Communications Management Plan

Plan the information, channels, timing and feedback needed by project stakeholders.

This Word template contains prepared headings, tables, project fields and completion notes. Add your information, review the completed document and remove the notes before issue.

Prepare project brief

The form prepares a separate brief; it does not fill the Word or Excel file.

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Communications Management Plan · Document preview — Selected page preview · DOCX

Learning

How to use this template

When you need it

Prepare this plan when project decisions depend on information moving reliably between organizations, teams, and stakeholders, especially where unclear channels, document status, escalation routes, or feedback expectations are causing coordination problems.

What it helps you decide

It connects information needs with delivery methods, ownership, and feedback, helping people receive the right level of detail and recognize when a routine update requires an authorized decision or escalation.

How to complete it

Define Communication objectives and boundaries and Information needs from actual roles and decisions, avoiding distribution lists that lack a clear purpose for their recipients.
Set Delivery and feedback arrangements and Escalation and exceptional communications, identifying usable channels and decision routes appropriate to the information's urgency and significance.
Describe Information controls and Effectiveness and plan updates, preserving document status, access needs, and feedback evidence as participants or project communication requirements change.

Who prepares and reviews it

The project manager or communications lead usually coordinates input from stakeholder owners, document control, discipline leads, and client representatives. Governance and contract owners verify authority, confidentiality, and formal communication requirements within the actual project arrangements.

A mistake to avoid

Sending every message to every participant can conceal urgent decisions, increase inconsistent responses, and leave ownership unclear despite the appearance of broad communication.

Illustrative example

Illustrative example: a hospital project circulates technical questions widely but receives no accountable responses. The plan assigns information owners and decision routes, distinguishes formal submissions from working discussions, and establishes feedback expectations. A critical service-interface query then reaches the appropriate reviewer with a clear decision request.

Explore the wider topic

Document contents

Communication objectives and boundaries
Information needs
Delivery and feedback arrangements
Escalation and exceptional communications
Information controls
Effectiveness and plan updates

Required inputs

Project name, location, company, document number and revision
Actual project scope, source records and responsible roles

Practical tools.
Professional judgment.

Confirm the adopted edition, local amendments, National Annex where relevant, and contract requirements.