{"id":6366,"date":"2019-12-04T12:43:57","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T17:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/?page_id=6366"},"modified":"2025-06-12T10:35:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T14:35:33","slug":"communication-plan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/communication-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Communication Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A communication plan is a tool that outlines how, when, and with whom to share key project information. The goal of the communication plan is to keep stakeholders informed, engaged, and aligned. It also helps teams tailor their messages to ensure the right people receive the right information at the right time to support project success and sustainability.<\/p>\n<h2>Key Steps<strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify stakeholders who need to be engaged throughout the project.<\/li>\n<li>Clarify your communication goals with each stakeholder\/stakeholder group and what they need to know or do. Essentially, why do they need to be in the loop?<\/li>\n<li>Determine your method (e.g. email, meeting, newsletter, etc) and cadence (e.g. weekly, monthly, quarterly) for communication.<\/li>\n<li>Document this information and update as needed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Resources to Get Started<\/h2>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 97.564%;height: 118px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 98px\">\n<td style=\"width: 7.60678%;text-align: center;height: 98px\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8060\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Read.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"137\" height=\"137\" \/><\/strong><strong>Read<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 93.2057%;height: 98px\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/learn.nes.nhs.scot\/2844\/quality-improvement-zone\/qi-tools\/communication-and-engagement-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Communication and Engagement Plan<\/a> \u2013 This resource from the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland further discusses the purpose of the communication plan and considerations when developing one.<\/li>\n<li><a style=\"font-family: inherit;font-size: inherit;background-color: #ffffff\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2018\/06\/NHS-Sustainability-Guide.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NHS Sustainability Guide &#8211; Slides 70-71<\/a><span style=\"font-family: inherit;font-size: inherit\">: provides questions to consider when developing a communication plan and an example of a communication plan for a case study<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 23px\">\n<td style=\"width: 7.60678%;height: 10px;text-align: center\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-8065\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"93\" height=\"93\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-1536x1536.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-2048x2048.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-600x600.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 93px) 100vw, 93px\" \/>Use<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 93.2057%;height: 10px\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2021\/11\/Communication-Plan-Template.xlsx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Communication Plan Template<\/a> \u2013 Here is a simple template to get started with your communication plan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Related QI Concepts<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/project-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Project Planning<\/a> \u2013 An understanding of your project from start to finish will help you and your team build a start communication plan<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/project-team-composition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Project Team Composition<\/a> \u2013 The composition of your team is helpful to consider when you begin to develop your communication plan. Remember that your team is what drives the work!<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/stakeholder-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement<\/a> \u2013 If you understand your stakeholders and their needs, you will be able to develop a more effective communication<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/sponsor-selection-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Working with Leaders<\/a> \u2013 Leaders can make or break your project so it helpful to know how to meet their needs when creating a communication plan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A communication plan is a tool that outlines how, when, and with whom to share key project information. The goal of the communication plan is to keep stakeholders informed, engaged, and aligned. It also helps teams tailor their messages to ensure the right people receive the right information at the right time to support project &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/communication-plan\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Communication Plan\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87300,"featured_media":0,"parent":210,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-6366","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Communication Plan - Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/communication-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Communication Plan - Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A communication plan is a tool that outlines how, when, and with whom to share key project information. 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