Learning Outcomes
After reading this article, you will be able to explain how to manage project communications during execution. You will know how to implement the plan, distribute information using effective channels, continuously confirm receipt and understanding, maintain up-to-date and accessible artifacts, and swiftly resolve barriers as they arise—essential skills for project delivery and the PMP exam.
PMP Syllabus
For the PMP exam, you must understand how to manage project communications throughout execution, recognizing both predictive and agile practices. You are expected to:
- Describe the actions and objectives of managing communications during project delivery.
- Identify and use effective channels (meetings, reports, dashboards, Kanban boards, etc.).
- Tailor communication methods to project context and stakeholder needs.
- Ensure information remains current, accurate, and immediately accessible to relevant parties.
- Confirm stakeholders receive and understand information (feedback loops).
- Detect and resolve communication barriers in distributed or virtual teams.
- Use information radiators to support transparency and status updates.
- Review and update communication strategies as project conditions change.
- Recognize roles and responsibilities (especially project manager and product owner) in proactive communication management.
Test Your Knowledge
Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, remember to look more closely at that area during your revision.
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What is the main purpose of managing project communications during execution?
- To create extensive documentation
- To ensure current, accurate information reaches the right parties using appropriate channels
- To repeat planning steps
- To rely solely on formal meetings
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If stakeholders are missing critical project information, what is your best initial action as project manager?
- Inform the sponsor immediately
- Repeat existing reports
- Review and update the communications management plan and feedback processes
- Wait for the next phase gate
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A virtual team is confused by outdated emailed reports. What is an effective PMP-style solution?
- Schedule more face-to-face meetings only
- Add shared dashboards or information radiators and introduce a feedback mechanism
- Increase email frequency only
- Send physical mail to all stakeholders
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When artifacts are out-of-date or inaccessible, which action is the project manager responsible for?
- Ignore the error until closing
- Ensure artifacts are promptly updated and available to all relevant stakeholders
- Hide incomplete reports
- Reduce transparency to simplify communications
Introduction
Successful project delivery demands that all relevant parties receive accurate, up-to-date information using suitable methods—at exactly the required time. Managing communications during execution means putting the planned strategies into action to ensure information flows efficiently, is accessible for decision-making, and supports the needs of delivery teams and stakeholders.
Clear, timely communication not only reduces misunderstandings but also supports issue resolution, collaboration, and stakeholder confidence in project progress. The project manager is accountable for implementing the communications strategy, checking its effectiveness, and adjusting approaches as real project conditions change.
Managing Communications in Execution
Managing communications is more than sending out reports or holding meetings. It requires the continuous execution of the communications management plan while tailoring methods in response to project or stakeholder needs.
Key Term: Managing Communications The actions taken during execution to distribute project information, confirm understanding, and address communication barriers—ensuring the right recipients get accurate details, via the best available channel, at the right time.
Applying the Communications Management Plan
The project communications management plan, created during planning, sets explicit expectations on what information will be shared, with whom, and how often. During execution, the manager is responsible for actually doing this—delivering planned reports, dashboards, Kanban boards, standups, meetings, or emails.
Key Term: Communication Channel The specific means—such as a dashboard, meeting, email, or information radiator—through which project information is sent and received, supporting effective delivery.
Key Term: Project Artifact Any documented item produced or updated during execution, such as reports, logs, charts, Kanban boards, or dashboards, which supports project communications and status tracking.
Accessibility, Timeliness, and Accuracy
It is essential that communications are not only sent, but accessible and accurate for everyone who needs them. This includes up-to-date dashboards, shared drives, or Kanban boards that reflect the most recent project status and decisions.
The project manager ensures version control and prompt updates, acting when any artifact becomes outdated or stakeholders cannot access what they need. Failing to update artifacts may cause decisions to be made based on stale or partial information—often a root cause of delivery errors.
Tailoring Communication Methods
Stakeholder preferences, culture, urgency, and organizational norms all affect which communication channels or formats work best. In virtual or distributed teams, synchronous video, team chat, or cloud dashboards may replace physical Kanban boards or in-person status meetings.
Information should be adapted for its audience: senior leaders may need succinct milestone dashboards, while delivery staff may depend on real-time Kanban status and backlog grooming sessions. Continuous tailoring during project execution is expected.
