Communication+Plans

Regarding managing projects, Coline Son Lee, CISA, PMP, CPLP said, in a July 3, 2012 presentation, “Communication is the key: [this is] knowing how to communicate with key stakeholders, having alternative methods of communication and communicating the right amount of information at the right time.” As a project manager, the best way to ensure you are doing this is to develop a communication plan. A communication plan is a strategy for communicating information related to a project (McVay, Lynch & Roeker, 2007, p. 21). Son Lee further defined a communication plan as “the way to get the right amount of information to the right people”.
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Communication plans can run the range of very simple to elaborately complex. At a minimum, plans should include the 5 W’s and H, as defined in table 1 (McVay, Lynch & Roeker, 2007, p. 21):



In order to create a communication plan, Son Lee said you need to learn **how** your stakeholders can and want to be communicated with (email, phone, Twitter, Skype, etc.), determine their **preferred** method of communication, and **what** they want to be communicated (all project details, status updates, etc.)

Marci Gannon, Manager of Project Management at STCU, agrees with Son Lee and says you want to figure out what your stakeholders “need and want”.


 * So how do you create a communication plan?**
 * 1) Identify your stakeholders (to whom)
 * 2) Identify stakeholder expectations (why)
 * 3) Identify communication necessary to satisfy stakeholder expectations and keep them informed (what)
 * 4) Identify time-frame and/or frequency of communication messages (when)
 * 5) Identify how the message will be communicated (the stakeholder’s preferred method) (how)
 * 6) Identify who will communication each message (who)
 * 7) Document items #1-6 in a table (a communication plan!)

Scott Rabe, PMP, Director of Project Management at STCU, uses a communication plan to identify the communication needs for each of his projects. Rabe uses a communication plan template (Figure 1) which lists the project’s objectives and also provides a status column for tracking communication progress. Similar to the 5 W’s and H plan, Rabe’s plan ties an audience to a message point and the medium the communication will be delivered on. Listen to Rabe’s take on managing project communication here: media type="file" key="SMEClip_CommunicationPlanPage.mp4" align="center" width="300" height="300"



Gannon states that creating a communication plan helps to flesh out the types of communication on a project: internal versus external, who owns the message, and delivery of that communication. Additionally, following a communication plan ensures that project stakeholders’ needs are being met. The more information stakeholders have regarding a project or deliverable, the less likely last minute conflicts, changes, or complaints will affect a project (California Department of Transportation, 2007, p. 18).

Once your communication plan is in place, update it! Evaluate your communication plan regularly. Ask your stakeholders if the communication they’re receiving is sufficient. If it’s not, ask how it could be improved and improve it! The communication plan is a work in progress throughout the project lifecycle.

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