Introduction
A communication management plan is a document that outlines, in specific detail, how all of the people working on a project may interact with one another most effectively. The strategy can specify who on the team is responsible for what in terms of communication and which channels will be utilized most effectively. Plans for managing communication are frequently essential components of overall project planning and management. It is essential to have communication management strategies since these plans promote both comprehension and productivity (Ahmed, 2019). They establish the highest possible standards and best practices for communication. Every stakeholder has access to an efficient communication management plan, which enables them to gain knowledge regarding how they can most effectively contact another team member, when they should communicate with other team members and with whom they should communicate for various purposes.
Progress communication
Being transparent, According to EXPERTE’s Janis Bleichert et al (2020), a common thread has emerged throughout the many agile project management approaches: clear and transparent communication is essential at all levels of a project, from inside teams to between stakeholders to between project owners. Everyone must know what is being discussed or have easy access to it for reference or research purposes. The ultimate result may be attained more quickly when everyone is “in the know” about what they should do or strive toward. All due dates must be made known to all parties involved. One of the leading causes of missed deadlines is a failure to provide critical information to the whole team. A manager’s worst possible instructions for completing an assignment are, “Get this back to me whenever you have time.” “It is preferable to specify a specific date and then check with the other person to ensure that their schedule allows it. To further facilitate open dialogue, we will prepare and distribute meeting agendas before each gathering. We will clarify which tasks require individual effort and which will benefit from collective effort.
Throughout this project, the many stakeholders, including staff, patients, and construction workers, will be alerted in various ways. This will aid us in different ways; we will be able to understand our goals better. Those who have a stake in the outcome must be aware of our goals. Communicating our aims and the advantages to the audience if they assist us in accomplishing those goals, for example, with employees and labor unions, will increase understanding and support (Kerzner, 2019). We can get the capital we need for strategic initiatives if we keep our investors and stockholders in the loop. Additionally, we will be able to create influence and positive relationships; positive connections with the media and other interest groups that have power over other stakeholders may be established with effective communication. We can spread awareness through press releases, interviews with journalists, and meetings with interest groups and ensure our message is being conveyed accurately.
Staff members will get monthly email updates on the status of the project. This will include a review of this month’s accomplishments and an outlook for the upcoming month. For instance, Email is a time-tested way of communication that is widely used in many workplaces today. We will make it a point to check our Email frequently while managing a project so that we do not miss any messages from team members that are directly related to our work. Let us set up an email chain as an alternative to individually emailing each team member about upcoming meetings and deadlines.
Patients will be informed about the situation through the hospital’s website. The website for the hospital will provide both a forecasted completion date and an explanation of the operations scheduled to take place throughout the reconstruction. Additionally, an explanation as to the motivation for the alterations will be made. This will be important because we will be on the same page with all our patients. Through our website, we will be able to; the relationship between a patient and their healthcare practitioner may be improved in various ways by improving communication between the two parties. Our patients will be able to receive a more comprehensive education on their health as a result, which may encourage them to adopt preventative measures for their health and wellness. In addition, it may assist our patients in developing a full awareness of the present treatment methods regarding their health, including acute health circumstances (Kerzner, 2019). Communication also helps us build a sense of trust between the patient and our healthcare, which makes it simpler for patients to comply with our advice if they feel they can trust us. These components have the potential to bring about several significant potential long-term benefits, such as fewer patient visits, lower healthcare expenditures, and better patient outcomes. Because of the proliferation of technology, efficient communication is becoming an ever more vital component of modern medical practice. We can assist our patients in limiting the potential impact of health misinformation, which, if left unchecked, might drive patients to make decisions about their health that are harmful or inappropriate. Additionally, it can improve communication among other medical experts who may need to coordinate treatment across several sites. Additionally, this may result in increased possibilities for providing treatment to patients.
Lastly, there will be contact with the construction workers daily. They will have daily responsibilities that must be completed successfully to stay on track with everything associated with the project. If they give themselves a too flexible timeline, it increases the likelihood that mistakes will be made, the budget will be blown, and the deadline will not be fulfilled. Successful building requires open lines of communication from the outset through the final inspection. When team members can express themselves and listen to one another effectively, they may strengthen their ability to work together, foster productive teamwork, and provide the customer with a more positive experience overall.
Change management plan
Improvements in quality, safety, and patient care will be communicated and managed by implementing Lewin’s 3-Stage Model (Burnes, 2020).
Lewin’s Three-Stage Model
- De-icing (preparing all staff, management, and critical stakeholders for upcoming changes to quality, safety, and patient care systems). During the unfreezing stage, effective communication with this assignment is of the utmost importance, ensuring that all workers and management are prepared for the change in procedures to guarantee that they comprehend the necessity of the change in procedures.
