Project Management Best Practice 10 – Communication Plans

Projects represent change and change requires communication. In order for communication to be successful, it must be received, understood, and acted upon. Achieving these factors can require a substantially different approach when communicating with different groups and individuals. Consequently, effective communication is frequently difficult and time consuming. Thus, a clearly defined communications plan is needed to maximize the probability of each communication’s success while minimizing the overall effort expended.[wcm_restrict plans=”41134, 25542, 25653″]

Developing a Communications Plan

A communications plan is essentially a project within a project. In our experience, an effective communications plan may represent up to one third of an initiative’s project activities when developed to an equal level of detail as the initiative’s other major components. Developing the communications plan involves several distinct activities:

1. Identify the key project stakeholders and influencers
2. Divide this group into logical sub-groupings based on the communications to be made to these groups or individuals
3. Further divide these groups into commonly shared work environmental factors such as office setting, industrial facility setting, computer access, phone access, cafeteria access/use, etcetera
4. Identify the communication channels that reach each group or individual
5. Identify group and individual communication channel preferences
6. Identify the time sequenced key messages to be shared with each group and individual over the course of the project’s execution and output implementation
7. Identify the activities needed to develop each communication, considering the time needed to make the communications and adjust each to the respective communications channels to be used
8. Develop the communications plan
             a. Subdivide communications by group and individual to receive the messaging
             b. List the several communications channels to be used to transmit each communication to
                 each group and individual
             c. Logically sequence all communications
             d. Document the development activities needed to create each message and message type
             e. Identify the resource commitment to perform the activities
             f. Assign the personnel resources and tools, materials, and funding to perform the activities
             g. Add the communications plan to the overall project plan
             h. Evaluate and alleviate resource constraints within the overall project plan

 

Figure 1 – Illustrative Project Communications Plan for a Consulting Firm’s New Service Offering Rollout

Communications are typically not received and acted upon unless conveyed more than once. StrategyDriven Communications best practice article, Communicate 7 Times, 7 Different Ways, articulates this philosophy and lists several communications channels, including their benefits and shortfalls, that should be considered when developing the overall communications plan.

Final Thought…

Project communications should be made early and often, commensurate with the complexity and potential impact of the project. Additionally, forums for feedback should be provided so stakeholders and influencers can both confirm the effectiveness of the outreach as well as to identify additional information needs and communication approach improvement opportunities.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”41134, 25542, 25653″]

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