PM Excellence AcademyModule 6 · Communication Planner

Communication Planner · Oakhaven

Derive the communication plan from the plan committed in the Planning Studios. The Planner reads that plan, identifies the coordination milestones and client decision points it contains, and produces the one-page plan carried into the kickoff.

← Planning Studio 1 ← Planning Studio 2 Communication Planner
1
Read the plan · derive the requirements

The committed plan already contains the communication requirements

Every handoff, coordination milestone, and client decision point committed in the Studios is a communication that has to be planned. The table below reads them straight off the committed plan:

From the committed planCommunication it requires
Internal team · who the plan coordinates

Pulled from the roles staffed in Planning Studio 1. Hours signal who carries load, and who needs the highest communication intensity.

2
Segment · set the plan

Three audiences, five attributes each

Each communication requirement serves the internal team, the consultant team, or the client. Set cadence, channel, decision-rights, records, and an owner for each. Defaults are derived from the committed plan. Adjust them to fit.

Internal teamCoordination & handoffs · keep the work plan current
Consultant teamInterface control & obligations · who provides what, when
Client (Owner)Confidence, decisions, no surprises
3
The final plan · into the kickoff

The one-page Communication Plan

This is the deliverable, the second half of what the project manager presents at the kickoff. Build it from the inputs above, then carry it into Module 7.

Oakhaven · Project Communication Plan

AudienceCadenceChannelDecision rightsRecordsOwner
Client decision & review calendar

Lifted straight from the milestone weeks in the plan. These are the client conversations the plan schedules, each carrying a decide by date ahead of the decision that governs the phase.

Escalation path
TeamResolves within the work.
Project ManagerOwns the intersections, surfaces early.
Principal-in-ChargeFirm-level judgment & client risk.
ClientDecides scope, fee, schedule.

Escalate on impact to scope, schedule, or fee.

Grace PM Tool · Internal Use OnlyMaster Phase Communication Calendar · 13 Weeks

The PM’s master view of the four lanes across the phase. Internal and consultant teams meet every two weeks. Client updates and major decisions fall on the milestone weeks the plan established.

InternalConsultantClientDecisionQAQC
Committed · ready for the kickoff

The Communication Plan is saved and travels with the Oakhaven plan. Module 7 places it on the table alongside the work plan, so the team, the consultants, and the client leave the kickoff knowing what the project is and how information will move through it.

Carry it into the Kickoff →