- This procedure will get the staff and management on board with the idea that we must alter our practices to continue providing high-quality, risk-free patient care. People’s anxiety and doubt about making changes will be alleviated by going through this procedure. When this happens, the change starts to take effect. The modification to the processes governing quality, safety, and patient care is put into action.
- Refreezing (this process helps to symbolize the act of reinforcing, stabilizing, and solidifying the new state after the implementation of the new processes has proven successful for the facility) concentrates on providing high-quality care to all patients. The modification to the procedures has now been institutionalized, which assures that the adjustment will remain in place indefinitely.
Regulations, new quality improvement methods, and patient safety training are provided on-site. In order to better ensure the health and well-being of their patients, many hospitals and other healthcare facilities have implemented recently developed methods. In order to be effective in processes, we must ensure all paperwork of all persons involved has been taught and understand each process of improvement (Crawford, 2021). Let every personnel know how crucial it is for them to finish training. Please keep everyone updated on how long our facility will take to finish training to boost the quality, safety, and patient care we provide. Make sure everyone on staff knows that their training status will be recorded and that failure to comply might result in termination. The time and money required to teach all employees about the new quality, safety, and patient care processes should be communicated to management and leaders. Explain to them how these procedures will set them apart from competing facilities and bring in more business.
During this transition, affected staff will be allowed to work in other departments while the space they usually occupy is being renovated. A partnership can also be formed with hospitals in the nearby area to assist those facilities in continuing to operate within the scope of newborn medicine while the renovation is in progress. It is essential to keep the patients informed of what is happening. When the new facility is being built, they will require access to information and resources that will enable them to pursue alternate forms of medical treatment. When renovations occur in other departments, staff from the newborn unit may be temporarily assigned to work in other departments. The department heads of each department affected will need to be understanding and willing to train the new temporary staff appropriately while working under their supervision. In the grand scheme of things, it is beneficial to have a few more helping hands to alleviate the stress caused by the patient load.
There will be engagement from the leaders, and we will deliver the business case to key stakeholders in their respective departments. In order to generate excitement, we will center our efforts on showcasing successful outcomes from the initiative (Harrison et al., 2021). We will request more access to these stakeholders’ work group members if they are interested in the project but need help to engage due to external factors directly. The visibility of our initiative and our access to stakeholder groups will improve because of these individuals’ authority and influence.
We will present benefits for each stakeholder group; As a result, we will guarantee that the project’s final results align with the advantages that stakeholders may expect from them. Tailoring the quantity, depth, and breadth of material presented to the audience’s specific interests is essential. The Power/Interest Grid is a helpful tool for prioritizing stakeholders and deciding what information to include in communications, contributing to this alignment.
We will address concerns of areas of high impact; the results of a project may have a more significant influence on specific stakeholder groups than on others. In addition, some stakeholders may wield decision-making authority, which may be a barrier to achieving the goal. The findings of the stakeholder analysis will be clarified, and the team will be given the required insights to alleviate areas of resistance and limit adverse effects. Learning about concerns will explain predictions made in the stakeholder analysis.
Lastly, there will be follow-up and ongoing communication; even though the degree to which different stakeholder groups participate in the project may vary, it is essential to maintain open communication lines and follow up as required. Include each stakeholder in reporting the outcomes, restate the advantages on a group-by-group basis, and continually express gratitude to the stakeholders for their time and dedication (Harrison et al., 2021). In addition, make sure they know you are available to answer any questions or address any further issues they may have while the project is being carried out. Getting buy-in from stakeholders early on in the process allows organizations to develop powerful friends within and beyond the company, making it easier for projects to be successful. Building and retaining crucial relationships is an effective strategy for increasing participation, ensuring transparency, and establishing trust in the project’s results.
Post-implementation communication
The excellent outcomes of the building project on the unit may be positively communicated with the entire hospital personnel. In order to guarantee that everyone in the hospital is entirely aware of what is taking on and why weekly updates can be sent out through Email to the whole facility.
The parking arrangements may need to be altered temporarily while construction trucks are at the site. Additionally, the electricity may be cut off to that wing section for a predetermined time.
When the hospital is undergoing renovations, keeping as many members of the hospital’s personnel as possible informed about the situation may assist decrease tension and the stress caused by the uncertainty.
Maintaining communication among all stakeholders is also facilitated by maintaining an open-door policy for higher-ups in the organization. The open-door approach would make it possible for staff workers to ask their bosses questions regarding the construction process without worrying that they would be reprimanded for doing so. They can inquire about the reason for a change (Hietala et al., 2021). How long does the transformation have the potential to last? Will this change how they schedule their work? Will you need to complete extra training in light of the change?
