Good communication keeps a project aligned, predictable, and moving forward. When teams know who owns what communication and when it needs to happen, visibility improves, and work momentum stays intact.
WordLayouts’ communication plan template puts all of that in one place. It lets you map every project message across each phase, along with the channel, the owner, and the timing. It gives project coordinators, project leads, project success managers, and customer success managers a clear, bird’s-eye view of who is communicating what, how it’s being delivered, and where improvements are needed.
Before plunging into the communication channels, the template begins with a top section that provides context for everything that follows.
- Project Name
- Project Manager
- Project Start and End Date
- Project Description
How the Template Is Organized by Project Phases
The communication ways you need at kickoff are not the same as those you need during initiation, those you need during execution, or during the closure phase. Therefore, this communication plan is grouped by 4 different stages of the project lifecycle — Initiation, Planning, Execution & Closure.
1. Initiation phase is all about foundational alignment
In this phase, you can get everybody on the same page from day one. In this phase, you have to communicate the scope of work to the assignees and set goals for each communication mode, its frequency, etc.
2. Planning phase talks about validation
It’s the phase where recurrent communications about requirements, dependencies, and approvals take place. Everything you plan to communicate revolves around validating and keeping the communication stream alive.
3. Execution phase is where plan meets reality
It is the most active phase of the plan, where the communication complexity level is high because the audience expands significantly.
This phase should have absolute clarity about who is accountable for which type of communication to whom via which channel, and what the KPIs and feedback mechanism of that communication is.
4. Closure phase is your project’s “Go Live “ mode
It is the last phase that confirms the project is officially closed and ready to go live or share with executive stakeholders for review and final approval.
Applying the Communication Plan Across Project Phases
This template helps you organize your communication across different phases of a project.
The template features columns that follow the 5Ws framework like:
- Who is the person responsible for sending updates to whom?
- What information should be shared with whom through which channel?
- When a responsible person can make a communication, and how frequently it will happen.
- Where will this communication happen?
- Why is this communication necessary for aligning the objectives of the project and getting constructive feedback leading to final approvals?
Let’s discuss columns one by one:
Communication type
This column lists the types of communication activities. Weekly update, sprint planning, daily standup, or change request review are a few examples of it.
Communicate to
Here, this column defines the audience who can or should be communicated with for any sort of communication. The audience here can be your stakeholders, the project team, executive leadership, marketing, QA, or the operations/ IT support team.
Goals
This column field is all about why the communication exists. You can write the objective of having a communication here according to the phase of the project. Whether it’s aligning on scope, approving design mockups, tracking planning deliverables, or removing blockers, your goal should state an outcome of what you want from whom.
Channel
The channel column here defines the delivery mode of the message and controls where the message shows up. Modern communication has evolved beyond written communication to more elaborate channels like Zoom/Teams meetings, email updates, etc. You can specify a suitable channel according to the phase of the project and the relevant stakeholders.
Frequency
The frequency in a template defines the number of times communication is expected to happen. You can define frequency by intervals like weekly, daily, monthly, etc. The purpose of defining frequency is to have clear expectations but also to make sure communication is sufficient but not overwhelming.
Responsible
The responsible column is all about ownership — a person you want to make responsible for the communication for any sort of project-related query. It can be anyone associated with the project.
KPIs
The KPIs column here measures the effectiveness of any task performed or communication made. This section of the template will notably help you track the outcomes of communication.
Feedback mechanism
This column within the templates holds exceptional value as it closes the loop. It tells your team how to respond, like meeting Q&A, email acknowledgment, Slack feedback, Figma comments closed, surveys after demos, or Jira comments.
Who Is This Communication Plan Template For?
Our template is a strategic and time-saving project communication template designed for:
- Project Managers and Team Leads who need to define and manage information flow throughout the project lifecycle to prevent miscommunication.
- Client Success Managers who want to build trust by providing transparent, regular progress reports that manage client expectations.
- Onboarding Specialists who need to provide new team members with a clear roadmap of communication protocols and responsibilities from day one.
- Executives and Senior Management who require high-level, predictable updates to monitor strategic initiatives and organizational goals.
- External Consultants and freelancers are looking to establish professional boundaries and ensure they receive the specific data needed to meet deadlines.
Verticals That Need Communication Plans
This template can be used in several industries where collaboration and clarity in communication are essential, such as the IT industry or SaaS firms operating in remote settings.
Architects and subcontractors in the construction or engineering industry can also use it. Healthcare providers must manage EHR implementations, where clear collaboration and HIPAA compliance and regulation must be considered throughout the project.
The public sector can also use this communication plan template for projects that require high levels of accountability and stakeholder engagement.
Conclusion
The project communication template is more like a living document that can be reviewed by key team members of the project at any time to identify minor or significant changes in the project and how smoothly the project is going. It helps the owner identify the blockers, pending reviews, or approvals that might be delaying the project delivery.
If you do not have the best communication plan template to start with, do not reinvent the wheel.
Simply start with this ready-made, downloadable, and free communication plan template and tailor it to your workflow. As communication doesn’t occur in one fixed environment, our project communication plan template is available in three different file formats: Google Sheets, PDF, and Excel.
- The Excel format can be preferred where structured planning with maximum control is the objective of having a communication plan.
- You can use the PDF format as a final approved document to avoid accidental edits.
And if you use the Google Sheets Version of this template, it will allow multiple stakeholders to view, edit, and comment on the plan simultaneously.
