As a project manager, communicating with your team isn’t nearly as simple as snapping your fingers, barking out orders, and top-notch reports magically appearing on your desk.
Well, with the way that sounds, maybe that’s a good thing.
But you do want real, good results and for that, you need good communication.
You need to trust your teammates to get their tasks done on time, and perhaps most importantly— to be transparent. 100% honesty in the workplace can do wonders and a good communication plan can help you achieve this.
Every manager has a different style of communicating. But, one thing most managers have in common? A project management communication plan.
Let’s dive into why you need a project management communication plan in place to make your workplace transparent.
What is a project management communication plan?
A project management communication plan lays out how crucial information will be communicated to stakeholders and team members throughout a given project.
The plan also determines who will be receiving which update, who to turn to with certain updates, how those people will receive those updates and when they’ll receive them. It also lays out how often everyone should expect to be updated and how they will be updated.
You wouldn’t start a giant project without first drafting a very detailed plan or outline, right?
A project management communications plan should really be no different.
Communication plans matter because effective communication is critical to a project’s success.
Getting feedback on an assignment, reaching out to a colleague for help, and nearly every other project task all involve communication.
Having a project management communication plan that thoroughly outlines specific tasks, expectations, due dates, and stakeholders and how to reach them should therefore be an essential part of the planning process that every project manager should start to adopt.
A communication plan plays an important role in every project by:
- Creating written guidelines every team member can turn to at any time
- Enabling complete transparency throughout the project
- Encouraging the sharing of feedback to increase productivity and to avoid making the same mistakes
- Getting everyone to take ownership of their roles
- Setting expectations for each task, no matter how minor they may seem
A project management communication plan creates transparency
There are advantages of creating and sharing a communication plan with your team members.
Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of a communication plan that it increases transparency into the entire project.
Transparency can be broadly defined as the degree to which information is readily available and shared within an organization, both among managers and employees, but also outwards to stakeholders.
“Here at monday.com, we define transparency as “making all information—numbers, roadmaps, plans, challenges, and concerns—readily accessible to everyone on your team.”
When information is available to everyone, teammates can see the bigger picture and understand how their contributions make a clear difference.
Transparency is important for a plethora of reasons, such as:
- Building trust
- Staying up-to-date
- Fostering company intelligence
People can not only see that their tasks matter, but also are able to be informed of any changes and updates. This can help avoid redundancies.
By making critical information available to all team members, even if that information is not always positive, employees can work smarter and continuously account for and adjust to changes.
How to write a project management communication plan
While writing out an efficient project management communication plan can seem like a daunting task, it really doesn’t have to be.
Naturally, each project has different requirements, and therefore its corresponding communication plan should also include different things.
While there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to project management. Below are some things to keep in mind when putting together a formulated plan:
- The objective of the communication plan
- The methods and platform that should be used to communicate
- Who to turn to in case of delays or unforeseen changes
- How often each member should expect to receive updates
- The contact information for each member and stakeholder, and their project role
Project management communication plan template
Because overseeing a project is difficult enough, here at monday.com we have created templates to help you get started with your project management communication plan.
You can use the Calendar view in monday.com to create tasks for key dates. Those tasks have descriptions, comments, file attachments, priority levels and more! By seamlessly planning out your tasks and due dates ahead of time, you’ll maintain a steady flow of communication for everyone involved.
Our project management plan template is fully customizable and intuitive to use, so you can have your plan up and running in a matter of minutes.
Add your action items, reorder tasks based on priority, and create a tailored plan to fit all of your needs. Assign team members to each action item and so you and your entire team can monitor the project’s progress at every stage.
Get started –
