Why “Good Communication” Isn’t Enough (And What Actually Works)

Why Do They Keep Asking Me Questions They Already Have the Answers To?

Have you ever built the perfect project plan? Color-coded timelines. Friday status updates. Calendar invites with agendas. A beautifully organized shared drive.

And then, inevitably, you get the email:

• “When’s that meeting again?”

• “What are we covering?”

• “When is that deliverable due?”

You sent this information. Three times. It’s in the shared folder, the meeting invite, and the status update they were CC’d on.

You can get frustrated. You can passive-aggressively forward the email you already sent.

Or, you can accept it with grace. It’s part of the job.

The Lesson: Stop Fighting Human Nature

Here’s what I learned the hard way about managing people on projects:

• Your job isn’t to change how people behave.

• Your job is to build systems that work with how people actually behave.

Really good PMs understand that they’re the conduit of information. No matter how pristine your project infrastructure, how clear your workflow, or how easy you make the information to find. Some people will still not seek it out. And that’s just reality. It’s not personal. It's predictable. Which means, yes, you’ll be spoon-feeding information - patiently and often. 

And once you accept that, it changes how you lead. As a project manager, you might as well learn to enjoy it. Because when you understand and work with human nature—not against it—you stop fighting the process and start rolling with it.

That’s when you realize you are the information hub, the person everyone relies on to bring clarity when things get messy. You hold the clearest view of what’s really happening, and that’s what makes you the expert.

However, that doesn’t mean you can get lazy with your project site. Your site is like a museum: most people will never visit it, but if they do, they better find a work of art.

The Next Step: Know the Humans You’re Working With

Understanding human nature is an essential skill for every successful project manager. (And yes—it helps if you genuinely like people.)

You don’t need to understand them in a “team-building-circle” kind of way. You need to understand them in a practical, “this determines whether my project succeeds or implodes” kind of way.

Because how much authority you have over someone, how technically savvy they are, and how they work, all shape how you communicate with them.

You can’t treat everyone the same and expect the same results. That's not how humans work.

The Three Types of People on Every Project

So let's start with the most important distinction: are the people on your project proactive, reactive, or inactive?

• Proactive:They come to meetings prepared. They’ve read the status reports. They update their items in your project tool. They’re unicorns. Treasure them.

• Reactive: They’ll engage once you bring the information to them. They’ll respond when asked directly, show up when reminded, and contribute when prompted. This is most people.

• Inactive: They don’t respond, they don’t engage, and they drain time and energy. Keep them consultative—no critical deliverables.

  
  

It’s easy to favor proactive people. But reactive teammates aren’t bad teammates, they’re just balancing competing priorities. The business user juggling three other projects isn’t ignoring you; they’re trying to stay afloat.

Reactive can work. You just need to adjust your approach.

---

Put It Into Action: Know Your Humans

Before you build your next internal project communication plan, answer these five questions about each key person on the project:

1. What authority do I have over this person? Do they report to you directly? Dotted line? Stakeholder? External? Client? This shapes whether they have to respond or you're asking nicely.

   
   

2. Are they a project expert or a business user? Someone who manages projects for a living has different capabilities than someone pulled in for subject matter expertise.

   
   

3. Are they working on just the project or multiple projects? If they're juggling four initiatives, plan for that reality, not the fantasy of being 100% dedicated.

   
   

4. Are they technically savvy? Can they navigate your tools easily, or do they need step-by-step instructions?

   
   

5. Are they proactive, reactive, or inactive?

Strategies for meeting each one where they are:

• Proactive: Give them information and get out of their way. They thrive on autonomy.

• Reactive: Bring the information to them. Personalized reminders, pre-meeting prep emails, post-conversation follow-ups. 

  • Here's what that actually looks like: Send them an email with just their action items and a link to the action item list. If you're sending instructions on how to do something, spin up a quick 15-20 minute Zoom call to walk through it and make sure they understand. Schedule working sessions to do key deliverable work with them in real time. It's more hands-on, but it gets results.

• Inactive:  Minimize their involvement. Keep them advisory only.

Quick Tip:  Keep your project site visible. Share it on screen in meetings. Update action items, plans, and decisions live so the team starts to internalize where everything lives.

Once you answer these questions and adjust your strategy, you’ll know exactly how to communicate with each person. It’s not about lowering your standards—it’s about being smart enough to meet people where they are.

The Bottom Line

The quicker you respond to the barrage of requests, and the more helpful your tone, the better your project runs. Not because you’re enabling bad habits, but because you’re being realistic about human nature.

Stop fighting how people actually work. Start building systems that work with them.

Need Help?

If you read this and thought, “Yes, but I have no idea how to actually build that,” we can help.

 We offer team assessments that help you understand the humans you actually have—and we’ll help you build a communication framework that supports them (and keeps you sane).

Let’s talk about your team.

How Can We Help?