COMPANY NAME & LOGO

Communications Management Plan

(PROJECT NAME)

XX/XX/XXXX

DXXXX
VERSION HISTORY
Version # Doc Nº Date Author Key Differences
1.0 DXXXX XX/XX/XXXX (author name)

Communications Management Plan 1.0 | Page 2 Of 24

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................4
2. Purpose and Objectives.......................................................................................................................4
3. Stakeholder Requirements..................................................................................................................4
3.1. Stakeholder Communications Requirements...............................................................................5
3.1.1. Project Team Stakeholders...................................................................................................5
3.1.2. Non-Project Team (Internal) Stakeholders...........................................................................7
3.1.3. Non-Project Team (External) Stakeholders...........................................................................9
4. Communications Matrix....................................................................................................................11
5. Communications Design....................................................................................................................11
5.1. Project Team Communications Design.......................................................................................12
5.2. Non-Project Team Communications Design...............................................................................12
5.3. Recurring Communication Design..............................................................................................12
5.4. Triggered Communication Design..............................................................................................13
6. Develop Communications..................................................................................................................13
7. Communications Standards...............................................................................................................15
7.1. Approved Templates..................................................................................................................15
7.2. Communications Approval Process............................................................................................15
7.3. Approved delivered vehicles......................................................................................................16
8. Evaluate Communications.................................................................................................................16
9. Guidelines for Meetings.....................................................................................................................16
Appendix A – Communication Matrix........................................................................................................17
Appendix B – Delivery Vehicles & Media...................................................................................................22
Appendix C – Guidelines for meetings.......................................................................................................25

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1. Introduction

This Communication Management Plan sets the communications framework for the (Project
Name) project. It serves as a guide for communications throughout the life of the project. This
is a working document and will be updated as communication needs change. This plan identifies
and defines the stakeholders of (Project Name) with whom it is critical to communicate. It also
contains the Communication Matrix (Appendix A), which maps specific messages to
stakeholders or stakeholder groups. The items captured on the Communications Matrix are then
built into the (Project Name) Project Schedule.

2. Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of all (Project Name) communication is to:

 Promote awareness of and excitement for the (Project Name) project
 Ensure adoption of the responsibilities and actions assigned to each stakeholder, and
 Encourage two-way communication about the (Project Name) project between the
project team and company stakeholder groups and external groups related in some
manner with the project.

3. Stakeholder Requirements

The communication needs of (Project Name) stakeholders have been identified and are
presented in the Stakeholder Communications Requirements table below. The analysis includes
all project team member roles and responsibilities, including their communication
responsibilities. In addition, the requirements of the non-project team stakeholders are also
captured. Although some of this requirement are defined in the Stakeholder Management Plan
in section 3.4.2 (Stakeholder engagement Plan), this section describe with more level of detail
the needs and communications requirements of all stakeholders.

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 3.1. Stakeholder Communications Requirements
3.1.1. Project Team Stakeholders
Name
Role Description Communication needs Communications responsibilities
Or Group
Project Team Stakeholders
(Role X) Manage the Feasibility Analysis of the project Oversees the implementation of the (names)
strategic portfolio, strategic portfolio, working with the PMO
and responsible for Strategic management plan and all project managers in the pursuit of
all of the
the company's mission
elaboration and Status from project team about the
business cases progress alignment with the planned
strategy Communicates annual results to the
corporate governance
Communications should be presented in
weekly meeting with the product sponsor
and monthly reports from the project
manager
(Role Y) Funding the Thorough understanding of Project Charter Provides guidance and direction for key (names)
project, provides and Project Management Plan communication strategies
high level vision.
Up-to-date Project Status
Communicates business vision
Project Risks and Responses
Project issues and obstacles
Communicates high-level issue resolution
Sponsorship-specific communications decisions
tactics/techniques
Approves and/or delivers strategic project
Communications should be presented in
monthly reports in video conference unless communications
Project Sponsor requests more detailed
communications
(Role Z) ……… ………. …………….. (names)

