Organize Communication Documentation

Encourage open, inclusive communication by:

• Not making assumptions about your audience’s backgrounds, identities, or experiences.
• Being mindful of your own biases.
• Using appropriate, professional, and neutral language.
• Including, respecting, and being curious about diverse points of view.

Communicate the right message by thinking about your intended audience: With whom are you communicating?

In your communications, always be clear about your reasons for reaching out:

• What channels can your audience use to contact you or the team?
• Are you conveying information?
• Are you asking for input?
• Are you clarifying an issue?
• Are you resolving a problem?

No matter your audience, you should be sure to identify the purpose of the message, state the information or request clearly and concisely, and stay on topic.

As you craft your message, think about which methods are available and appropriate for communicating with various members of your team (in person, video conference, over the phone, Email, in a meeting, etc.)

Be sure to:

• Avoid including any sensitive or potentially private information.
• Assume everyone at the company will receive the communication.

Communication doesn’t end when you deliver your message, so be sure to follow up with your audience by:

• Checking to make sure your message was clear.
• Asking them for feedback.
• Encouraging open communication.
• Responding to questions quickly.

• For each type of communication, record when to communicate. This includes the frequency, which is how often you’ll communicate, and key dates like deadlines or major meetings.
• Not everyone needs to receive the same amount of information at the same time.
  • Key stakeholders will get their information less often, like in a monthly, high-level summary, email, or project review meeting.
  • Core project team could receive more detailed info through daily email updates or quick virtual check-ins.

• Include the goal of communication

  • progress update, identify a risk, and address barriers?
  • figure out next steps, detailed preparation plans, and reflect on lessons learned?

  The goal of communication could be a combination of any of these or some other reason altogether.

• Could be email, in-person, or virtual meetings, or a formal presentation.

It helps to look back to the stakeholder map and RACI chart again. Ask yourself

• Who needs to be heavily involved in the details?
• Who has high interest in the project?
• Who needs only to be informed of major milestones?

Feel free to refer back to your RACI chart and stakeholder map, which are tools that will help you figure out what type of communication might work best for each person, group, or role.

• For busy senior executives stakeholders, who may not need day-to-day details, instead of daily meetings, it’s better to send a newsletter that summarizes key milestones and project progress to date.
• The core team, may benefit from a daily stand-up, which is a daily meeting designed to bring everyone up to date on key information.

Tips for communicating with Emails

• Adding a note at the top of your email, which will alert readers that some details of a long email may not be relevant to them.
• Lead with key points and action items limited to two to three sentences. Then include a longer section at the bottom for those who want or need additional details.

• For high-level stakeholders, ask yourself: Why should they care about my project?
• For core team: What information is going to help make sure they complete tasks on time and stay motivated?

• Senior stakeholders won’t be able to attend daily meetings and they don’t need every piece of information. -> You can communicate with a senior stakeholder on a weekly or monthly basis and you can focus on high-level status updates like overall progress, recent wins, or milestones reached, and current metrics.
• When you work with your core team on a project, you need to get into more of the day-to-day details
  • Check in regularly and ask how everything is going.

Before you begin creating the plan, answer these questions to ensure that you have all of the relevant information:

• Project stakeholders: Have you created a RACI chart or stakeholder map of all your stakeholders? Who is your audience? Who will need to be informed at different points during the project life cycle?
• Communication frequency and method: When and how often should you check in with your stakeholders? What methods of communication do they prefer? How much detail does each stakeholder need?
• Goals: What is the goal of your communication? Do you need a response? Are you trying to encourage engagement or simply providing an update?
• Barriers: Are there any time zone limitations? Language barriers? Do some stakeholders require time to reply or respond (e.g., an executive)? Are there any privacy or internet access issues?

• Add a column for notes.

  Project management is not one-size-fits-all, and there are a lot of pieces that need to be tracked. Add notes to set reminders and any additional relevant details.

• Use formatting to highlight any key details in the plan.

• Ensure that the team can access your document.

  Share the plan with your team. Allowing your team to review the document ensures that they are aware of the plan and gives them a chance to offer feedback. Sharing the document also serves as an extra check to make sure you aren’t missing any crucial pieces.

• Test your plan. If you are sending a team-wide email or link, send a test email to yourself or a colleague. If you are planning a virtual presentation, be sure to test the visual, audio, and other technical aspects in advance. That way, you can minimize any technical problems.

Once your communication plan is out in the world, check in with your audience about the effectiveness of your plan.

• Scheduling routine check-ins will help you understand what is and is not working so you can improve your plan.
• You want to ensure that your communication plan gets the right information to the right stakeholders at the right time.
• Make sure to double check that key stakeholders have not changed over time.

Evaluate where you may be over- or under-sharing information or missing stakeholders. You can do this through:

• Anonymous survey forms
• Polls or open feedback sessions during team meetings
• One-on-one conversations and check-ins with key stakeholders

As part of the Plant Pals Operations and Training plan, your team will need to organize and host trainings for employees. You want to make sure that a majority of employees are properly trained to use the new software and equipment before sending the first round of Plant Pals test batches to customers. Because your employees will need to learn several different processes, training sessions will take place over a period of ten days. Your team has just over three weeks to prepare before the sessions begin.

