The discussion of project communication, softer skills of working with people and the general "self actualization" of PMs and staff fails to recognize a fundamental principle of projects.
If you don't know where you're going, You'll probably End Up Somewhere Else (from David Campbell's book of the same title)
When we communicate inside and outside the team, what is the basis of that communication. When we write a status report, what are we reporting against? When we brief the customer, stakeholder or other interested parties, what is the baseline against which we are telling them information.
Now the interpersonal issues on projects are no different than interpersonal issues in real life. Confused messages, misunderstandings of intent, missing skills applied in improper ways. All those thinsg of "real life."
But projects - good projects anyway - have one thing different than "real life."
A clear and concise description of the goal, the plan to reach that goal, the measures of progress toward that goal, and a Plan B when trouble is encountered along the way to the goal
If the project doesn't have such a thing - It's called an Integrated Master Plan / Integrated Master Schedule (IMP/IMS), a Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB), and a Risk Management Plan (RMP) where I work - then communication becomes a continuous process of trying to discover why we're doing specific things, who's supposed to be doing them, and when are we supposed to be finished doing them.
In the vernacular of our world - the project is a cluster. So like Campbell says
No Plan, your destination may be a disappointment
