Do you think that lately project communication feels weird? You send an update, but no one reads it, their AI summarizes it. They reply, but itâs polished by a tool youâve never heard of and you use your own AI to summarize it.
Meeting notes get drafted by a bot, forwarded to another bot, and then sent to you. Are we talking to people still or are we just simply talking to their filters?
What may seem clean and efficient is dangerously close to meaningless. If everyone is outsourcing clarity, context, and tone, who is actually accountable for connection?
What is communication, really?
At its core, communication isnât just about sending and receiving information. Itâs about making meaning, building alignment, and creating shared understanding. Great communication moves people because it motivates, clarifies, warns, reassures, redirects, and connects.
Bad communication on the other hand is noise and clutter. It confuses, it dispenses information but without meaning. It focuses on covering tracks without helping anyone else find their path.
When communication becomes a flood of notifications, dashboards, recaps, and updates, no one actually understands each other. Humanity starts shifting from progress to timestamps.
Technology has always changed how we communicate.
Humans have always evolved communicating with each other. Whether itâs moving from handwritten memos to typed emails, or in person gatherings to virtual meetings, each shift promised to make communication easier, faster, and better.
There is little doubt that technology in many ways has achieved much of these improvements but with each evolution there is always a tradeoff:
Speed replaced intentionality
Volume replaced depth
Access replaced connection
With AI weâre now facing the sharpest shift yet. Itâs not just about the tool but itâs the delegation. As we automate format, grammar, and content, we risk outsourcing our voice, tone, and even judgement.
The result perhaps leads us to perfect our communication messages while removing all emotion. Our content becomes comprehensive but forgettable. Our distribution reach becomes wide and frequent, but our influence becomes non-existent.
The Multitasking Machine is Us
Our ability to multi-task has gone from an advantage to an obsession. We all do it. Whether itâs streaming our favorite show or movie while scrolling though email or flipping through social medial posts while listening in on that boring virtual meeting.
Communication is competing with everything else for our attention. Even when someone does send a thoughtful message, we often miss it. Our brains are too busy juggling inputs to actually connect to any of them.
Perhaps this is why some people feel disconnected, distracted, and disengaged.
Is the future of communication doomed or evolving? I believe the answer depends on the person, the team, and the organizationâŠ
In project management, context matters.
Communication is about both clarity and consequence. What you say (and how you say it) can accelerate delivery or derail trust.
A misread update can delay a launch, a rushed escalation can create unnecessary conflict, and the wrong status update can anger executive stakeholders.
Communication is perhaps the most important knowledge area in Project Management. The stakes are high and the margin for misinterpretation is small.
So what does effective communication look like now?
Here are a few principles PM leaders should lean into:
Use AI as a co-pilot, not a ghostwriter. Let it support you, but make sure the voice, judgment, and clarity are still yours.
Write like a human, for a human. Skip the filler and use simple language to say what matters.
Context over content. Donât just share what is happening, take time to explain why it matters.
Timing is everything. Donât overload people with updates at the wrong moment. Pick the time and be led by other peopleâs attention spans.
Leave space for feedback. Communication isnât a monologue, itâs a conversation. Invite response, reflection, and questions.
We donât need to fear the evolution of communication, but we need to lead it. The future of leadership isnât digital, itâs human. Leadership starts with how we listen, speak, write, and connect.