Project Communication Management Plan Template

Communication matrix (audience, purpose, channel, frequency, owner), meeting cadence, escalation path, repository and feedback

Управління проєктамиСтандартcommunication planОновлено 20 жовт. 2026 р.

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Як використовувати: Use after the stakeholder register to plan who gets what information and why. Fill the communication matrix first, with a purpose for every row. Main pitfall: many reports and meetings with no stated decision or action for the audience.

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Communication Management Plan: [Project name]

Plan for who receives which project information, why, through which channel, how often and from whom, including meeting cadence, escalation path, document repository and feedback. Based on common project management practice. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example.

Field	Value
Document ID	[CP-PROJECT-001]
Project	[Project name]
Version	[0.1]
Owner	[@project-manager]
Approved by	[@sponsor]
Related	[Stakeholder register SR-001, Project management plan PMP-001]
Last updated	YYYY-MM-DD

1. Objectives

Communication on [Project name] aims to:

keep decision makers informed early enough to decide before deadlines;
give affected staff accurate, timely information about what changes for them and when;
surface risks and issues quickly through a known escalation path;
keep one source of truth for project documents and decisions.

2. Principles

All project communication follows these principles.

Principle	What it means in practice
One source of truth	Decisions and documents live in the repository; email links to them
Plain language	Lead with the outcome and the ask; avoid internal jargon and acronyms
No surprises	Bad news is shared as soon as known, with a proposed response
Accessible	Documents meet [accessibility standard]; recordings have captions
Confidentiality	Commercial and personal data shared only with authorised audiences

3. Communication matrix

The matrix lists every planned communication.

ID	Audience	Information	Purpose	Channel	Frequency	Owner	Format
COM-01	Example: Sponsor	Status, risks, decisions needed	Decide on escalations within tolerance	Email plus 30-min call	Biweekly	Project manager	Status report template
COM-02	Example: Steering committee	Progress vs baseline, financials, change requests	Approve stage gates and changes	Meeting	Monthly and at gates	Sponsor	Steering committee report
COM-03	Example: Project team	Priorities, blockers	Coordinate daily work	Stand-up (video)	Daily	Workstream leads	Board review
COM-04	Example: Branch staff	What changes, when, training dates	Prepare for the new process	Intranet article, team briefing	Monthly; weekly during rollout	Change lead	Article, slide pack
COM-05	Example: Compliance officer	KYC design, test evidence	Review and sign off	Formal review meeting	At design and test milestones	Business analyst	Review pack
COM-06	Example: Vendor	Plan changes, defects, acceptance	Align delivery	Joint progress meeting	Weekly	Project manager	Minutes and action log
[ID]	[Audience]	[Information]	[Purpose]	[Channel]	[Frequency]	[@owner]	[Format]

4. Meeting cadence

Standing meetings are scheduled as follows.

Meeting	Chair	Attendees	Frequency and length	Inputs	Outputs
Steering committee	Sponsor	Committee members, PM	Monthly, 60 min	Steering report sent 3 working days before	Decisions, actions, minutes within 2 days
Project board review	Project manager	Workstream leads	Weekly, 45 min	RAID log, schedule update	Updated RAID log, action list
Daily stand-up	Workstream lead	Workstream team	Daily, 15 min	Task board	Blockers raised
Vendor progress	Project manager	Vendor lead, tech lead	Weekly, 30 min	Vendor report	Action log
[Meeting]	[@chair]	[Attendees]	[Frequency]	[Inputs]	[Outputs]

5. Escalation path

Issues and decisions that cannot be resolved at one level move to the next within the time limits below.

Level	Escalate to	When	Response expected within
1	Workstream lead	Blocker affecting a task	1 working day
2	Project manager	Blocker affecting a milestone or another workstream	2 working days
3	Sponsor	Forecast exceeds PM tolerance (schedule, cost, scope)	5 working days
4	Steering committee	Forecast exceeds sponsor tolerance or benefits at risk	Next meeting or extraordinary session

The escalation flow is shown below.

6. Document repository

All project documents are stored in [repository name and link]. Naming follows [ProjectCode]-[DocType]-[Number]-v[major.minor], for example DOB-PMP-001-v1.2.

Folder	Contents	Access
01 Governance	Charter, plans, steering packs, minutes	Project team, steering committee
02 Requirements and design	Requirements, designs, decisions	Project team
03 Delivery	Test evidence, release notes	Project team, vendor
04 Change and training	Communications, training materials	Project team, change network
05 Commercial	Contracts, invoices	PM, procurement, finance only

7. Communication methods and tools

The project uses these tools for the stated purposes only.

Tool	Use	Not for
[Email]	Formal notices, approvals	Ongoing discussion
[Chat channel]	Quick coordination within the team	Decisions (record them in the decision log)
[Video meeting tool]	Meetings, recorded training	Confidential commercial discussions with recording on
[Intranet page]	Updates for affected staff	Draft or unapproved content

8. Feedback and effectiveness

Effectiveness is checked through [a short pulse survey of affected staff each month, attendance and open rates, and questions raised at briefings]. Results are reviewed at the project board meeting and the plan is adjusted.

Measure	Target	Source
Staff who know the go-live date and their training slot	At least 90%	Pulse survey
Steering pack sent at least 3 working days before meeting	100%	Meeting log
Questions answered within 5 working days	At least 95%	Feedback mailbox

9. Plan maintenance

The plan is reviewed at each stage gate. Changes are recorded below.

Version	Date	Change	Author
1.0	YYYY-MM-DD	Approved	[@name]
1.1	YYYY-MM-DD	Example: Added weekly branch briefings for rollout	[@name]

Standard and licence note

Based on common project management practice for communication planning. This template is original text written for this collection. Template licence: MIT.

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