Module 6 of 12 · Async + Virtual
Communication Planning
Read the communication plan out of the work plan, then run every conversation on it to one output. Keep the Quick Reference open while you work.
Module 6 throughline: A work plan says what happens. A communication plan says how the team stays aligned while it happens. Design it before the kickoff.Module Videos
Two videos, watched in order. Video 1 finds where the work is intense, where it crosses disciplines, and when the Owner has to decide. Video 2 publishes the one page plan and runs the five conversations that close it. Watch these first.
Available Open →Work through these in order
Module Overview
Why a fixed cadence fails, communication debt and how to count it, the 3 triggers that earn a slot on your calendar, and the 6 step build. One read, about 10 minutes.
Available Open →Quick Reference Guide
The job aid. Print it. 7 best practices, 7 risks, 7 things to avoid, and how to run each of the 5 conversations. Diagrams for the triggers, the density curve, the channel math and the request by date.
Available Open →Additional Materials
Going deeper. The latency derivation method, the channel math, the escalation ladder, the meeting invitation template, and the 2 practice tools.
Available Open →What you will be able to do
- ✓Derive a communication plan from the work plan, and place every touchpoint against one of 3 triggers. Work intensity, a coordination milestone, or a client decision point.
- ✓Set touchpoint density against the effort curve, and size the load by counting the parties who must coordinate directly.
- ✓Calculate a request by date from a decide by date and an observed client decision latency.
- ✓Run each of the 5 conversations to its one output. The assignment, the reading, the verdict, the choice, and the record.
- ✓Render 1 of only 3 verdicts on work returned, and bring the client a choice rather than a report.
- ✓Produce a one page communication plan that goes on the table at the Module 7 kickoff.
Tools & resources
Tools & resources you will use
- Communication Load Curve
- Communication Planner
- One page Communication Plan (Participant generated)
- Meeting invitation template, output required (Additional Materials)
Listed items are the governance and operational tools tied to this section. Items marked “Participant generated” are built during the work.
The Archetype Lens
Before kickoff, the communication plan is where two archetypes fall short.
Planning how the team, consultants, and client will talk is exactly the discipline the People Pleaser over promises on and the Coordinator drowns in noise.
Competent Coordinator
Floods every channel and CCs everyone, mistaking message volume for alignment, so the important information is lost.
Obsessed Designer
Stops communicating during the work, assumes silence is fine, and lets consultants design to stale assumptions.
People Pleaser
Over communicates comfort to the client, softens bad news, and buries the decision the client actually needs to make.
Accountable Owner
Designs the cadence up front: the right message, to the right audience, on a set rhythm, with decisions on record.
A consultant needs a design decision to proceed.
Assumes they will ask if they are stuck. No cadence, no check in.
Sets a standing consultant coordination pulse so the decision surfaces on schedule, before the deadline slips.
The client will be surprised by a schedule shift.
Waits for the client to notice, then softens it, or stays quiet.
Plans a client update cadence and decision rights up front, so surprises become scheduled conversations.
Meet the four archetypes in depth →