Plan and manage communication
In the app: Project → Planning → Comms Plan (Plan · Schedule)
PMP ECO · People (33%) · Task P8. Get the right information to the right people, in the right form, at the right cadence — deliberately, not ad hoc.
What it is
Communication planning decides, per audience: what they need to know, why, how (channel and form), and how often. The bulk of a PM's day is communication, and most project failures trace back to a communication breakdown. PMBOK® 8e distinguishes interactive (meetings, calls), push (reports, emails), and pull (a portal people consult) communication — matched to the message and the audience.
Why it matters
- Different stakeholders need different things: the investor wants a monthly financial dashboard; the regulator wants clearance-condition evidence; the community wants plain-language updates.
- A plan prevents both over-communication (noise, ignored reports) and under-communication (the surprise that erodes trust).
Where you do it in VanillaPM
Build the communications plan — audience · message · channel · cadence · owner — on the Planning → Comms Plan workspace (Communications Management: Overview · Plan · Schedule · Guideline), and deliver the recurring pieces through the Control status/EVM views and org-level BI reports. The plan is derived from the stakeholder register and engagement targets, so it stays consistent with P4–P6.
Walked example — Coral Ridge Resort
Coral Ridge's plan is tailored, not one-size:
| Audience | Message | Channel | Cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner / investor | Cost, schedule, EVM, top risks | Steering dashboard (pull) | Monthly |
| Marriott | Fit-out standard & milestones | Review meeting (interactive) | Per milestone |
| Dept. of Environment | ECA monitoring data | Formal report (push) | Quarterly |
| Local community | Beach access, hiring, works schedule | Plain-language notice (push) | Monthly / on change |
The investor's monthly dashboard is a pull report they consult; the community notice is a push in plain Bangla/English — same project, different form.
The artefact
- Communications management plan — audience · message · channel · cadence · owner.
- Recurring reports (status / financial / EVM) that execute the plan.
Best practices & pitfalls
- Do match channel to message: bad news is interactive, routine status is push/pull.
- Do tie the plan to the stakeholder register so a new stakeholder automatically gets a comms line.
- Pitfall: one giant report to everyone — audiences tune out what isn't for them. Tailor.
On the PMP exam
Expect the communication-channels formula — n(n−1)/2 — and questions matching interactive / push / pull to a situation. When a scenario describes confusion or a stakeholder feeling out of the loop, the fix is almost always a communications-plan review, not just "send another email".