Communication plans are important for your projects since effective internal and external communication is essential for project success. Communication is necessary for a variety of everyday project tasks, including getting feedback on delivery, finding out where a file is located, getting important information from a customer, and going through the review and approval process.
Because of the importance of the communication plan for the project, we will give you a guide to creating a solid project communication plan in this article. Let’s start, shall we?
What is Project Communication Plan? #
A project communication plan is a plan that specifies how crucial project information will be conveyed to project stakeholders. In addition, it decides who will receive the communication, how they will receive it, when they will receive it, and how frequently they may expect to hear it.
In addition, a communication plan specifies how information and updates are distributed throughout a project. Specifically, it specifies how frequently stakeholders and the project team will meet or interact to address issues or get status updates.
A successful project plan must outline communication within the project, as well as the flow of information to stakeholders who are not directly involved.
Things To Include in Project Communication Plan #
Ensure the following are included in your project communication plan when developing it:
- The intent or project objectives of the communication plan. Remember that you should SMART concept for your objectives and goals.
- Details regarding project stakeholders and their respective roles
- The categories of data and information to be shared with stakeholders
- The means of communication
- The frequency with which each stakeholder wants to receive updates.
The Purpose of Communication Plan for Project #
At their most fundamental level, communication plans for projects serve to allow efficient communication. They will make your projects operate more smoothly and assist you in avoiding the failure of your projects. Establishing and managing expectations, improved stakeholder management, and assistance with the process of project planning are some of the additional important benefits.
The fact that poor communication leads to project failure, which could result in enormous financial loss for the organization. On the opposite end of the scale, organizations with high performance communicate more regularly and more effectively than those with low performance.
A communication plan for project management helps maintain your project on schedule because it:
- Develops written documentation for team reference
- Specifies when stakeholders can expect to receive updates.
- Increases the transparency of the project and its progress
- Allows stakeholders to provide comments, which can assist the team in detecting problems early and reducing wasted effort.
- Enhances meeting productivity or eliminates them
So, if you want to ensure that your project is completed on time and on budget, make sure that you have an efficient communication plan in place.
6 Steps To Create Project Communication Plan #
We are confident that after reading about the benefits, you are excited to get started on developing your own communication plan for project management. To get started, just follow these 6 steps in order!
1. Identify the stakeholder for your project #
The majority of projects involve a large number of stakeholders, the majority of which have varying degrees of interest in the project as well as amounts of control over the project. You will need to determine who the stakeholders are that you will be communicating with during the project and create a list of those stakeholders.
Also Read: The Guide for Project Stakeholders in Project Management
2. Set and define communication objectives and goals #
Before you set and define the communication objectives and goals, you need to list your project deliverables. You need to consider what successful project communication means, not just with your client but also with your team. This list will inform communication-related choices.
In order to build a successful communication plan, it is necessary to first document your desired goal. Referencing the necessity of a communication plan, your goal will most likely be to keep stakeholders up to date on project status or even to keep stakeholders aware of the project’s benefits so they will continue to push for it.
3. Choose a format for the communication plan #
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Pick a system that makes it simple to collect comments on your communication plan, as well as to share or save the plan so that your group and the people you’re communicating with may refer to it later. It’s not uncommon to see a project manager use a word document or spreadsheet to construct a communication strategy, but you may want to consider using something more visual, such as a timeline, charts, or even a kanban board to better communicate with stakeholders.
4. Identify communication method #
In addition to outlining who your stakeholders are and how you intend to communicate with them, your communication strategy should outline one of its objectives, which is to ensure that the correct people receive the right information. This will lead us to the next step, which is to identify the communication method.
Some people like to communicate using email, some prefer online meetings and others might prefer to communicate offline. So, it’s better to identify the best communication method and adjust with the stakeholders.
The following approaches can be taken into consideration based on the likelihood that your stakeholders will notice or attend any of them:
- Weekly reviews
- Whether in-person, over the phone or via video conferencing, meetings are frequently held.
- Executive summaries of meetings
- Status updates
- Presentations
- Collaboration platform
- Etc.
The type of communication you use may also rely on the nature of the information you’re delivering. Weekly in-person meetings aren’t necessary to communicate project updates; instead, send emails with weekly updates and arrange meetings when the team accomplishes significant milestones.
5. Determine the frequency of communication #
When you create a project communication plan, you need to include the frequency of sending for each type of communication. For example, on Mondays, send a weekly email with project updates, links to completed deliverables, the current budget, etc.
Not only that, you should define how frequently you must consult with each stakeholder. For example, each team member should send daily emails to the project manager with updates (or daily scrum meetings), but only the executive stakeholder should be invited to the video conference following each milestone.
In addition to all that, make sure to schedule the frequency of your communications on your calendar or in your project management software.
6. Share the plan with the project team #
Once you create all the communication plans for the project, you should share them with your team. It demonstrates that you have taken into consideration their part in the project. Additionally, individuals are aware that there is the right communication platform through which they are able to voice their issues and inquiries regarding the project.
Your team will be informed of your communication cadence, which influences their work and delivery deadlines when you share the plan with them. It also gives them additional context for how and with whom you’ll be interacting. Sharing this information allows your team to assist you in executing the communication plan.
FoxPlan: Communicate and Collaborate Effectively! #
A project communication plan equips you with the means of communicating effectively and identifying red flags as they arise. A strategy can also enable you to reassess your strategy and your client’s demands, if necessary, and determine whether alternative communication channels may be more efficient.
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FoxPlan can help you collaborate and communicate effectively using the features. You can list your project task, assign the role for each task and track the task progress all inside the platform. Following up on each task for your project should be easier and you do not have to send many emails daily to track the progress.
Whether formal or informal, a project communication plan can make the difference between a successful, efficient project and one that skates past. Consider it another means of establishing and confirming expectations over the duration of a project, as well as a means of facilitating successful, meaningful communication.
Create your project communication plan today and sign up to FoxPlan to successfully manage your project for FREE today!
