PMcrunch

One of the greatest communication tools that a project manager can possess is strong briefing on the project. This can facilitate communications with all stakeholders for any project. It puts a good public relations phase on the project plan.

A project brief is typically a powerpoint presentation that can be provided relatively quickly to explain what the project is all about to a variety of different parties. Oftentimes, especially in much larger organizations, projects are not on the radar screen of everyone involved. The project briefing can provide a remedy to this. It enables the project manager to easily pull out a well-vetted story about the project in a simple, customer-facing way.

There are a variety of communications tools that can be used to communicate to a broad stakeholder community within larger organizations. One tool is the intranet, where a webpage can describe a project. Another is a wiki, where the project can not only be explained but can be fairly and easily updated by the right people. The important thing about the briefing is that it is consistent with any other communications such as the wiki or intranet page, but it also needs to provide a framework for presenting to someone in person.

In larger organizations, it is a great idea for a project manager to put together a strong and consistent marketing-oriented briefing on the project. It should explain in layman’s terms the keypoints about the project including objectives, scope, stakeholders, cost, and high level schedule. A project briefing is an important piece of the communication’s plan on many projects.

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John Reiling, PMP
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