Project Management for Communications

Even the best thought-out communication plan can become useless if it is not carefully executed — most communication plans require some form of project management. Project management refers to process of planning, organizing, implementing, motivating, monitoring and evaluating a project to achieve specific goals, objectives and/or outcomes. It is not a science, but a process to increase the chances of success.

Project management helps determine the beginning and the end of a project, as well as provide the framework for management of all the work in the middle. It assesses the scope of the project and balances the time, cost and quality of the work to implement.

All projects need some level of project management — even if it’s in your head. However, the larger the project, the more people involved, the more there is a need for a more formal, standard, structured process.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS

While the process may vary for different organizations and projects, the basic principles of each area of project management remain consistent for communication projects.

1. Situation Analysis
- Collect relevant information
- Reconfirm strategic goals
- Brainstorm options

2. Scope of Project
- Set clear, measurable objectives and deliverables
- Define target audiences (stakeholders)
- Craft messages
- Liaise with management to align with organization’s overall mandate and communication strategy

3. Resource Allocation
- Define project plan
- Brief suppliers
- Establish timelines and available budget
- Present communication plan and receive feedback and approvals where necessary

4. Implementation Strategy
- Review and revise supplier (writers, designers, etc) proposals
- Implement communication tools as per timeline
- Monitoring of time and budget, risks, relationships, documents and quality.

5. Execute Evaluation
- Receive structured feedback
- Debrief project team
- Finalize invoicing and payments
- Provide feedback to suppliers
- Finalize measurements and research
- Share results with management and organization.

BENEFITS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1. Complete projects in better time and more cost-effectively. Includes re-use of processes, procedures and templates. Reduced start-up time and shortened learning curves, results in time-savings.
2. Manage scope of project more effectively.
3. Target needs more effectively — make sure there is agreement before implementation.
4. Resolve future risk — identify potential problems and manage them before they occur.
5. Team communication — limit surprises.
6. Deliver excellent quality the first time. Needs are defined and team is able to implement quality control.
7. Improved financial management. Result of project definition, better estimates, formal budgets, better training, and actual costs against the budget. Better financial predictability and control. More ability to stop a bad project quickly.
8. Greater focus on evaluation. Clear objectives and measurement path in project planning. Detail effectiveness of team and quality of deliverables.
9. Improved work enrolment. Successful projects improve moral. Celebrate the teamwork.