COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT PLAN

<PROJECT NAME>

COMPANY NAME
STREET ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP CODE

DATE
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................2
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT APPROACH................................................................................2
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT CONSTRAINTS...........................................................................3
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATION REQUIREMENTS..........................................................................3
ROLES...............................................................................................................................................4
PROJECT TEAM DIRECTORY.............................................................................................................6
COMMUNICATION METHODS AND TECHNOLOGIES..........................................................................6
COMMUNICATIONS MATRIX.............................................................................................................8
COMMUNICATION FLOWCHART........................................................................................................9
GUIDELINES FOR MEETINGS.............................................................................................................9
COMMUNICATION STANDARDS......................................................................................................10
COMMUNICATION ESCALATION PROCESS......................................................................................11
GLOSSARY OF COMMUNICATION TERMINOLOGY..........................................................................12

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INTRODUCTION
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

This Communications Management Plan sets the communications framework for this project. It
will serve as a guide for communications throughout the life of the project and will be updated as
communication needs change. This plan identifies and defines the roles of persons involved in
this project. It also includes a communications matrix which maps the communication
requirements of this project. An in-depth guide for conducting meetings details both the
communications rules and how the meetings will be conducted, ensuring successful meetings. A
project team directory is included to provide contact information for all stakeholders directly
involved in the project.

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.

The Project Manager will take a proactive role in ensuring effective communications on this
project. The communications requirements are documented in the Communications Matrix
presented in this document. The Communications Matrix will be used as the guide for what

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information to communicate, who is to do the communicating, when to communicate it and to
whom to communicate.

As with most project plans, updates or changes may be required as the project progresses or
changes are approved. Changes or updates may be required due to changes in personnel, scope,
budget, or other reasons. Additionally, updates may be required as the project matures and
additional requirements are needed. The project manager is responsible for managing all
proposed and approved changes to the communications management plan. Once the change is
approved, the project manager will update the plan and supporting documentation and will
distribute the updates to the project team and all stakeholders. This methodology is consistent
with the project’s Change Management Plan and ensures that all project stakeholders remain
aware and informed of any changes to communications management.

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.

All project communication activities will occur within the project’s approved budget, schedule,
and resource allocations. The project manager is responsible for ensuring that communication
activities are performed by the project team and without external resources which will result in
exceeding the authorized budget. Communication activities will occur in accordance with the
frequencies detailed in the Communication Matrix in order to ensure the project adheres to
schedule constraints. Any deviation of these timelines may result in excessive costs or schedule
delays and must be approved by the project sponsor.

ABC Corp. organizational policy states that where applicable, standardized formats and
templates must be used for all formal project communications. The details of these policy
requirements are provided in the section titled “Standardization of Communication” in this
document.

ABC Corp. organizational policy also states that only a Vice President or higher level employee
may authorize the distribution of confidential information. The project manager is responsible
for ensuring that approval is requested and obtained prior to the distribution of any confidential
information regarding this project.

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

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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.

As part of identifying all project stakeholders, the project manager will communicate with each
stakeholder in order to determine their preferred frequency and method of communication. This
feedback will be maintained by the project manager in the project’s Stakeholder Register.
Standard project communications will occur in accordance with the Communication Matrix;
however, depending on the identified stakeholder communication requirements, individual
communication is acceptable and within the constraints outlined for this project.

In addition to identifying communication preferences, stakeholder communication requirements

must identify the project’s communication channels and ensure that stakeholders have access to
these channels. If project information is communicated via secure means or through internal
company resources, all stakeholders, internal and external, must have the necessary access to
receive project communications.

Once all stakeholders have been identified and communication requirements are established, the
project team will maintain this information in the project’s Stakeholder Register and use this,
along with the project communication matrix as the basis for all communications.

ROLES

Project Sponsor
The project sponsor is the champion of the project and has authorized the project by signing the
project charter. This person is responsible for the funding of the project and is ultimately
responsible for its success. Since the Project Sponsor is at the executive level communications
should be presented in summary format unless the Project Sponsor requests more detailed
communications.

Program Manager
The Program Manager oversees the project at the portfolio level and owns most of the resources
assigned to the project. The Program Manager is responsible for overall program costs and
profitability as such they require more detailed communications than the Project Sponsor.