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 3.1.2. Non-Project Team (Internal) Stakeholders
Role Description Communication needs Communications responsibilities Name or Group

Non-Project Team (Internal) Stakeholders

(Role X) Plan all human Report requirements about the human Report the project manager with the (names)
resources needed resources needed available resources and associated
to face the constraints
company Meetings with the project manager to form
operations and the project team according with the
projects available resources

Calendar with the needed meetings

agendas to elaborate the project team

(Role Y) Plan all Communications should be presented in Project manager should report with 1 (names)
expenditures that dates according with the project manager month in advance of the need to release
are necessary to in manner that the reconciliation is made funds
release to the at a steady.
execution of the
A formal document for fund release
project
should be send to the finance department
(Role Z) Plan all quality Communications should be presented in Project manager and project team should (names)
procedures, Biweekly meetings with the direct receive a report with the changes from the
inspections and supervisor to allow constant validation of meeting
audits to the the quality standards
project
Each meeting should update the quality
plan and policies, so the team can work
according the defined criteria. A report
should report the changes
(Role W) …….. …….. ……… (names)

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 3.1.3. Non-Project Team (External) Stakeholders
Role Description Communication needs Communications responsibilities Name or Group
Non-Project Team (External) Stakeholders
(Role X) Partner Project progress updates Participates in requirement collection (name)
representative Benefits of new system focus groups and new system
responsible for demonstrations
System implementation dates
establishing
Training dates Provides feedback to project team
agreements, and
Access to (project name) intranet site. members, clarifying requirements
for the vision of
the customer for Communications should be in a meeting at Reads communications and performs tasks
the product being each milestone mark, documenting the accordingly
developed by the result of the meeting in conformance
project report
(Role Y) Employees of our Project progress updates Participates in requirement collection (names)
partner who will in Benefits of new system focus groups and new system
the future have to demonstrations
System implementation dates
operate with the
product resulting Training dates
from the project Access to (project name) intranet site Provides feedback to project team
Communications should be held using members, clarifying requirements
newsletters about the benefits of the new
system
Guided tours to our facilities to show the
progress of the project and to negotiate
training dates creating a document
agreement in a ceremony
(Role Z) Representatives of Benefits of new system Meetings with their associates explaining (names)
all … branch the new work method
workers in the …. Training dates
uphold their labor Provides feedback to associates about the
Communications should be held using
interests training dates and sessions
newsletters about the benefits of the new
system
(Role W) ……….. ………….. ……….. (names)

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4. Communications Matrix

The (Project Name) Communication Management Plan includes an assessment and analysis of
the Agency’s existing communications that impact the project’s stakeholder populations. The
result of this assessment and analysis is recorded in the Communication Matrix (Appendix A),
along with a numerical rating of the effectiveness of each communication item based on
feedback from Agency personnel. This rating allows the (Project Name) project team to take
advantage of existing Agency communication vehicles for project-related communication.
The analysis of (Company Name) communications found that communications are delivered
through diverse channels and are not consistent. They used too many communication channels.
This causes some confusion in the employee population since the information is dispersed and
it is not specific the places where it should be stored, increase the communication noise and
different communication formats.
Since there is no one person dedicated to ensuring Agency-wide communication effectiveness,
most of the information the employee base needs to be successful is left to Agency leadership
to “trickle down” through the management/supervisory level. Often these leaders, managers
and supervisors forget to share the information or fail to provide context for the message due to
their own workloads.
To help the organization leaders disseminate information about the project more effectively, the
(Project Name) Project Manager and team will ensure careful documentation of all meetings
and be responsible for editing and ensuring consistency in project communication. They will
also provide leader talking points for critical updates to Agency employees regarding project
progress.
The analysis of current Agency communications also found that both Organization leader
meetings and the Agency’s intranet site were the most effective as delivery vehicles for
disseminating messages that invite positive action and behavior. The (Project Name) will take
advantage of these methods to disseminate project-related information.
The (Project Name) communication needs will also require development of new
communication vehicles if none of the existent vehicles serves the purpose to ensure that
critical project-related messaging reaches the appropriate stakeholder groups. As the project
identifies and creates these vehicles or uses the existent vehicles, they will be added to the
Communication Matrix (Appendix A).