Confirming Understanding and Feedback Loops
Merely broadcasting information does not guarantee it is received or clearly understood. The manager should actively seek confirmation, using feedback loops—such as explicit acknowledgment, quick polls, read receipts, or rapid follow-up meetings.
Key Term: Feedback Mechanism Any process or tool (such as surveys, confirmations, or Q&A) specifically used to confirm that messages have been received, read, and interpreted as intended.
Proactively Resolving Communication Barriers
Barriers—such as language gaps, access difficulties, work hour differences, unclear messages, or outdated artifacts—reduce project clarity and slow delivery. The project manager must continuously monitor for these obstacles and take swift corrective action, such as:
- Switching to a different channel (synchronous instead of asynchronous)
- Translating information or providing summaries for diverse audiences
- Moving to more accessible, transparent platforms (e.g., shared dashboards for virtual teams)
- Introducing feedback loops to confirm clarity
Key Term: Communication Barrier Anything—such as unclear language, restricted access, cultural mismatch, or use of the wrong channel—that impedes parties from effectively exchanging information.
Agile and Hybrid Practices: Transparency and Information Radiators
Agile projects require high transparency and instantaneous feedback. Information radiators—such as physical task boards, electronic Kanban boards, or live progress charts—are updated in real time. All team members and stakeholders can view status without asking, supporting prompt issue escalation and collaborative delivery.
Key Term: Information Radiator Any physical or digital display that continuously presents current, essential project status or deliverable information where it is easily seen by the team and stakeholders.
Agile teams use daily standups to share progress and blockers, and burndown charts or Kanban boards to keep everyone informed and focused on common priorities.
Worked Example 1.1
A software team publishes weekly status reports by email. Partway through the project, a major stakeholder claims never to have been notified about a critical milestone delay.
Answer:
The project manager should check if the reports were dispatched using the correct, preferred channels and verify that the contact list is current. Implement a feedback mechanism in future updates (such as confirmation that the report was received and read), and update the communications management plan to address channel preferences. Always adjust messaging if stakeholders need more clarity, timeliness, or access—don't rely solely on routine emails.
Worked Example 1.2
In a global project, team members working in different time zones consistently miss task handovers, causing delays and frustration.
Answer:
The project manager should introduce cloud-based shared dashboards showing real-time task status, use team chat or video calls for status handoffs, and clarify expectations in the communications management plan. Feedback loops (like handoff confirmations) help ensure information is seen and understood.
Exam Warning
Ineffective communications—such as outdated reports, inaccessible artifacts, or failure to confirm understanding—frequently result in project failures. In PMP exam scenarios, always select responses that prioritize updating artifacts, choosing audience-appropriate channels, and confirming message receipt. Merely repeating the same report using the same method is not best practice if there is evidence it isn't reaching the right stakeholder.
Revision Tip
On scenario questions, focus on what information is missing, what channels have failed, and how the manager can rapidly resolve the specific barrier (not just delay action until closing). Always consider feedback mechanisms and artifact accessibility in your solution.
Summary
Managing communications in project execution requires more than following a plan. It involves continuous distribution, feedback, and adjustment to ensure every stakeholder has what is needed to support delivery. Barriers must be quickly dealt with, artifacts kept current and accessible, and method tailored to actual use and needs.
Key Point Checklist
This article has covered the following key knowledge points:
- Managing communications in execution means action: distributing information, confirming understanding, and addressing barriers as they arise.
- The project manager is responsible for current, accessible project artifacts and version control throughout delivery.
- Communication channels and formats should be tailored for audience, urgency, and cultural/technological context.
- Feedback mechanisms are required to ensure receipt and comprehension, not just broadcast.
- Barriers such as outdated tools, cultural differences, language, unclear messaging, and virtual distance must be deliberately resolved.
- Agile teams rely on transparency, information radiators, and rapid status sharing for daily delivery.
- Exam questions expect you to spot the root communication issue and recommend direct, practical remedies—not simply repeat what hasn't worked.
Key Terms and Concepts
- Managing Communications
- Communication Channel
- Project Artifact
- Feedback Mechanism
- Communication Barrier
- Information Radiator
