Communicating across scientific disciplines involves more than words.

Being there in person helped to develop a team persona in which we were really aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses.

I remember a member of the crew asking me, "Is this normal?" And in my experience, it wasn't.

As I looked back over the last five years, it was clear that some of our program managers consistently generated great results and others did not.

Many believe, including me, that the advent of email and PowerPoint has, in some respects, eroded our culture of engineering communication.

Close communication between the project team and the customer facilitates a continuous learning process. Knowing when to be flexible and when to be firm in addressing requirements is a hallmark of successful project management.

PERT charts provide a virtual model of a project and communicate plans and project status to the team and customers.

Question: Given that trust and openness are critical to a successful contractor-customer relationship, what do you do as the project manager for the contractor when you cannot develop a trusting relationship with your customer? The gravity of not doing a test depends on what your responsibility is towards the project. It is project manager's responsibility to resolve communication conflicts with the customer.

What distressed my colleague who stood outside the door was that he assumed if people were raising their voices at each other they must be fighting. Nobody was fighting. There was enough trust and respect among team members that we understood it was okay to express ourselves in this way. When there is trust and respect among team members, it is legitimate to express opinions passionately.

Saying "no" to a project can sometimes be an affirmation of your integrity. Do your homework prior to important decisions — or else risk making career-damaging mistakes.