The project communication management plan template excel is made to provide an outline for communication with the project team and stakeholders. As we know communication is very essential in every business setup. So, the communication plan is a greatly valuable document when it comes to project management.
It allows you to manage a contact guideline for your customers and stakeholders. The plan can be of different categories some are of general nature and some are comprehensive and has detailed information of all the contacts.
A proper communication plan allows you to send messages to the right person at the right time. In a Communication management plan, you can also set your target audience to ensure consistent communication.
This article will allow you to understand and see what a communication plan is and what is its importance in project management.
Why Communication management plan is needed?
Communication is the key to success in any project. It allows you to send out messages easily and quickly by organizing different categories in the plan. Therefore, the exchange of information is very important.
For instance, if you want to call out a meeting for all the stakeholders, you can make a category for them and send out the message to all of them in one go. (Related Article: Agile Project Management Planning Template)
- This tool makes your life easy by managing and organizing your business contact.
- The Communication management plan template ensures that the communication is done properly without missing any related person of the project
- This tool holds its special place in the project charter due to its extraordinary importance throughout the life cycle of the project.
- You can enhance the visibility of your project objectives and goals by using a proper communication plan.
- It also boosts the productivity and performance of your team and enhances the commitment to the project.
How to Generate a Communication Management Plan?
Format
Here is a sample format of Project Communication Management Plan Template Excel, which will allow you to understand all components of this template to work efficiently to get effective results.
1. Types of Communication
This section is used to determine the following communication sessions:
- Urgent Meetings
- Project Team Meeting
- Project Status Weekly Meeting
- Project Status Monthly Meeting
- Project Status Report (Related Article: Daily Project Status Report
2. Goal Setting/ Objective of Communication
Setting the communication objective is used for the following purpose:
- Introduction of Project Team and Management, Project Plan, Objective, and Management approach.
- Review status of the Project with concerned Team
- Report of the Project Status with Management
- Reporting the project’s overall status, e.g., entire activities, progress, glitches, and costs (Related helpful article: Cost Management Plan Template Excel), etc.
You can also read the related article: Action Tracker Template.
3. Communication Medium
In this section following method or medium would be used for the project plan communication:
- Face to Face Communication
- Face to Face and Conference Call
- Face to Face Presentation and Conference Call
- Face to Face Presentation and Email
4. Communication Frequency
Here you will set the following required communication frequency:
- Once (One-time Communication)
- When Needed
- Weekly Basis for Project Report
- Monthly Basis for Project Status Meeting
5. Determining Audience
In this section you will determine the concerned person for communication attached with the project:
- Project Sponsor
- Project Tea
- Stakeholders
- Customers
- PMO
You can also read the related article: Stakeholder Register Template Excel
6. Owner
At this point, you will be able to know the key person, who is looking after and supervising the whole Project. This credit goes to the Project Manager.
7. Deliverable
At this stage the Project manager decides the following points for communication:
- Agenda
- Minutes of Meeting
- Project Status Report
Related helpful article, you must read: Change Request Template Excel
What are the steps for creating a communication management plan?
As far as we have seen that the communication plan is vital in every project management plan. By using this you can effectively communicate with your team, clients, and stakeholders without any problem.
The communication plan proves to be very handy when it comes to calling an emergency meeting or sending important messages. As it provides a comprehensive and complete list of contacts involved in the project.
Now, the next question is how do we make an effective communication plan?
Following are some steps by which you will be able to create a good and efficient plan for communication:
- First, you need to enlist the project communication needs and requirements.
- After that, outline the purpose of planning for communication.
- Then choose suitable tools and strategies for an effective way to connect. And you must choose the most effective method well suited to your project needs.
- Next, establish a continuous or regular method of updating the communication plan. This will ensure the best possible communication at every stage of the project cycle until the end.
- In the end identify your team members, clients, sponsor, and stakeholder and make a separate individual list for each category. This will allow you to address the specific audience and send out messages to selective people according to your need.
Helpful Article: Project Management Transition Plan Template
Format of communication plan template
The following list represents the general format of a commination plan template and the things included in it. The communication plan template is user-friendly and easy to use. The list includes the name, contact number, and email and postal address of:
- Project main sponsors
- Program manager
- The project manager or managers
- Project main stakeholders
- Project top customers
- Project team members
- Vendors and contractors
Related Article: Project Execution Template Excel
Impact of communication planning on your project
Hence, the most important impact of having a communication plan is that it will allow the members of the team to connect. It will enhance the environment of belief in your team and they will feel their importance in project development. Related helpful Article: Employee Productivity Tracker Template
The communication management plan template enhances the involvement of the members and stakeholders which will eventually result in the strengthening of the project. Furthermore, it will provide ease for the project manager to work on big project setups effectively and assign the duties, and provides instructions clearly.
Conclusion
Consequently, the importance of project communication is important and essential without any question. Every project must have a proper and well-managed project communication plan in place for better communication and successful completion.
External Links:
https://www.wrike.com/project-management-guide/faq/what-is-project-communication-management/
http://stint-project.net/files/communication_management_plan.pdf
https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/communication-plan