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5. Communications Design
The Communication Matrix for (Project Name) (Appendix A) includes a solid structure for
project team communication, as well as a framework for non-project team stakeholder
communications.

5.1. Project Team Communications Design

The Project Manager will take a proactive role in ensuring effective communications for the
(Project Name). The communications of (Project Name) team members will include status
reporting, “all-hands” team meetings in which the health of the project and
requests/requirements of the (Company) Compliance Committee or project leadership are
reviewed, and ad hoc communications, via email, meetings, reports and/or conference calls as
appropriate.
The Project Manager also ensures that the communication infrastructure for the project team is
created. For example, he will ensure that the organization establishes an email distribution list
of all project team members, appropriate organization intranet access is provided, and a project
team contact list is created.

5.2. Non-Project Team Communications Design

There are several communication opportunities to reach, educate, and gain buy-in and support
from stakeholders of the (Project Name). Since the project team is also a stakeholder group,
they are sometimes recipients of the same communications as non-project team stakeholders.
Taking advantage of these opportunities and timing the release of communications
appropriately is vital to insuring a successful project. For (Project Name), following are some of
the ways that (Project Name) will achieve information sharing, action and project acceptance
from its stakeholders:
 (Project Name) branding
 Role-specific communications
 Multi-media supported communications (video/audio, social media)
 Mini polls and surveys
 Newsletter articles
 Change Champion talking points and presentations
 Frequently Asked Questions
 Sponsor/leader talking points and presentations
 Milestone ceremonies, specially at the end of the project with external stakeholders
 Learn Managing System (LMS)

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 5.3. Recurring Communication Design

The recurring communications identified for (Project Name) are described below and
documented in the Communication Matrix (Appendix A).
 Project Committee – status updates, risks and responses, issues and resolution, budget
updates, etc. Hold monthly video conferences throughout the life of the project with
formal documents reports.
 Project Sponsor – status updates, schedule slippage, new risks and responses, issues,
etc. Hold monthly video conferences throughout the life of the project with formal
documents reports.
 Project All-Hands Meetings – high-level project reviews, issues, sponsor messages,
PMO. To be held monthly throughout the life of the project.
 (Project Name) News – stakeholder updates, schedule updates, progress report,
frequently asked questions, etc. Published via organization and (Project Name) intranet
site monthly, then weekly closer to implementation.
 Work team meetings – work update, issues, risks reporting and solving, clarifying
requirements to be held daily throughout the life of the project. All this communication
will use a closed group in Microsoft Teams, where all of the team can create channels for
different areas of expertise of communication and store documents and templates used
to perform the daily reports. They could also use Skype Business to communicate with
other internal stakeholders inside the organization. All internal information referred to
should be stored in Microsoft Teams; all public information and public status reports
should be published in the (Project Name) intranet site
 Quality meetings – establishing procedures of acceptance, inspections documents,
defects repair etc. Should be held biweekly in face-to-face meetings with the project
manager, their assistant and the quality director; should produce a report of the quality
procedures publish in the intranet site, and a report of the issues that should be sent by
email to the closed channel of the communication of the project team (Microsoft
Teams).

5.4. Triggered Communication Design

The Project Manager will document all anticipated trigger events for (Project Name) and build
appropriate shell communications to deliver agreed-upon messaging about the trigger event.
Similarly, the Project Manager will create the processes necessary to quickly execute responses
to unanticipated trigger events. This can prevent project delay or reputational damage caused
by a delayed response or lack of response. Known trigger events are documented in the
Communications Matrix with processes to handle non-anticipated trigger events documented in
the Communications Standards.