Key Stakeholders
Normally Stakeholders includes all individuals and organizations who are impacted by the
project. For this project we are defining a subset of the stakeholders as Key Stakeholders. These
are the stakeholders with whom we need to communicate with and are not included in the other
roles defined in this section. The Key Stakeholders includes executive management with an
interest in the project and key users identified for participation in the project.

Change Control Board

The Change Control Board is a designated group which is reviews technical specifications and
authorizes changes within the organizations infrastructure. Technical design documents, user

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impact analysis and implementation strategies are typical of the types of communication this
group requires.

Customer
You should identify the customer if the project is the result of a solicitation. In such a case, the
customer will be involved in reviewing prototypes, approval of designs and implementation
stages and acceptance of the final project the project generates.

The customer for this project is <Customer Name>. As the customer who will be accepting the
final deliverable of this project they will be informed of the project status including potential
impacts to the schedule for the final deliverable or the product itself.

Project Manager
The Project Manager has overall responsibility for the execution of the project. The Project
Manager manages day to day resources, provides project guidance and monitors and reports on
the projects metrics as defined in the Project Management Plan. As the person responsible for
the execution of the project, the Project Manager is the primary communicator for the project
distributing information according to this Communications Management Plan.

Project Team
The Project Team is comprised of all persons who have a role performing work on the project.
The project team needs to have a clear understanding of the work to be completed and the
framework in which the project is to be executed. Since the Project Team is responsible for
completing the work for the project they played a key role in creating the Project Plan including
defining its schedule and work packages. The Project Team requires a detailed level of
communications which is achieved through day to day interactions with the Project Manager and
other team members along with weekly team meetings.

Steering Committee
The Steering Committee includes management representing the departments which make up the
organization. The Steering Committee provides strategic oversight for changes which impact the
overall organization. The purpose of the Steering Committee is to ensure that changes within the
organization are effected in such a way that it benefits the organization as a whole. The Steering
Committee requires communication on matters which will change the scope of the project and its
deliverables.

Technical Lead
The Technical Lead is a person on the Project Team who is designated to be responsible for
ensuring that all technical aspects of the project are addressed and that the project is
implemented in a technically sound manner. The Technical Lead is responsible for all technical
designs, overseeing the implementation of the designs and developing as-build documentation.
The Technical Lead requires close communications with the Project Manager and the Project
Team.

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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/ Email Phone

Department
Project Sponsor A. White VP of IT a.white@abc.com (555) 555-
Technology 1212
Program B. Brown PMO PMO b.brown@abc.com (555) 555-
Manager Manager 1313
Project Manager C. Black Project PMO c.black@abc.com (555) 555-
Manager 1414
Project See Stakeholder See See See Stakeholder See
Stakeholders Register Stakeholder Stakeholder Register Stakeholder
Register Register Register
Customer J. Doe XYZ Corp Manager IT J.Doe@xyz.com (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.

The project team will determine, in accordance with ABC Corp. organizational policy, the
communication methods and technologies based on several factors to include: stakeholder
communication requirements, available technologies (internal and external), and organizational
policies and standards.

ABC Corp. maintains a SharePoint platform within the PMO which all projects use to provide
updates, archive various reports, and conduct project communications. This platform enables
senior management, as well as stakeholders with compatible technology, to access project data
and communications at any point in time. SharePoint also provides the ability for stakeholders
and project team members to collaborate on project work and communication.

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For stakeholders who do not have the ability to access SharePoint, a web site will also be
established for the project. Access to the website will be controlled with a username and
password. Any stakeholders identified who are not able to access SharePoint will be issued a
unique username and password in order to access the web site. The project manager is
responsible for ensuring all project communications and documentation are copied to the web
site and that the content mirrors what is contained on the SharePoint platform.

ABC Corp. maintains software licenses for MS Project software. All project teams are
responsible for developing, maintaining, and communicating schedules using this software.
PERT Charts are the preferred format for communicating schedules to stakeholders. The project
schedule will be maintained on both the SharePoint platform and the project website.

All project communication and documentation, in addition to being maintained on the

SharePoint platform and project website, will be archived on the internal ABC Corp. shared
drive which resides in the PMO program directory. Organizational naming conventions for files
and folder will be applied to all archived work.

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 COMMUNICATIONS MATRIX
The following table identifies the communications requirements for this project.

