HKSM

The ongoing work of creating, sharing, and confirming understanding of project information so stakeholders get the right message, at the right time, through the right channels, and communication remains effective and adaptable.

Purpose & When to Use

Manage Communications turns the communication approach into day-to-day action. It focuses on timely, clear, and two-way information flow so people can make decisions, coordinate work, and stay aligned with objectives.

• Provide stakeholders with the right level of detail to support decisions and actions.
• Maintain transparency on scope, schedule, cost, risks, quality, and outcomes.
• Enable two-way dialogue, feedback, and clarification to reduce misunderstandings.
• Protect sensitive information while ensuring necessary access.
• Track effectiveness and adapt messages, channels, and cadence as needs change.
• Use throughout the project, with higher intensity during execution, change implementation, and key reviews.
• Tailor for both adaptive and predictive life cycles, respecting culture, time zones, and accessibility.

Mini Flow (How It’s Done)

• Reconfirm stakeholder needs and the current communication approach, including roles, channels, and cadence.
• Define message objectives: who needs what, why, and what action or awareness is expected.
• Prepare content that is concise, accurate, and prioritized by relevance and urgency.
• Select channels and timing: interactive, push, or pull; synchronous or asynchronous; language and time zone considerations.
• Deliver and facilitate two-way communication, checking for understanding and agreement on actions.
• Record decisions, action items, owners, and due dates in the agreed repository or tool.
• Update information radiators, dashboards, and shared spaces so data stays current and discoverable.
• Measure effectiveness using agreed indicators such as response times, participation, comprehension, and sentiment.
• Address issues and escalate when needed, following the escalation path and confidentiality rules.
• Adapt the approach based on feedback and results, and communicate any changes to the cadence or format.

Quality & Acceptance Checklist

• Content is complete enough for the purpose and free of contradictions.
• Facts, metrics, and visuals are correct and traceable to sources.
• Information is timely, with clear dates, status, and next steps.
• Format is readable and accessible to all intended audiences.
• Sensitive data is protected per policy and shared on a need-to-know basis.
• Responsibilities, decisions, and action items are explicit and assigned.
• Stakeholder acknowledgments or confirmations are captured when required.
• Versioning and distribution lists are controlled and current.
• Language is plain, avoids jargon, and respects cultural context.
• Storage, retention, and disposal follow organizational and legal requirements.
• Effectiveness metrics are tracked and reviewed, with adjustments made as needed.

Common Mistakes & Exam Traps

• Confusing planning communication with managing it; execution requires facilitation, feedback, and updates.
• Treating communication as one-way broadcasting and not confirming understanding or actions.
• Overloading inboxes with noise or under-communicating critical changes and risks.
• Using the wrong channel or cadence, ignoring time zones, accessibility, or stakeholder preferences.
• Failing to log decisions and action items in a shared, searchable place.
• Not adapting the approach when metrics or feedback show low effectiveness.
• Sharing restricted information without proper controls or approvals.
• Assuming a sponsor or team lead will communicate, instead of coordinating and verifying delivery and receipt.
• Agile vs. predictive trap: in adaptive work, prefer frequent, lightweight, visual updates; in predictive, maintain formal reports and stage reviews as needed.
• Skipping communication after a change is approved, leaving impacted stakeholders unaware of impacts.

PMP Example Question

Mid-project, several stakeholders say weekly updates are long and unclear, and decisions are being delayed. What should the project manager do next?

1. Escalate the issue to the steering committee and request enforcement.
2. Reassess the communication approach with stakeholders and tailor channels, format, and cadence; establish a feedback loop.
3. Reduce the frequency of updates to monthly to decrease noise.
4. Ask the team to copy all stakeholders on daily emails to increase transparency.

Correct Answer: B — Reassess and tailor the approach with stakeholder input and put a feedback loop in place.

Explanation: Managing communications means facilitating two-way flow and adapting for effectiveness. Escalation or blanket changes without collaboration rarely solve clarity and decision delays.