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6. Develop Communications

The (Project Name) project’s Communication Objectives are:

 To promote awareness of and excitement for the (Project Name) project
 To ensure adoption of the responsibilities and actions assigned to each role
 Reduce negative effects of rumors and/or misinformation about the project in the
stakeholder populations
 Increase stakeholder population participation in the project

To ensure smooth information flow within the project team itself, the following Team (Project
Name) in Microsoft Teams has been created as the project’s document management software.
In addition, the project will adhere to the Communication Standards documented below.
In the Microsoft Teams – Team (Project Name), project team members can access
presentations, the Project Charter, the Project Management Plan and other project-related
documentation to promoting transparency and help the members in their work. The team will
have access to several channels inside the team divided by area several other channel will be
added throughout the lifecycle of the project if needed. Channels names are:
 Project Status – (PSTATUS)
 Project Risks Status (PRISKS)
 Project Software Area (PSW)
 Project Mechanical Area (PMEC)
 Project Electronical Area (PELEC)
 Project Report Templates (PTEMPLATES)
 Project Quality Procedures (PQUALITY)
 Project Plan (PPLAN)

A (Project Name) intranet site has been created for all stakeholders and is easily accessed from
the Agency’s intranet home page. It will contain the following:
 Introduction to the project
 Project team directory
 Frequently asked questions
 Glossary
 Future-state business process flows
 (Project Name) monthly newsletter

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As stakeholder communication needs grow, other items will be added to the page
(implementation schedule, conversion instructions LMS -Learn Managing System, etc.).
https://www.(company).com/pt-pt/(Project Name)

7. Communications Standards

7.1. Approved Templates

The (Company Name) and Project Leadership have approved the following set of templates and
other artifacts for (Project Name) stakeholder communications; these standards are
documented and available through the intranet site:
 (Project Name) logo
 (Project Name) email signature
 (Project Name) MS Word Document template
 (Project Name) MS PowerPoint Slide design template
 (Project Name) Microsoft Teams - Team: (Project Name)
 (Project Name) File naming conventions
 (Project Name) Intranet Site (internal to project team):
https://www.(company).com/pt-pt/(Project Name)/TeamUsers
 (Project Name) Intranet Site (external stakeholders):
https://www.(company).com/pt-pt/(Project Name)/Users
https://www.(company).com/pt-pt/(Project Name)/Users/LMS

7.2. Communications Approval Process

The following communications approval process has been approved by project leadership and is
also documented in the Communications Standards document.
Project Team members identifies needed message, target audience, preferred delivery method
and timing.
1. Project Team members completes Communication Request Form (in Communicator’s
Guide).
2. Project Team members forwards completed Communication Request Form to Project
Manager via (Project Name) COMMUNICATIONS INBOX: (inbox)@pt.(company).com
3. Assistant Project Manager assigns edits and validates the message, audience, delivery
method and timing.

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 4. Once message is completed and prepared for delivery, Assistant Project Manager drafts
communication to Project Manager for approval.
5. Project Manager approves publication.
6. Assistant Project Manager publishes, sends or arranges for delivery of communication.

All of these items, in addition to more specific instructions for their use, can be found under the
Communications folder on the (Project Name) Intranet site.

7.3. Approved delivered vehicles

(Project Name) anticipates using several delivery vehicles for effective communication. Below is
a list of the delivery vehicles this project will employ to educate, inform and solicit input from
stakeholders. Consult Appendix B.
 Conference calls using a bridge line and NetMeeting for requirements elicitation, team
updates, testing planning, etc. where not all essential participants are centrally located
 Emails from the (Project Name) mail box to make general announcements and to solicit
just-in-time feedback, receive and answer questions from stakeholders.
 Electronic collateral will include on-line “how to” pdf files, Frequently Asked Questions
and Answers, toolkits, newsletters, certificates, links to web-based training, etc. These
will be accessible via the (Project Name) intranet site as well as the organization intranet
site(s) as applicable.
 Multi-media products to include videos, animation, podcasts, web-based training,
training environment, UAT environment, demo environment.
 Events including (Project Name) Sandbox exercises, kick-off events in large geographic
offices as rollout progresses, executive/leadership presentations during road shows or
town halls, lessons learned sessions.

