Question

Communications and Stakeholder Management

1. Develop a communications management plan with a suitable communications matrix for the project.

2.Document the strategies that will be used to manage the identified stakeholders’ groups according to their power and interest in the project (see Power/Interest Grid /Matrix for Stakeholder Prioritization).

Answer 1

1. Develop a communications management plan with a suitable communications matrix for the project.

2. Document the strategies that will be used to manage the identified stakeholders’ groups according to their power and interest in the project (see Power/Interest Grid /Matrix for Stakeholder Prioritization).

Answer : 1

Project Management Communication Plan

As a project manager, you have the singular gift of being able to handle a hundred responsibilities at once, including delegating tasks, removing any blockers from a project, and making sure everyone has the same goal in mind.

But while effective project management involves breaking down high-level goals into smaller assignments that ultimately adhere to a set deadline, a truly great project manager knows that no project big or small will be successful without a project management communication plan.

project management communication plan

A project management communication plan identifies how important information will be communicated to stakeholders throughout the project. It also determines who will be receiving the communication, how those people will receive it, when they’ll receive it, and how often they should expect to receive that information.

When formulating your project communication plan, make sure it includes:

• The purpose or goals of the communication plan
• Information about stakeholders and their roles
• The types of information that needed to be shared with stakeholders
• The methods used to communicate
• The frequency that each stakeholder would like to receive information.

Importance of project management communication plan

Poor communication contributes to project failure, and therefore, it could spell massive financial loss to the company. At the opposite end of the spectrum, high-performing businesses communicate more frequently and do so more effectively than their low-performing counterparts.

A project management communication plan will keep your project on track because it:

• Creates written documentation that the team can reference
• Sets expectations of when stakeholders will receive updates
• Increases stakeholders’ visibility into the project and its status
• Provides the opportunity for stakeholders to give feedback, which can help the team detect issues early on and decrease wasted work
• Increases productivity during meetings or eliminates them altogether

So, if you want your project to be completed successfully and on time, make sure you know how to create an effective communication plan.

How to make a project management communication plan

Based on the benefits explained above, we’re sure you’re anxious to start your own project management communication plan. Follow these steps to get started.

1. Choose a format

Choose a platform where it will be easy to gather feedback on your communication plan and to share or store the plan for your team and stakeholders to reference.

Many project managers create their communication plan on a word document or a spreadsheet, starting from a project communication plan template, but you might also consider choosing a more visual option, such as a timeline or a flowchart, to clearly explain the frequency of communication or the best method to use based on the stakeholder.

Communication Plan Example

Communication Matrix Example

2. Set a communication goal

Whatever you hope to achieve, the first step to crafting a successful communication plan is to write that goal down. Referring back to the importance of a communication plan, your goal will likely be to keep stakeholders updated on the project status or even to keep stakeholders mindful of the project’s benefits so they’ll continue to advocate for it.

3. Identify stakeholders

Most projects have many stakeholders, most of whom have different levels of interest in and influence on the project. You’ll need to identify the stakeholders with whom you’ll communicate throughout the project and list them.

4. Identify methods of communication

Your CTO never checks his email but is on Slack all day. On the other hand, your head designer never installed Slack but checks her email constantly. And you’ll need to hire a skywriter to communicate with your art director.

One purpose of your communication plan is to get the right eyes on the right information, so along with listing who your stakeholders are, your communication plan should also list how you intend on communicating with those stakeholders.

Consider the following methods depending on what your stakeholders are most likely to see or attend:

• Weekly check-ins
• Meetings, whether in person, over the phone, or through video conferencing
• Meeting summaries
• Status reports
• Formal presentations
• Surveys
• To-do lists
• Project dashboards
• Collaboration apps, such as Slack or Google Hangouts

The communication method you choose may also depend on the information you need to deliver. You likely don’t need a formal in-person meeting every week to share updates on the project; you could send a weekly email with updates and hold meetings when the team reaches a major milestone.

5. Determine frequency of communication

List how often you will send out each type of communication (e.g., send a weekly email on Mondays with project progress, links to completed deliverables, current budget, etc.) or how often you need to loop in each stakeholder (e.g., each team member should send daily emails to update the project manager but only include the executive stakeholder on the video conference following each milestone).

