University Project Management: Communication Plan Recommendations

This report analyzes a case study involving the development and evaluation of a communication plan within the context of a County Health Department (CHD) project aiming to implement an integrated public health information system. The report assesses the effectiveness of the existing communication plan, which aims to facilitate information flow among stakeholders, and identifies both its strengths and weaknesses. It highlights the importance of a structured approach and clear communication mediums while also pointing out the complexity of the current plan. The report then assesses the communication plan against project management practices, emphasizing the need for accurate progress tracking and well-defined responsibilities. Based on these findings, the report recommends an informational communication plan for projects involving diverse stakeholders, such as government agencies and contractors, to ensure all parties are kept informed. The report concludes by reinforcing the significance of communication plans in project management and provides recommendations for optimizing communication strategies for various project types.

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

1
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
1. Introduction................................................................................................................................2
2. Case Study Assessment...............................................................................................................2
2.1. The Current Communication Plan.......................................................................................2
2.2. Communication Plan Assessment Vs Project Management Practices.................................3
3. Recommendation.......................................................................................................................4
4. Justification of the Recommendations........................................................................................5
5. Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
References......................................................................................................................................6

2
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
1. Introduction
A communication plan is a tool that ensures that the all the information related to the project is
communicated to the stakeholders. Communication plan is important in a project mainly because it
provides the channels required for communicating information associated with the stakeholders of the
project [3]. With the easy availability of the information, the senior managers of the organization can
involve in easier decision making process.
County Health Department (CHD) have planned to implement an integrated public health
information system in order to ensure that the infectious diseases are reported as soon as possible. This
is a complex project and therefore presence of a communication plan to disperse the required
information is necessary. For that, the project team has developed a communication plan in order to
avoid the possible communication breakdown. The report will be evaluating the effectiveness of the
communication plan that is developed.
2. Case Study Assessment
This section of the report will be evaluating the effectiveness of the communication plan and will
examine the current communication plan considering the different project management practises.
Certain recommendations will be provided as well suggesting the improvements in the current
communication plan of the project.
2.1. The Current Communication Plan
The project team of CHD has developed a communication plan in order to ensure that
appropriate correspondence among the team members to avoid communication breakdown among the
team members [4]. On evaluation of the current communication plan that is developed for the project, it
is observed that the communication plan that is developed follows a structured approach. This is mainly
because the communication plan that is developed previously for the same project was ineffective and
did not work according to the plan. The communication plan that was developed did not serve its
purpose and lack of normal communication among the stakeholders. The current communication plan is
standard and effective. However, there are certain issues associated with the current communication
plan as well.
The current communication plan that is developed is quite complex which is a major drawback
of the project. The complexity in the given communication plan arises mainly because of fact that all the

3
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
stakeholders will be participating in information delivery and updating a status report. The
communication plan should be simple so that each stakeholder associated with the project has a clear
idea of what information to be expected. Furthermore, there is no specific communication medium and
this could create a problem regarding which communication method is needed to be used. However, the
communication plan mentions the specific communication format that is needed to be followed which
will be significantly helpful for carrying out communication among the stakeholders [6]. Thus it can be
said that this current communication plan that is developed for the project can be improved in a number
of aspects. The communication plan is further assessed on basis of the current project management
practises so that the improvements in the current communication process can be suggested.
2.2. Communication Plan Assessment Vs Project Management Practices
One of the significant project management practise associated with the project is tracking and
reporting the progress of the project. Having an accurate knowledge about the progress of the project is
needed for effective decision making [2]. A communication plan is generally prepared to ensure that the
project progress information is delivered to the team members. It is the responsibility of the team
members as well to ensure that the project progress is correctly communicated [5]. The communication
plan that is developed for this project, involves all the stakeholders and their responsibilities. The
responsibilities of the project team members should be clearly defined in the communication plan.
Proper allocation of the responsibilities to the team members will ensure an effective communication
plan.
Project Planning is one of the most significant considerations in project management practises.
Planning stage ensures that the deliverables of the project are correctly met in the implementation
stage of the project. The project management practises recommends the development of the
communication plan in the planning state of the project so that it can be followed throughput the
implementation of the project.
Therefore it can be said that the communication plan that is developed for the project can be
improved in a number of aspects. The existing communication plan of the project should be improved
on basis of the identified loopholes.
3. Recommendation

4
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
The communication plan that is developed for the projects in union, government agencies and
the contractors are different in every aspect [1]. The recommendations for different privately run
projects are discussed in the following section.
There are mainly three types of communication plan that is followed in a project. This includes
mandatory communication, Informational communication and marketing communication.
The type of communication plan that would be needed in a project that involves the presence of
stakeholders from different sectors, as opposed to a private organization project will be the
informational communication plan.
4. Justification of the Recommendations
An Informational communication plan is recommended since the said type of project involves
stakeholders from different sectors including Unions, government agencies, contractors and so on. It is
essential to keep these stakeholders information about the status and the progress of the project and
therefore, this type of communication plan is recommended for the project [8]. This communication
plan will ensure that all the stakeholders associated with the project are kept informed about all the
necessary information associated with an ongoing project.
5. Conclusion
The report analyses a case study scenario that involves development of communication plan.
Communication plan is an important aspect of the project management as it is the tool that keeps all the
stakeholders of the project informed about the different issues and progress of the report. The report
analyses the communication plan of Country Health Department project and identifies the issues
associated with that communication plan. The report further gives recommendations on the type of
communication plan that can be used in projects that are not associated with any private organization. It
is being identified that informational communication plan would be perfect for projects that involve a
number of stakeholders from union and government agencies.

5
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
References
[1] Marchewka, Jack T. Information technology project management. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
[2] Kerzner, Harold, and Harold R. Kerzner. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons, 2017.
[3] Szeberenyi, A. Project Communication Plan. No. AIDA-2020-MS4. 2015.
[4] Heagney, Joseph. Fundamentals of project management. Amacom, 2016.
[5] Heldman, Kim. PMP: project management professional exam study guide. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
[6] Kerzner, Harold. Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: a guide to measuring and
monitoring project performance. John Wiley & Sons, 2017.
[7] Gutteling, Jan M., and Oene Wiegman. Exploring risk communication. Vol. 8. Springer Science &
Business Media, 2013.
[8] Smith, Ronald D. Strategic planning for public relations. Routledge, 2013.