8. Evaluate Communications

As noted in the Communications Matrix, regular, candid feedback from the target audience and
Agency leadership is critical to successfully executing the overall Communication Management
Plan. Therefore, the following evaluation plan was developed to measure the value of the
project’s communication efforts. The project will use three methods to extract feedback from
target audience members receiving communications in order to measure and evaluate the
effectiveness of the communications.
1. Real-time Organization leadership, (company) Compliance Committee (PMO),
(company) Projects Committee feedback.
2. Formal surveys/evaluations to the target audience members

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 3. Quick Pulse survey to obtain feedback from target audience members immediately after
a communication is released

9. Guidelines for Meetings

Consult Appendix C to follow guidelines to conduct and participate in project meetings.

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. Appendix A –
Communication Matrix

Timing/
Effective-ness
Communication Desired Outcome or Review and Sender/ (scale of 1-5
Audience Description Delivery Vehicle Author
Deliverable Behavior Approval Facilitator with 5 being
most
effective)
REOCCURING – CURRENT STATE
Information on Project
metrics, goals, (Project Name) Project
objectives, progress team provides content; e-Newsletter on
Monthly
Project
(Project toward goals, project Stakeholders read Project (Compan
All website / by Assistant
Name) Project news, human interest news and stay up-to- Manager y) Public
Stakeholders email for manager
News stories, information date on project external Sponsor Relations
on process changes, progress; increased stakeholders
legislative changes, excitement 5
etc.
TRIGGERED – CURRENT STATE

Alerts in email
and posted on As needed
(Company)
Detailed updates on Project Team members Project
Legislative Project Team Project legal team Project
legislation and follow revised Intranet Site
Updates members Manager and Manager
changes in processes processes followed by
Sponsor
team 5
meetings

REOCCURING – PROJECT
Project Executive-level Challenge status, Executive- Weekly
(Company)
Sponsor, leadership meeting to provide resources, level Project Project Project (Documents)
Project
Manager, share status, seek offer decisions, remove meetings; Manager Sponsor Sponsor Monthly
Committee
PMO answers or help barriers Video (meeting)

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 Timing/
Effective-ness
Communication Desired Outcome or Review and Sender/ (scale of 1-5
Audience Description Delivery Vehicle Author
Deliverable Behavior Approval Facilitator with 5 being
most
effective)
Conference;
sometimes
pre-read
documents;
Report Send
by Email;
Project All-
Status updates, Team members take Hands
Project All- All project celebrate progress, responsibility to Meetings;
Project Project Project
Hands team discuss next steps, maintain or increase status bi-monthly
Manager Manager Manager
Meetings members review upcoming progress toward reports;
changes milestone goals celebratory
certificates
Project Project Manager
status updates,
Project Manager responsibility to
schedule slippage, Video Project Project Project
Sponsor Assistant maintain or increase Monthly
new risks and Conference Manager Sponsor Manager
Meetings Manager progress toward
responses, issues.
PMO milestone goals
Task status,
Current risks
Technical Face-to-Face;
assessment and Technical Leaders Technical Technical
Leaders, Issues Log; Technical
new risks detected, responsibility to Leader Leader
Work team Team Change Log; Leader
Progress of work, maintain or increase from from Daily
meetings Members, Risk Register; from each
Team development, progress toward each each
Assistant (stored in M. area
Team assessment, milestone goals area area
Manager teams by mail)
Training assessment

TRIGGERED – PROJECT
Project All project Milestone description; PS and appropriate PowerPoint Project Project Project date
Milestone team congratulatory team lead/PM provide deck; talking Manager Manager Manager anticipated
Met members content; content; project team points; Sponsor from project
implications/impacts; members energized by Documents or schedule