In addition to including this information on your project management communications plan, make sure to schedule communication frequency on your calendar or into your task management software.

6. Determine who provides communication updates

Most often, this task will fall on the project manager, but if not, the owner of a specific update needs to be clearly identified in your communications plan.

Communication plan for project management

Once you’ve got your communication plan in order, you need to put it to good use. Your communication plan should be distributed to everyone in your team and all the stakeholders involved.

And this is where the real magic comes in: In addition to keeping everyone apprised of the project’s status, your team members and stakeholders also won’t be needlessly bothering you with updates.

If your CTO knows from the project management communication plan that he will receive a Slack with a link to the meeting minutes after every weekly check-in, he won’t be checking his email or walking over to your desk for an update. Instead of your team members working in sad silos, they’ll feel more motivated because they’ll know they’re not alone on the project and that things are getting done.

Furthermore, it’s encouraging to receive regular communication with updates: It drives the momentum of the project and keeps the hard deadline at the forefront of your team’s minds.

Answer : 2

Stakeholder Management Strategy in Project Management.

Your project has been completed when your stakeholders are satisfied. If your stakeholders are not happy, you cannot say your project was successful.

Therefore, you must manage your stakeholders according to their requirements and expectations.

A good stakeholder management strategy can help you fulfilling your stakeholders’ requirements.

Developing a stakeholder management strategy is a three-step process. The first step is to identify them. The second step is to classify and rank them. You can use any parameters for prioritization; for example, power, interest, or influence.Afterward, you will develop a strategy to manage them.

Stakeholder Classification

Every stakeholder has different requirements. Developing a strategy for each individual will be difficult, so you will group them according to their requirements, power, or influence. Afterward, you will plan your strategy to manage these groups. This will help you develop a strategy efficiently.

Though some influential stakeholders need their own strategy, but this is not common.

Therefore, you will classify your stakeholders first and then develop a stakeholder management strategy.

Knowing the following will help you categorize stakeholders:

• Their power within the project
• Their influence on the project
• Their desire to be involved
• Their interest in the project

The answers to these questions will help you classify stakeholders. You can use one of the following models:

• Power and interest
• Power and influence
• Influence and impact
• Power, urgency, and legitimacy

Power and Interest

Here, you group stakeholders according to their power and their interest in the project.

In this grid, stakeholders’ attributes are high-power or low-power and high-interest or low-interest.

Power and Influence

Here, you group stakeholders as per their power and influence on the project.

Here, stakeholders’ attributes are high-power or low-power and high-interest or low-interest.

Influence and Impact

Here, you classify stakeholders based on their influence and impact on the project.

You can attribute the stakeholders as follows: high-influence or low-influence, high-impact or low-impact.

Power, Urgency, and Legitimacy

Many experts call this the Salience Model. Unlike others, this model uses three parameters to classify stakeholders: power, urgency, and legitimacy.

Here, stakeholders’ attributes can be core, dominant, dangerous, dependent, latent, discretionary, or demanding.

After the classification is complete, you can group the stakeholders accordingly and develop your management strategy.

Stakeholder Management Strategy

A solid stakeholder management strategy is vital to your project success. This will help you win their support. You can focus on important stakeholders and avoid less influential ones. This will save you time and energy as well.

Though you are free to use any model, the power/interest model is the most well-known. You can draw a chart as shown below.

The horizontal line denotes interest, and the vertical line is for power.

In this model, you can divide stakeholders into four categories:

1. High-power – high-interest
2. High-power – low-interest
3. Low-power – high-interest
4. Low-power – low-interest

You will use the following strategies to manage stakeholders:

• The high-power and high-interest group should be managed with the utmost care.
• High-power and low-interest stakeholders should be kept satisfied.
• The low-power and high-interest stakeholders should be kept informed.
• The low-power and low-interest groups require the least effort. They should only be monitored.

Keep monitoring your stakeholders for any status change. You never know when a low-power stakeholder will become high-power and influential. Likewise, a powerful stakeholder may become less so in a later stage of the project.