Free template
A free communication plan template in Word with audiences, messages, channels and timing laid out, plus a worked example for a system go live.
By Christopher Fagan, Managing Partner, PEF Consulting Partners
A note before you start
Most communication plans are a calendar of emails. The ones that work start from what each audience needs to know, do and feel at each stage, and they rely on line managers rather than broadcast messages. Plan for questions as well as announcements, and check whether people understood rather than whether the email went out.
Christopher Fagan, Managing Partner, PEF Consulting Partners
List your audiences by what changes for them, not by department. For each one, write the key message, the channel, the sender and the timing, and note how you will check understanding. Line managers should hear everything first. Build the plan backwards from key dates such as go live, and keep a log of what went out and what came back.
[Organisation name] | Version 0.1 | [Date] | Owner: [Name, role]
| Objective | Measure |
|---|---|
| Audience | What changes for them | What they need to know | What we need them to do | Preferred channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Audience | Message | Channel | Sender | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| When | Audience | Message | Channel | Sender |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eight weeks before | All finance staff | Why we are changing, what stays the same, training dates | Team briefing | Finance director |
| Four weeks before | Line managers | Their role in readiness and how to raise concerns | Manager pack and call | Programme director |
| One week before | Users | Cutover timetable, what to do on day one, where to get help | Email and intranet | Change lead |
| Go live day | Users | We are live, floorwalkers and support desk details | Teams and floorwalkers | Change lead |
| Two weeks after | All finance staff | What is working, known issues and fixes | Team briefing | Finance director |
| Date | From | Question or concern | Response | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Template by PEF Consulting Partners, pefconsultingpartners.co.uk. Free to use and adapt.
Related reading: the stakeholder map template, the change management plan template, change management and adoption.
A plan that sets out who needs to hear what, when, through which channel and from whom, so people understand a change and know what to do about it.
Objectives, audiences and what changes for each, key messages, channels, senders, timing, how understanding will be checked, and a log of questions and responses.
The person the audience trusts on the subject. Big announcements come from the sponsor or a senior leader; what it means for my job should come from my line manager.
Ask. Short pulse surveys, questions at briefings, training attendance and support desk calls tell you whether people understood. Open rates tell you very little.
If your users first hear about the new system from the training invite, the communication plan started too late. It is rarely too late to fix.