may delay the project you are working on or it may be the root cause of a lot of frustration.

After encountering this pitfall on several occasions, there is a learning curve, I decided to digg into the material and follow some expert training on the subject.

Communication is a two way stream of information. Sending a 5 page long email is not communication, it is information distribution. As long has you have not received any feedback on this mail you cannot be sure that someone has read the mail and understood its content. Of course you can put an email receipt on it and put the whole company in CC so that the person is encouraged to read the mail quickly. Frankly, this just doesn't work! Ever thought of the time that is wasted by reading 5 page long mails that are of no use for you?

How should we then communicate in projects? One way that works reasonably well for the distribution of information is to make a matrix in which you clearly define which information has to be provided by whom, to whom and at what time. This way the sender of the information knows what to send and the receiver has the necessary information on time to work with it. Remember that it is only communincation if you receive feedback. Therefore you should ask them to confirm that the information has been received well and that the message is clear.

The medium used for communicating information will depend on the type of information: the customers acceptance of the project should be formal so this could be via mail, fax or letter. (Signed in blood would be nice.) On the other hand telling someone that he can resume working on the system after a reboot of the server can be through a phone call or via messenger.