As the Plant Pals project manager, you will work with your team to plan and execute the preparations for the training sessions. One of your tasks is to build a communication plan, which should include:

• What you need to communicate (the goal of the communication)
• Who needs to communicate
• When information-sharing needs to happen
• Why and how to communicate with everyone involved

As you begin planning the training sessions, you identify the key teams and stakeholders who will need to communicate about the event:

Core Team: Your core project team will lead the planning and task coordination. These tasks include communicating with stakeholders, preparing the schedule, reserving space and equipment, training the employees, and more.

The team members who are directly involved in organizing the trainings include:

• An Administrative Coordinator who is responsible for scheduling and communicating with external vendors and Office Green teams (e.g., Facilities)
• A Human Resources Specialist who manages hiring and develops training protocols (with the help of the Training Manager)
• A Training Manager who reports to the HR Specialist, runs the training program on the established protocols, and refines training processes

The other members of your core project team (the Financial Analyst, Fulfillment Director, Quality Assurance Tester, and Inventory Manager) will attend team meetings and are available to pitch in if you need them.

Additional stakeholders with whom your team needs to communicate include:

Software and Equipment Vendor: Members of your team will need to meet with the vendor to learn about the software and equipment so they can create an effective training plan for employees. The team members responsible for creating and running the training program should organize and attend this meeting. Your team should allow adequate time to learn about new processes and ask follow-up questions. This meeting must take place before the end of the vendor’s SoW.

Human Resources: The Human Resources department can help your team as they develop the training plan. They will also provide support during the training sessions. Your team will want to communicate with them regularly (but not daily) and on an as-needed basis. The HR Specialist on your team is the point of contact for the rest of HR.

Facilities: Facilities will reserve and manage the spaces and equipment needed for the training sessions. They will need to review the schedule and understand your needs for each session ahead of time. A member of your team needs to keep them updated and informed of any changes to requirements.

Print Shop: The vendor who will install the software and equipment is also creating training manuals for your team. One of your team members will need to coordinate with the print shop to make copies of the manuals for each training.

Office Green employees: You will also need to coordinate with the employees who need to be trained! A member of your team should tell them where they should arrive, where they should go, what they need to bring, and communicate other necessary details. The same team member will also need to conduct the sessions and solicit feedback from employees through a post-training survey.

Your Office Green Manager: Your manager wants to be kept informed of your team’s progress but doesn’t need to know every detail. They can also be a helpful resource for the planning process, if necessary. You already communicate with them regularly, so you can update them at one of your weekly meetings.

Senior Leadership: Your manager asks you to let senior leadership know about the outcome of the trainings (and to copy them when you do so). The Director of Operations and the Director of Product (the project sponsor) want to be kept informed but don’t have much time for meetings.

1. Review the communication goals and recipients

   The goal and recipient of each communication is already filled out in the template. Review this information and consider the people and teams you need to coordinate. Then try to think of some ways you can effectively communicate about each goal.

2. Determine communication types

   How should you communicate about each goal? What type of communication is best for each recipient? Select one of the following communication types from the drop-down under Type of Communication:

   • Planning Meetings: Standard meetings with team members or stakeholders to plan event details
   • Planning Check-In: Brief meetings with stakeholders and support staff to discuss action items or check on task progress
   • Training: Sessions for employees to learn about jobs or specialized tasks
   • Informational update: Key details, instructions, and resources for trainees
   • Status Update: Timely project updates for senior stakeholders to get high-level information, give feedback, and answer questions

3. Determine the frequency

   How often do you need to communicate with each recipient? Consider each stakeholder’s level of involvement in the project when deciding how often to communicate. Select one of the following frequencies from the drop-downs under Frequency:

   • Daily
   • Weekly
   • One time

4. Add the sender or owner

   Who from the team should share or communicate about this information? Select one of the following options from the drop-downs under Sender/Owner:

   • Project Manager (you)
   • Core Team: Administrative Coordinator
   • Core Team: HR Specialist
   • Core Team: Training Manager
   • Core Team: HR Specialist & Training Manager

5. Add the key dates

   When should this communication happen? Are there important reminders or deadlines you should note? Consider how much time you have to plan the event and when it makes sense to communicate about each goal (e.g., early or late in the day or the week). Enter your selected times under Key Dates.

   There are no right answers here, but try to be specific about times and dates—and make sure your stakeholders don’t need to be in two places at once!

   Note: Your stakeholders’ schedules will vary, and it’s unlikely that they will all be able to make every scheduled meeting. Sometimes, you will need to decide whether you need to reschedule if a key team member can’t make it.

6. Determine the delivery method

   How will you or your team members share this information? Should you meet in person or over the phone? Should you send a personal email or is a group message more effective? Select your delivery methods from the drop-downs under Delivery Method:

   • In person
   • Phone call
   • Email (from individual address)
   • Email (from company address)

   Note: The best delivery method for each communication depends on the needs and preferences of particular stakeholders.

