Communication Plan for Public Health Informatics Project

This report examines the communication plan developed for the public health informatics project and assesses its effectiveness. Recommendations are made to improve the communication plan.

Running head: IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT
IT Project Management
Name of Student
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Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
1. The current Communication Plan....................................................................................2
2. Communication Plan assessment Vs Project Management Practice...............................3
3. Recommendations............................................................................................................4
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................5
References............................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
The communication plan developed for the project is considered to be a policy driven
approach of providing the needed information to the project stakeholders. The communication
plan that is prepared for the project mainly defines the information to be delivered to the project
stakeholders and the channels for communication [5]. The aim of the report is to compare the
communication plan that is developed for the public health informatics project. In order to ensure
that all the information are effectively communicated to the stakeholders of the project, a
communication plan is developed [2]. Since the aim of the communication plan is to
communicate all the information associated with the project in an effective manner, the
effectiveness of the communication plan will be examined on basis of the functionality of the
communication plan that is prepared.
1. The current Communication Plan
The public health informatics project had earlier failed because of ineffective
communication process. One of the most significant needs of implementing a communication
plan is engaging the stakeholders of the project in effective communication [7]. The current
communication plan that is developed for improving the health informatics project seems to be
quite effective. The current communication plan that is developed provides an idea of the key
stakeholders of the project, the stakeholders’ issues, the messages to be communicated and the
timings of the communication. The project previously failed due to the lack of proper
communication among the project team and the project stakeholders [6]. This was one of the
significant reasons behind the project failure of the project. The current communication plan that
is developed aims in engaging the project team in a collaborative process. The current

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communication plan ensures that the internal and the external stakeholders have detailed
information about the project progress. Since the vehicle of communication (communication
methods) is further indicated in the current communication plan, there is no scope of
miscommunication.
It can be said that the communication plan that is adopted in the current project is quite
realistic in terms of establishing communication among all the stakeholders. The communication
plan clearly defines the key stakeholders associated with the project, key project issues and the
messages that are needed to be communicated [1]. A planned communication process can be
implemented with the communication plan that is developed. The current communication plan
highlights the timing issues in communicating with the stakeholders. Therefore, it can be said
that the communication plan that is developed is quite effective in terms of communicating to all
the stakeholders associated with the project.
Issues: The project failed previously as there had been issues related to effective communication
and the team members and the stakeholders of the project. In order to ensure that the mistake is
not repeated, a detailed communication plan is developed [8]. However, one of the major issues
associated with the current communication plan that is developed is quite complex. The project
team might find it difficult to identify the communication method or communication format that
is to be used in the communication process. A simple communication plan would have
eliminated this constraint.
2. Communication Plan assessment Vs Project Management Practice
Adopting to a particular project management practices is an important project need. One
of the effective project management practices is communicating the project progress with the

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stakeholders associated with a project. Communicating and reporting the project progress with
the stakeholders identified is one of the core ideas of project management practices. Therefore,
the current communication plan that is developed will be assessed on the same as well [7]. The
communication plan that is developed for the project is effective as it ascertains that all the
details of the project progress will be correctly communicated to the team members. The current
communication plan outlines the roles and responsibilities of the team members and the
messages that are to be communicated among the project team. Since the roles and responsibility
of each stakeholder is allocated in an effective manner, the communication plan is assessed to be
quite efficient.
Another characteristics of the project management practice is project planning. Project
planning ensures that a project is being implemented as per its specification. Issues in the
communication plan of the project had earlier resulted in project failure. However, the structured
communication plan that is developed indicates that the project is appropriately planed. The
current communication plan is considered to be effective as it is linear with the major
deliverables of the project [8]. Development of a communication plan in the planning stage of
the project indicates that the project is progressing as per the plan.
3. Recommendations
The current communication plan that is developed is quite effective in terms of
communicating with the stakeholders. However, in order to improve the project implementation
process and enhance the collaboration process with the project stakeholders, certain
recommendations are made. Addressing these recommendations might help in improving the
communication plan that is prepared.

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1. The communication plan should involve communication details with the external
stakeholders of the project. It is therefore recommended that an external communication plan can
be prepared that can ensure communication among the external stakeholders of the project.
2. The communication plan that is prepared must be in line with the project needs and the
communication needs of the project. The communication plan should incorporate the appropriate
message frame.
Justification
The recommendations made are justified as the previous project failed mainly because of
the ineffective communication and collaboration among the project stakeholders. Defining each
activity of a communication plan will ensure effective collaboration among the stakeholders.
Conclusion
The report examines the communication plan that is developed for improving public
health informatics. The communication plan is assessed on basis of the project management
practices. Certain recommendations are made in order to improve the developed communication
plan. The report justifies the communication plan that is recommended. The communication plan
is an important part of project management as it ensures effective communication among the
team members and the stakeholders of the project.

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References
[1]. J.K. Crawford. Project management maturity model. Auerbach Publications,
[2]. K. Heldman, PMP: project management professional exam study guide. John Wiley & Sons,
201
[3]. A. Badewi, A., The impact of project management (PM) and benefits management (BM)
practices on project success: Towards developing a project benefits governance,
framework. International Journal of Project Management, 34(4), pp.761-778, 2016.
[4]. P. Eskerod, and A,.L, Jepsen, Project stakeholder management. Routledge, 2016.
[5] B.G., Zulch, Communication: The foundation of project management. Procedia
Technology, 16, pp.1000-1009, 2014.
[6]. K. Muszynska, K. Dermol, V Trunk, A. Ðakovic, and G. Smrkolj, Communication
management in project teams–practices and patterns. In Joint International Conference (pp.
1359-1566), May 2015
[7]. A. Badewi, The impact of project management (PM) and benefits management (BM)
practices on project success: Towards developing a project benefits governance
framework. International Journal of Project Management, 34(4), pp.761-778, 2016.
[8]. J. Heagney, Fundamentals of project management. Amacom, 2016.