Communication Plan Analysis: A County Health Department IT Project

This case study analyzes the communication plans of a County Health Department, comparing them with established project management practices. The study identifies the department's current communication plan, which focuses on revitalizing internal and external communication tools to engage partners, groups, and citizens in healthcare service planning. The analysis contrasts this plan with general project management communication practices, emphasizing the importance of timely and reliable communication, especially in virtual teams. Recommendations are made to enhance the communication plan, including an outreach plan, inclusion of key audiences, focus on primary activities, and evaluation of activities using web statistics, media coverage analysis, and social media monitoring. These recommendations are justified by the need to align communication with stakeholder needs and address challenges effectively. The study concludes that proactive communication planning is crucial for project success, stakeholder engagement, and effective project management, highlighting the risks of inadequate communication.

Running head: COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
IT-Project Management
(County Health Department)
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author Note

1COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Executive summary
The following study analyzes the communication plans of Country Health Department. Here
communication plans are demonstrated with comparisons with project practices. Besides, various
recommendations are made with suitable justifications.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:..........................................................................................................................................3
Background of the case study:...............................................................................................................3
Current communication Plan:................................................................................................................3
Analyzing communication plan and practices of project management:................................................4
Recommendations for communication plan:.........................................................................................5
Justification behind the communication plan:.......................................................................................6
Conclusion:............................................................................................................................................6
References:............................................................................................................................................7

3COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Introduction:
The “communication” is seen as the success to project management. In this study various
approaches in promoting communication among various groups of project stakeholders are analyzed.
To understand the scenario better, the present communication plan is understood. Next, a
communication plan is compared to practices of project managements. Further, various plans of
communication are recommended, these are needed to involve stakeholders coming from various
sectors. Next, justifications are provided for the recommendation provided.
Background of the case study:
It is witnessed that from a disease outbreak, an effective response is needed to respond in
timely manner. In order to do that, one can possess latest data for undertaking smart decision. Here
CHD or Country Health Department is a popular plan. It has specified rise in capacities for
evaluating programs. The senior managers have needed to recognize development of informatics
capacity as a vital leap in fulfilling those aims.
Current communication Plan:
The present communication plan has involves revitalizing internal and external
communication tools. There are rise in scopes of partners, groups and citizens for participating about
prioritization and planning of various healthcare services. Next, there is rise in community and
communication to engage initiatives for constantly develops flow of information, accountability and
transparency to the public [1]. This plan is important for seeking more strategic, proactive and
efficient engagement and communications with their external and internal stakeholders. This
common reference framework is developed to concentrate of efforts on the vital goals of

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communication [6]. This is helpful to assure that network is able to communicate in proactive
manner instead of being reactive. This is done within the light of various strategic priorities that are
determined in this exercise. This operational communication plan has been specifying the resulting
communication and engagement of community initiatives, particular objectives, deadlines, strategies
and indicators of performances. This is helpful to understand the health communication has been
fitting to wider model of ecology [2]. An overall approach can be selected for planning. The primary
elements can be identified for the primary elements as the central strategy on the basis of best
practices. Further, the stakeholder partnerships are easily identified here for communication
intervention. Next, various macro plan to intervention health communication can be done.
Analyzing communication plan and practices of project management:
Projects need a sound planning for communication. However, every project never has similar
kinds of communication. These documents are the kinds of data possessed by stakeholders. Here,
information is to be distributed and delivered [5]. Here, the kind of information needs to
communicate with project status, scopes, updates and baseline data, risks, performance measures,
action items and project acceptances. This has been vital for stakeholders for determining the early
phases of planning in project management life-cycle [3]. This occurs as the team develops project
planning are documented. Completion of complicated project has needed effective communication
among team members. As the team members have been working under the similar building, they are
able to arrange regular meetings. Various projects are done by teams interacting mainly through
electronic communication. Hence, this is known as virtual teams. In order to avoid
miscommunications, they are able to harm trusts and involve team members in project culture [4].
There are needs for planning to communicate timely and reliable way. The planning has started with
investigating primary communication categories.

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Recommendations for communication plan: Outreach Plan:
The communication plans must follow various formats. However the plan must
involve evaluation measures, timeline, activities and target audiences. Inclusion of key audiences:
Here audiences determined during initial grant cycle have been including external and
internal partners. Then there are technical advisory group members, data stewards and
potential and current users of grantee networks. Focus on primary activities:
There must be rise in awareness of the network. The new users are to be cultivated to
the network. Next, there should be testing of usability of the network. Besides, there should
be network demonstrations and exhibiting meetings and conferences. Then there should be
writing and identification of success stories analyzing the primary themes of
communications. Evaluation of various activities:
This must include controlling of web statistics correlating the activities outreached.
There are evaluation of media coverage for primary themes and messages. Then there is
monitoring of social media metrics and assessing threads and comments for primary themes
and messages. Then there are documenting latest activities and outreaching of partnerships.
There are systematic processes of capturing feedbacks of developing networks. Different
process measurements are to be applied here. This includes number of presentations,
materials distributed, and various kinds of people distribution of newsletter lists. Then there
should be conduction of primary interviews that are informant. Then there are utility and

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usability of materials and products of communications and undertaking ROI analysis of
communication activities.
Justification behind the communication plan:
The communication plan is applicable to project health. Then they have been focusing on the
plan to needs of communications of stakeholders. However, the communication can change as
challenges are there, that should be addressed with involving stakeholders. This initial
communication about that project has been focusing to socialize project with stakeholders. Here, the
challenge for project managers has been helpful to find out the necessities to understand the element
and time. This is vital to balance distribution of information among various stakeholders. One of the
vitality here is to know the stakeholders with whom they have been communicating. However, it
must be reminded that cultural differences are able to insert adverse effects on project
communications. Here simple communications can be made instead of considering the necessities of
others.
Conclusion:
It can be said, that, as one never plan to communicate with stakeholders in the earlier phase
of the project they can run with risks. This can be on spending little time on communication. This
has been disengaging stakeholders to spend much time. This is inefficient in communications that
are unable to be managed effectively in projects. The communication planning indicates that there
are times of understanding the stakeholders. This is also helpful to understand how they are engaged
in projects and needed to be effective to meet the aims of the projects.

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References:
[1] Uhl, A. and Gollenia, L.A. eds., 2016. Business transformation management methodology.
Routledge.
[2] Heagney, J., 2016. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
[3] Binder, J., 2016. Global project management: communication, collaboration and management
across borders. Routledge.
[4] Badewi, A., 2016. 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.
[5] Innes, A., Sheridan, C., Wesner, S., Mann, S., Eisinger, U., Byrne, J. and Groenda, H., 2017.
Dissemination & collaboration plan: project deliverable D2. 2.
[6] Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for engineering, business and
technology. Routledge.
[7] Serral i Montoro, I., Masó Pau, J., Menard, L., Plag, H.P., Sawyer, G. and Miguel Lago, M.,
2015. D7. 1. Plan for disseminating and communication of the project's results.
[8] Lock, D., 2017. The essentials of project management. Routledge.