Knowledge of one’s audience and fluency in their language (both literal and figurative) are prerequisites for successful communication. That does not imply rethinking your fundamental points of view; instead, it means tailoring your delivery and the supporting materials to better connect with your audience. This is more complex than it seems, particularly when trying to reach a wide range of people inside a single company, team, or department.
In order to enable the audiences to receive correct information in the right way, we will begin by employing the following steps; we will determine who our audiences are; To begin, we might compile a list of the many different types of people who would be exposed to the results of our study. If it is relevant, we will make it a point to consider all of our audience members, including our colleagues and the people we report to. We will consider the various subsets of our audience, paying particular attention to the following questions: What do they have in common with one another? Where do they differ from one another? What degree of expertise about the project do they bring to the table?
We will consider what is on their mind; we will consider how they see our project and the things that are important to them to understand their perspective better. We should inquire about what they are most interested in learning about the current project and how it mainly pertains to them or interests them. When we consider the world from their perspective, it will be easier for us to formulate a compelling message and communicate it in a way that will encourage our audience to listen, become engaged, and take action.
Additionally, we will think about what we need them to know; even if it is of the utmost importance that we modify both the content of our messages and the channels through which we deliver them to correspond with the demographics of our audience, this does not imply that we should lose sight of what it is that we want them to understand (Osnes et al., 2018). We will keep our primary project in mind and work to ensure that its components are communicated in a way that is both clear and effective while at the same time packaging those components in a way that allows us to most effectively connect with our audience in the context in which they are currently operating.
Furthermore, based on what we tell them, we will consider what we want them to learn, feel, and do. Effective communication is more than just relaying information; it should also enlighten, engage, and inspire the people listening to or reading what is being communicated. We will definitely have this in mind when we are working on the next part of our project. We will think about what we want the audience to take away from what we are doing and then ask ourselves that question. Are we urging them to participate in some form of activity? Is that “ask” being communicated clearly, and has it been repeated for emphasis? People are moved to action by the most successful forms of communication; most of the time, we have to express what we desire.
Additionally, we will determine the most effective way to get this information out to the audience; setting and format are important considerations; if we are disclosing information about a significant shift, it may be appropriate to do so in a town hall or team gathering to allow for participatory conversation. Depending on the channels at our disposal, we will consider a memo or regular e-newsletter if we will be communicating updates that individuals need to know regularly but are unlikely to raise worry. More nuanced communication comes with a critical requirement for a setting or channel that promotes back-and-forth communication.
Lastly, our team will consider how to connect with the target demographic in a way that inspires them to take the desired course of action. We are now getting to the heart of what it means to know our audience (Osnes et al., 2018). We will think about the people on our list of readers and how they think. Think of a story we could tell them that they could relate to or a way we could explain how their actions will affect the company as a whole. This is our chance to make what we say more essential and leave them with a call to action they will remember. Ultimately, the most important thing is to know our audiences and give them the information they want and the information they need in a way that works best for them. When we think about how we deliver messages this way, we set ourselves and our audiences up for a good communications experience, no matter what we try to say.
Conclusion
It would be best if you had a plan that details how and when critical information will be shared among all parties involved in your project. Stakeholders, project managers, and customers must benefit from this communication strategy. The most crucial factors are when, how, who, and what. The success of your project in terms of time, money, and other metrics depends on your ability to communicate effectively with all parties involved. To further boost client satisfaction, a solid project communication plan will keep all parties updated on the project’s development.
References
Ahmed, S. (2019). A review on using opportunities of augmented reality and virtual reality in construction project management. Organization, Technology, and Management in Construction: An International Journal, 11(1), 1839-1852.
Kerzner, H. (2019). Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Grulich, P. M., Sebastian, B., Zeuch, S., Traub, J., Bleichert, J. V., Chen, Z., & Markl, V. (2020, June). Grizzly: Efficient stream processing through adaptive query compilation. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data (pp. 2487-2503).
Crawford, J. K. (2021). Project management maturity model. Auerbach Publications.
Burnes, B. (2020). The origins of Lewin’s three-step model of change. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 56(1), 32–59.
Harrison, R., Fischer, S., Walpola, R. L., Chauhan, A., Babalola, T., Mears, S., & Le-Dao, H. (2021). Where do models for change management, improvement, and implementation meet? A systematic review of the applications of change management models in healthcare. Journal of healthcare leadership, 13, 85.
Hietala, H., & Päivärinta, T. (2021). Benefits Realisation in Post-Implementation Development of ERP Systems: A Case Study. Procedia Computer Science, 181, 419-426.
Osnes, K. B., Olsen, J. R., Vassilakopoulou, P., & Hustad, E. (2018). ERP systems in multinational enterprises: a literature review of post-implementation challenges. Procedia computer science, 138, 541-548.
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