The communications of a project include all means and manners by which the project interacts with all its stakeholders. This not only includes the standard, formal communication items such as
- Status reports
- Progress review meetings
- Kickoff meetings
- Executive reports
- Presentations
- Financial reports
- Government (or external agency) reports
- Issue logs
- Risk logs
- Change request logs
- Role-responsibility matrix
- Project organization chart
- Any project meeting (in any form/option)
- Any project deliverable
- Project collaboration tools
It can also include organizational change management communications, such as
- Project name/identity
- Project website (portal)
- Enterprise social networking platforms
- Organizational change management plan
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) references
- Awareness campaigns
- Newsletters
- Public relations notices
- Roadshows
- One-on-one meetings with key stakeholders
Although the nature of your individual project (number and type of stakeholders, location of stakeholders, and overall project risk level) dictates how many of these elements are part of your project, the next set of project communications is included on every project, and is likely the most important part of project communications: the day-to-day, interpersonal communications that occur between the project team and the project stakeholders. This includes interactions in the following forms, plus others:
- Face-to-face
- Telephone
- Instant messaging (individual or group)
- Voice mail
- Texting
- Conferencing (audio, web, or video)
- Meetings
- Team collaboration tools
We review simple but powerful tips to improve your interpersonal communication skills, and we review important reminders to help you choose the best medium/tool for your desired message.
Note
Solid project managers know there are two skills that will carry them in almost any project situation: organization and communication.
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