7. (Optional): Add resources and notes

   If you’d like, fill in the Resources and Notes columns. You can consult the scenario for any important details or come up with your own.

Planning Meetings with the Core Team: Since the core team is directly involved in planning and executing the trainings, you want to meet with them daily and in person. The goal is to check in with each member about their progress, troubleshoot any issues, and make sure everyone stays on track. Your manager can also be a planning resource, so you make sure to schedule the team meetings later in the day than your weekly meeting with your manager. You make a note to check in with your manager with questions and link to the meeting agendas and notes.

Software & Equipment Vendor: Since your HR Specialist and Training Manager will plan and run the trainings, they will both need to meet with the vendor. They allow a half-day for this meeting, which will give them time to go over the training manual and ask follow-up questions. You link to the vendor’s Statement of Work and make a note to remind the HR Specialist and Training Manager to check in with relevant team members after the meeting.

Human Resources: Your HR Specialist owns communications with the HR department, and checks in with them weekly and in-person for project planning assistance. Since HR will also provide support during trainings, you’ll want to send them reminder emails as well. You note that more communications will likely be necessary on an as-needed basis.

Planning Check-ins with Facilities: Facilities needs to know the training schedule and requirements, but does not need daily updates. The Administrative Coordinator checks in with them weekly over the phone (but could also meet with them in person). You link to the forms you need to request rooms and equipment for the training sessions.

Planning Check-ins with the Print Shop: The Print Shop needs to know the details of the event, but you may not need to check in with them every day. The initial planning meeting is the most important, after which weekly check-ins (over the phone or in person) will suffice. Your Administrative Coordinator takes care of these communications. You link to the printing request forms you will use to order the training manuals.

Informational Updates for Office Green employees: You want to communicate with the trainees consistently so they remember when to arrive, where to go, and what to bring. Your Training Manager sends a group email from an official Office Green account each week and sends a reminder the day before each group’s training session. That’s a lot of messages to keep track of, so you make a note for the Training Manager to automate the reminder emails.

Training for Office Green employees: The Training Manager will also run the in-person trainings, which are scheduled each day for ten days, beginning at 10:00 AM. You make sure to link to the training schedule, so that it’s easily accessible.

Survey for Office Green employees: Once the training sessions are complete, the Training Manager will send the trainees a survey via email (with two follow-up reminders). You make a note to discuss the results at the next team meeting.

Status Update with your manager: Since your manager wants to be kept informed of your progress, you decide to update them at your weekly, in-person meeting. You make a note to come prepared with a brief update and specific questions for your manager.

Status Update with Senior Leaders: Since the Director of Operations and the Director of Product want to know how the trainings went, you send them an email update (and CC your manager) once they have concluded. You link to the resources you’ll need to create your report.

• Make sure that you carefully read the job description and notice which skills are mentioned.
• You can also read several job descriptions for the same type of role to identify which skills and requirements show up frequently.
• You should take note of these skills and be sure to highlight them using similar terms on your resume.

our header should contain your contact information and should go at the top of your resume.

Your header should include the following information:

• Your name in a larger font than the rest of your resume
• The city and state you live in (you do not need to include your street address for privacy purposes)
• Your phone number and a link to your email address
• Link to your LinkedIn profile URL
• Links to any other personal websites or portfolios, if applicable to the role you are applying for

Your header should be relevant, simple, and easy to read.

Example

Below your header, include a professional summary.

• Use your summary to set the tone.
  • Your summary should be one to three lines and should clearly state why you are the best candidate for the position.
  • It should highlight the most important things you want the reader to know about you.
  • Make sure you tailor your description of yourself to the role you are applying for.
• Merge the description of the role you are applying for with your past experience.
• Use keywords from the job description to describe yourself.

Once you have your professional introduction, your next sentence should explain how your unique expertise will make you valuable to the employer.

Don’t forget to use this section to highlight something that makes you stand out from other applicants.

Your core competencies should be a bulleted list of the most relevant skills applicable to the position you are applying for.

• Scan the job description for core competencies you have gained during this certification, as well as your past experience, and use those skills as bullet points in this section.
• Make sure to keep this section relatively short, with four to eight bullets.

Example:

The professional experience section of your resume provides a summary of the roles and positions you have held in your career. List at least three positions in reverse chronological order and only include what is most relevant to the position you are applying for.

Your professional experience will not change much from previous resumes, because you can’t change the past roles you have held. However, you can possibly rewrite some of your bullets to relate them to project management.

Pro tip: Make sure your resume conveys how your past accomplishments are valuable to the role you are applying for. Show the reader how you can make a difference in their organization. An easy way to remember this is through the P.A.R.I.S. framework:

• Problem that needed to be solved
• Action(s) I took
• Result of action(s)
• Impact on project (users, quality, etc.)
• Supporting evidence (awards, bonus, etc.)

• You should include any degrees beyond your high school diploma in reverse chronological order. For each degree, list the degree you earned, institution, location, and date of graduation.
• This section should also list any professional certifications or credentials you hold. It is here where you will list this new project management certification.