Module 6 of 12 · Async + Virtual · 15 min + tool
Communication Planning
Design how the team, the consultants, and the client will stay aligned — the plan you carry into the kickoff.
Module 6 throughline — A work plan says what happens. A communication plan says how the team stays aligned while it happens — design it before kickoff, or improvise it under stress.Module Videos
The recorded walkthrough that teaches the module — watch first.
In productionModule Overview
The full illustrated walkthrough — why communication is designed, the three audiences, and the plan that feeds kickoff.
Available Open →Quick Reference Guides
The one-page Communication Plan — cadence, channel, decision-rights, and escalation by audience.
Available Open →Communication Planner
Interactive builder — carry your Oakhaven plan forward and build the audience-by-audience communication plan.
Available Open →Additional Materials
Templates, worksheets, and source documents that support the module.
In productionWhat you’ll be able to do
- ✓Treat communication as a designed system — structured, recorded, on a set cadence, and producing decisions.
- ✓Segment communication for three audiences: the internal team, the consultant team, and the client.
- ✓Set cadence, channel, decision-rights, and records for each audience.
- ✓Define an escalation path and produce a one-page Communication Plan that feeds the kickoff.
Tools & resources
Tools & resources you’ll use
- Communication Plan Template
- Project Pulse & Meeting Cadence Guide
- Stakeholder & Escalation Map
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 the world — mistakes message volume for alignment, so the signal gets lost.
Obsessed Designer
Goes dark in 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’ll ask if they’re stuck — no cadence, no check-in.
Sets a standing consultant coordination pulse so the decision surfaces on schedule — not after the deadline slips.
The client will be surprised by a schedule shift.
Waits for the client to notice, then softens it — or stays quiet and hopes.
Plans a client update cadence and decision-rights up front, so surprises become scheduled conversations.
Meet the four archetypes in depth →