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Communication Project Planning Guide

by Angela Sinickas, ABC

What this Starter Kit Includes:
A series of questions communicators can use when counseling operational management on communication support for business goals or initiatives. The questions focus on clearly defining the problem or opportunity, setting measurable goals, conducting a stakeholder analysis, articulating messages, selecting the right channels of communication for the messages and stakeholders, implementation/project management and evaluation of results.

For a major project, the communicators may use all the questions. For smaller assignments, they may use only sections of the guide. In addition to the Planning Guide itself, this kit includes templates and completed examples of:

• An Agenda for the initial planning meeting.
• A Contact Sheet for client and communication team members.
• A project management Workplan.
• A Time Estimator (in Excel) to help the communication team more accurately estimate the amount of time needed to perform a project. This information helps complete the Workplan and determine if the project will need the addition of free-lance staff.
• A Budget Report (in Excel) that helps identify the initial project budget and provides an easy template for updating the client on budget status throughout the project.
• A Stakeholder Assessment Worksheet that is completed during the planning meeting to identify the right messages and channels for each stakeholder group that will lead to changes in behavior that help achieve the project's objectives.

What it will do for your company:

• Helps the communicators be more successful in consulting with operational management.
• Focuses communication solutions on the changed behaviors and business results that should be the outcome of communications, not what color the poster should be or how many pages the brochure should run.

CD-ROM

Please note that this kit is licensed only to organizations, not individuals.