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 Timing/
Effective-ness
Communication Desired Outcome or Review and Sender/ (scale of 1-5
Audience Description Delivery Vehicle Author
Deliverable Behavior Approval Facilitator with 5 being
most
effective)
prototypes
referred in
success or organized each
next steps
for risk response milestone
(stored in M.
teams by mail)
Project Establish quality Reports
Manager, Providing procedures standards and resulting in Project
(Company) measures.
Assistant and policies of quality procedures Project Manager Director
Quality Monthly
Manager, during project Deliverable acceptance (stored in M. Manager Director of of quality
meetings
Technical lifecycle. criteria. Teams by quality
Leaders Inspections types. mail)
Funding
Project Reports.
Manager, Releasing the
Status Project date
(Company) Funding the daily necessary funding at a
Assistant Reports. Project Manager Financial anticipated
Finance activities of the steady pace according
Manager, (stored in Manager Financial Director from project
meetings project with the schedule
Financial intranet and Director schedule
needs
Director Microsoft
teams)
(Company) Project Human resources An effective and Report of all Project Project HR At the start
Human Manager available. experienced team selected Manager Manager Director of the
Resources HR Director Criteria to select the capable of execute the elements for HR project.
meetings project Human project. the project. Director
resources. Team
organization
chart OBS.
(publish in the
intranet)
List of skills of
each team

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 Timing/
Effective-ness
Communication Desired Outcome or Review and Sender/ (scale of 1-5
Audience Description Delivery Vehicle Author
Deliverable Behavior Approval Facilitator with 5 being
most
effective)
element.
(stored in M.
Teams by
mail)
Lists of the
needed
material.
(Company) Conduct procurements Reports of the Project date
Project Report the needed
Human in an anticipated performance Project Manager Project anticipated
Manager material for the
Purchase manner, so the project of last Manager Sales Manager from project
Sales Director project lifecycle
meetings does not suffer delays. procurements Director schedule
(stored in M.
Teams by
mail)
Brainstorm
meetings,
Focus groups
meetings
Project
Shadow At Start of
Manager
working to the project,
Project Team Collect requirement, Exhaustive list of all Project
(name) obtain: and as
Representativ to establish the requirements classified Project Sponsor Project
Institution Requirement needed to
e from fundamental features by must, desirable, and Manager Project Manager
(Customer) documentatio clarify
customer of the product it’s nice to have. Manager
n requirement
Future Users
Requirement s
form product
traceability
matrix (stored
in M. Teams
by mail)
(name) Project Deliver trainee Live sessions with the Session Technical Project Software 15 days
Institution Manager sessions for the users explaining the Reports Manager Manager Technical before Final
(Customer) Project Team costumer users machine operation and matrix (stored of each Manager Implementa

Communications Management Plan 1.0 | Page 18 Of 24

 Timing/
Effective-ness
Communication Desired Outcome or Review and Sender/ (scale of 1-5
Audience Description Delivery Vehicle Author
Deliverable Behavior Approval Facilitator with 5 being
most
effective)
in M. Teams
by mail)
Representant Surveys
from reports
training the users to tion
and users customer (stored in M. area
operate the machine. 01/06/2020
Future Users Teams by mail
form product and publish in
intranet site)

. Appendix B – Delivery
Vehicles & Media

Delivery Vehicle/Media Advantages Disadvantages

Meeting & Conference Materials Brands messaging to large audience; Paper-based and easily discarded

