Developing Your Communication Plan
For your project to succeed, you need information to flow effectively between the key people. Here is how to make that happen.
CONTENTS
OVERVIEW
Project Communication is the exchange of information about your specific project.
- The information must be accurate
- It must flow in a way that is best for the people involved
- It must be timely
In this regular flow of project communication, lots of things take place:
- Motivation
- Leadership
- Delegation
- Reporting
- Follow-Up
If communication is poor, it can be your greatest cause of waste and inefficiency. It can make or break your project.
YOUR PROCESS
Understanding the communication process is the first step in communication planning. Consider these four factors:
Factor 1. Who is involved?
In a website project, these are the main people involved in the Communications Plan:
- The Customer
- Developers
- Designers
- Project Managers
- Stakeholders
Factor 2. What is being communicated?
In a website project, here are the main things being communicated:
- Progress Reports
- Bug Reports
- Outage Reports
- Request for Change
- Billing
Factor 3. When is the information communicated?
In a website project, these are the main timelines:
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- As needed
Factor 4. How is the information disseminated?
In a website project, here are the main routes of communications:
- Meeting
- Task Manager software
- Slack
- Presentation
- Project Dashboard
- Private Forum
YOUR PLAN
In a website project, it is best to develop a communications plan.
It might be quite simple. Or very complex. But by devising a specific plan, all the people involved will know what to expect.
As the Project Manager, I am usually the person who is responsibility for developing the communications plan.
I’ve found an interview process to be best. I ask each person questions such as these:
- What communications do you need?
- When do you need it?
- How shall the information be delivered to you?
- How shall we handle conflicts?
Originally published on April 27, 2023
Last updated on April 27, 2023
TOPICS: Project Management, Communication,