The purpose of the Communications Management Plan is to define the communication requirements for the project and how information will be distributed. The Communications Management Plan defines the following:

· What information will be communicated—to include the level of detail and format

· How the information will be communicated—in meetings, email, telephone, web portal, etc.

· When information will be distributed—the frequency of project communications both formal and informal

· Who is responsible for communicating project information

· Communication requirements for all project stakeholders

· What resources the project allocates for communication

· How any sensitive or confidential information is communicated and who must authorize this

· How changes in communication or the communication process are managed

· The flow of project communications

· Any constraints, internal or external, which affect project communications

· Any standard templates, formats, or documents the project must use for communicating

· An escalation process for resolving any communication-based conflicts or issues

Communications Management Approach

Approximately 80% of a Project Manager’s time is spent communicating. Think about it – as a Project Manager you are spending most of your time measuring and reporting on the performance of the project, composing and reading emails, conducting meetings, writing the project plan, meeting with team members, overseeing work being performed, meeting with clients over lunch and many more activities related to your projects.

You should give considerable thought to how you want to manage communications on this project. By having a solid communications management approach you’ll find that many project management problems can be avoided. In this section give an overview of your communications management approach.

Communications Management Constraints

All projects are subject to limitations and constraints as they must be within scope and adhere to budget, scheduling, and resource requirements. Project planning and documentation are no exception to this rule. There may also be legislative, regulatory, technology, or organizational policy requirements which must be followed as part of communications management. These constraints must be clearly understood and communicated to all stakeholders. While communications management is arguably one of the most important aspects of project management, it must be done in an effective manner and within the constraints of the allocated budget, time, and resources.

Stakeholder Communication Requirements

Most projects consist of a broad range of stakeholders all of whom may have differing interests and influence on the project. As such, it is important for project teams to determine the communication requirements of these stakeholders in order to more effectively communicate project information. There are a number of methods for determining stakeholder communication requirements; however, it is imperative that they are completely understood in order to effectively manage their interest, expectations, and influence and ensure a successful project.

Roles

Project Team Directory

The following table presents contact information for all persons identified in this communications management plan. The email addresses and phone numbers in this table will be used to communicate with these people.

Role	Name	Title	Organization/ Department	Email	Phone
Project Sponsor	A. White	VP of Technology	IT	[email protected]	(555) 555-1212
Program Manager	B. Brown	PMO Manager	PMO	[email protected]	(555) 555-1313
Project Manager	C. Black	Project Manager	PMO	[email protected]	(555) 555-1414
Project Stakeholders	See Stakeholder Register	See Stakeholder Register	See Stakeholder Register	See Stakeholder Register	See Stakeholder Register
Customer	J. Doe XYZ Corp	Manager	IT	[email protected]	(615) 555-8121
Project Team
Technical Lead

Communication Methods and Technologies

Many times, the methods and technologies used to communicate are just as important of a consideration as the information being communicated. Imagine a large project with many stakeholders who all have different technological capabilities. Some may have access to a share drive while others do not. Some may have access to video teleconferencing and others only have telephone and email capabilities. In order to be effective, project information must be communicated to everyone involved by some method using available technology. Determining communication methods and what technologies are available should be part of determining stakeholder communication requirements.

Communications Matrix

The following table identifies the communications requirements for this project.

Communication Type	Objective of Communication	Medium	Frequency	Audience	Owner	Deliverable	Format
Kickoff Meeting	Introduce the project team and the project. Review project objectives and management approach.	· Face to Face	Once	· Project Sponsor · Project Team · Stakeholders	Project Manager	· Agenda · Meeting Minutes	· Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site
Project Team Meetings	Review status of the project with the team.	· Face to Face · Conference Call	Weekly	· Project Team	Project Manager	· Agenda · Meeting Minutes · Project schedule	· Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site
Technical Design Meetings	Discuss and develop technical design solutions for the project.	· Face to Face	As Needed	· Project Technical Staff	Technical Lead	· Agenda · Meeting Minutes	· Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site
Monthly Project Status Meetings	Report on the status of the project to management.	· Face to Face · Conference Call	Monthly	· PMO	Project Manager	· Slide updates · Project schedule	· Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site
Project Status Reports	Report the status of the project including activities, progress, costs and issues.	· Email	Monthly	· Project Sponsor · Project Team · Stakeholders · PMO	Project Manager	· Project Status Report · Project schedule	· Soft copy archived on project SharePoint site and project web site

Communication Flowchart

Flowcharts provide a visual representation of a process or processes which often allow a better understanding of how the process is intended to work. Project communications may be extremely complex depending on the size and scope of the project and the number of stakeholders. A flowchart provides all stakeholders with a better understanding of the steps involved with the distribution of all project communications.

SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT

Communication Standards

Standardization is a proven way to simplify the complexities of project management communications. Many organizations develop and use standard templates or formats for the various communication tools used throughout projects. Standard templates and formats may be applied to certain types of project meetings or specific types of communication (i.e. emails, status reports, etc.). By using standardization, organizations can help ensure that its project teams and stakeholders have a thorough understanding of what is expected and achieve consistent and effective communications.

In addition to standard templates and/or formats, organizations may standardize file naming or sharing conventions. An organization may use SharePoint or some other type of Web Portal/Network tool (blogs, message boards, etc.) as a standard platform from which to share information and communicate. Additionally, an organization may have standard file naming conventions for their stored data on their internal share drives. Many of these tools and new technologies are used in today’s projects with team members and stakeholders often spread over wide geographic areas. Standardization provides a level of simplicity to an organization’s communication platforms and improves effectiveness and efficiency.

Communication Escalation Process

As issues or complications arise with regards to project communications it may become necessary to escalate the issue if a resolution cannot be achieved within the project team. Project stakeholders may have many different conflicting interests in a given project. While escalations are a normal part of project management, there must be a documented process that defines how those escalations will take place.

Priority	Definition	Decision Authority	Timeframe for Resolution
Priority 1	Major impact to project or business operations. If not resolved quickly there will be a significant adverse impact to revenue and/or schedule.	Vice President or higher	Within 4 hours
Priority 2	Medium impact to project or business operations which may result in some adverse impact to revenue and/or schedule.	Project Sponsor	Within one business day
Priority 3	Slight impact which may cause some minor scheduling difficulties with the project but no impact to business operations or revenue.	Project Manager	Within two business days
Priority 4	Insignificant impact to project but there may be a better solution.	Project Manager	Work continues and any recommendations are submitted via the project change control process

Glossary of Communication Terminology

Term	Definition
Communication	The effective sending and receiving of information. Ideally, the information received should match the information sent. It is the responsibility of the sender to ensure this takes place.
Stakeholder	Individuals or groups involved in the project or whose interests may be affected by the project’s execution or outcome.
Communications Management Plan	Portion of the overall Project Management Plan which details how project communications will be conducted, who will participate in communications, frequency of communications, and methods of communications.
Escalation	The process which details how conflicts and issues will be passed up the management chain for resolution as well as the timeframe to achieve resolution.

Sponsor Acceptance

Approved by the Project Sponsor:

Date:

PAGE