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Delivery Vehicle/Media Advantages Disadvantages
advertising
Speeches Shows support for initiative if delivered by Temporary “high”; if not delivered by
Sponsor or respected Influencer; can respected individual, can fall flat and be
motivate/inspire counter-productive
Road Shows Offers non-project team stakeholders the Can be expensive, technically challenging,
opportunity to see something tangible risk of instability if script not thoroughly
rather than just read information; reduces tested prior to implementation; could make
anxiety if done well; best if done in context the change about the system rather than a
of a business process change in business process with the system
as a tool
Electronic manuals/help If searchable and intuitive to use, can help If not written within context of the job end
new users feel more confident users are trying to do, is less than helpful;
avoid overly technical language
Videos Can be watched on individual’s personal Can be expensive to produce a quality
time table; multi-sensory experience product; some end users might not be
enhances message retention; can provide capable of watching videos on-line and
motivation and a sense of fun to relieve producing DVDs can be time consuming;
anxiety professional graphics, music and concise
messaging are critical for the message to be
retained
Newsletters Consistently delivered updates covering If not already consistently delivered, may
wide variety of business related, as well as not get noticed; should not be the only
technology related content; graphics can delivery vehicle for messages
cause excitement; if “pushed” may have
enough readership for message to be
accepted; can be delivered in paper or on-
line
Frequently Asked Questions Way to proactively answer questions that If published in paper, quickly obsolete,
can be anticipated; non-threatening way for leading to outdated information out in the
any stakeholder to ask a question and have field; if questions are not answered in a
it answered without repercussion; answers timely fashion, can erode trust in the project
can reach entire stakeholder population; and cause anxiety
project team can use the questions to

Communications Management Plan 1.0 | Page 20 Of 24

Delivery Vehicle/Media Advantages Disadvantages
determine topics about which the end users
might be anxious
Signs/Posters Excellent, inexpensive, constant reminders Though relatively inexpensive, excellent
that the change is coming; can be graphics/photos can add costs; all
motivating; picture can evoke emotion and stakeholders may not be in a workplace with
tie current project to overall strategy walls upon which to hang signs
Facilitated Group Meetings Promotes inclusion and ownership among If not facilitated tightly by an impartial,
stakeholders; allows discussion of sensitive objective, trained facilitator, can devolve
issues in a safe environment; promotes into conflict and/or non-action; can waste
decision-making and action planning; time and damage the reputation of the
promotes understanding of all stakeholders’ project
perspectives
Brown Bag Lunches Often used as learning sessions, creates an Should be single-subject targeted as it can
atmosphere in which individuals generally be frustrating for stakeholders to try and
offer more comments, questions due to its tackle too many subjects while trying to eat;
informality; quick; stakeholders can feel that provide a facilitator/leader to get things
the session is a productive use of their time started; can devolve into “fun lunch” and
since they eat as well (multi-tasking); can accomplish nothing but a good, collegial
promote inclusion and motivation feeling with no resulting action items or
evaluation of the effectiveness of the
learning
Project Team – Team Channel (Microsoft Promotes a central repository of data If not kept up-to-date, becomes a liability,
Teams) divided by areas, where the name of the but as a tool of work is constantly present
channels is self-explanatory avoid confusion. on the mind of the team and the updates
Promotes a collaborative environment in that must be done there.
real time, promotes explicit knowledge
instead of tacit knowledge. Isolates the
internal communications of the team form
areas not wanted. And stores the needed
documentation of the project plan,
procedures, reports etc. that each team
member need to know at daily bases.
Project Team Intranet Site Promotes open, documentable If not kept up-to-date, becomes a liability;

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Delivery Vehicle/Media Advantages Disadvantages
communication among project team cannot force the project team members to
members; large announcements can be review the site frequently
distributed real-time; depending on content,
can be motivational and promote high
performance team behaviors; content does
not have to become obsolete; it’s ideal to
share with all internal stakeholders.
Stakeholder Intranet Site Perfect for sending change messages, If not kept up-to-date, becomes a liability;
project status, calls for participation, lessons cannot force the project team members to
learned, frequently asked questions, review the site frequently
benefits achieved, problems resolved, etc.
Ideal to share with external stakeholders.

Communications Management Plan 1.0 | Page 22 Of 24

. Ap
pe
ndi
xC
–
Gui
deli
nes
for
me
eti
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Meeting Agenda
Meeting Agenda will be distributed at least 1 business day 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/notes will be distributed within 2 business days following the meeting. Meeting
minutes/notes will include the status of all items from the agenda along with new action items and the
Parking Lot list.

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

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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 enough.

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 should be included in the meeting minutes.

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