“Teach me and I will forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I will understand.” –
Understanding a project is the key factor which determines the success or failure of the project. Wrong understanding of the project purpose leads to project failure. Communication in project management is the essence of the project itself as it is all about involving all project team members including the stakeholders, ensuring flawless understanding of the project purpose and execution.
Project managers must create and manage Project Communication Plan. Here are the core functions of a communication plan:-
- Receiving the right data from the appropriate stakeholders at the right point of time.
- Disseminating information to the appropriate stakeholders at the right point of time.
Here are the steps to create an effective Project Communication Plan:-
- Establish a Communication Plan that includes tasks, time frames and task ownership.
- Identify the stakeholders to assess the extent of importance of each of them with context to awareness, understanding, commitment and advocacy.
- Define communication strategy and that can include, though not limited to, meetings, e-mail and web communications (online portals and digital dashboards) and multimedia (presentation, demonstration and training session).
- Formulate communication matrix to establish and understand “who needs what, when and how?”.
- Establish and support feedback mechanisms.
Although a communication plan is created during the initial phase of a project, a project manager must revisit the plan periodically to ensure present applicability.