Communication Objective of Communication Medium Frequency Audience Owner Deliverable Format

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

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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.

The communication flowchart below was created to aid in project communication. This
flowchart provides a framework for the project team to follow for this project. However, there
may be occasions or situations which fall outside of the communication flowchart where
additional clarification is necessary. In these situations the Project Manager is responsible for
discussing the communication with the Project Sponsor and making a determination on how to
proceed.

GUIDELINES FOR MEETINGS

Meeting Agenda
Meeting Agenda will be distributed 5 business days in advance of the meeting. The Agenda
should identify the presenter for each topic along with a time limit for that topic. The first item
in the agenda should be a review of action items from the previous meeting.

Meeting Minutes
Meeting minutes will be distributed within 2 business days following the meeting. Meeting
minutes will include the status of all items from the agenda along with new action items and the
Parking Lot list.

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Action Items
Action Items are recorded in both the meeting agenda and minutes. Action items will include
both the action item along with the owner of the action item. Meetings will start with a review of
the status of all action items from previous meetings and end with a review of all new action
items resulting from the meeting. The review of the new action items will include identifying
the owner for each action item.

Meeting Chair Person

The Chair Person is responsible for distributing the meeting agenda, facilitating the meeting and
distributing the meeting minutes. The Chair Person will ensure that the meeting starts and ends
on time and that all presenters adhere to their allocated time frames.

Note Taker
The Note Taker is responsible for documenting the status of all meeting items, maintaining a
Parking Lot item list and taking notes of anything else of importance during the meeting. The
Note Taker will give a copy of their notes to the Chair Person at the end of the meeting as the
Chair Person will use the notes to create the Meeting Minutes.

Time Keeper
The Time Keeper is responsible for helping the facilitator adhere to the time limits set in the
meeting agenda. The Time Keeper will let the presenter know when they are approaching the
end of their allocated time. Typically a quick hand signal to the presenter indicating how many
minutes remain for the topic is sufficient.

Parking Lot
The Parking Lot is a tool used by the facilitator to record and defer items which aren’t on the
meeting agenda; however, merit further discussion at a later time or through another forum.
A parking lot record should identify an owner for the item as that person will be responsible for
ensuring follow-up. The Parking Lot list is to be included in the meeting minutes.

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

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wide geographic areas. Standardization provides a level of simplicity to an organization’s
communication platforms and improves effectiveness and efficiency.

For this project, ABC Corp. will utilize standard organizational formats and templates for all
formal project communications. Formal project communications are detailed in the project’s
communication matrix and include:

Kickoff Meeting – project team will utilize ABC Corp. standard templates for meeting agenda
and meeting minutes. Additionally, any slides presented will use the ABC Corp. standard
slideshow template.

Project Team Meetings – project team will utilize ABC Corp. standard templates for meeting
agenda and meeting minutes. Additionally, any slides presented will use the ABC Corp. standard
slideshow template.

Technical Design Meetings - project team will utilize ABC Corp. standard templates for meeting
agenda and meeting minutes. Additionally, any slides presented will use the ABC Corp. standard
slideshow template.

Monthly Project Status Meetings - project team will utilize ABC Corp. standard templates for
meeting agenda and meeting minutes. Additionally, any slides presented will use the ABC Corp.
standard slideshow template.

Project Status Reports – project team will utilize ABC Corp. standard templates for meeting
agenda and meeting minutes. Additionally the standard project status report document, available
on the share drive, will be used to provide project status.

Informal project communications should be professional and effective but there is no standard
template or format that must be used.

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.

Efficient and timely communication is the key to successful project completion. As such, it is
imperative that any disputes, conflicts, or discrepancies regarding project communications are
resolved in a way that is conducive to maintaining the project schedule, ensuring the correct
communications are distributed, and preventing any ongoing difficulties. In order to ensure
projects stay on schedule and issues are resolved, ABC Corp. will use its standard escalation
model to provide a framework for escalating communication issues. The table below defines the
priority levels, decision authorities, and timeframes for resolution.

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

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 Portion of the overall Project Management Plan which details how
Management Plan 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.

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SPONSOR ACCEPTANCE

Approved by the Project Sponsor:

___________________________________________ Date:____________________
<Project Sponsor>
<Project Sponsor Title>

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