Do you know the feeling when you put a lot of effort into an intranet article about your project, but hardly anyone reads it? In this article, I will introduce you to five innovative approaches to project communication that will inspire your stakeholders! Have you ever experienced that your project communication does not have the desired effect? Often, important information does not reach the stakeholders properly. I will show you simple methods to improve your project communication. This way, you can ensure that your messages are clear and convincing and that your project progresses successfully.
Project communication simply explained: The most important basics
Before we get to the modern methods of internal project communication, I would first like to explain the basic principles. Which interest groups are there in projects, and when is which type of communication best suited? These basics are crucial so that you plan communication correctly from the start. This saves you time, money, and stress.
Innovative ideas for project communication: The use case
To make my explanations and approaches easier to understand, let’s use a case study of a company and a project manager called Sandra. Imagine that a company wants to introduce a desk sharing concept. Project manager Sandra has the task of organizing this. She has developed a concept, and management and the works council have agreed. An important milestone has been reached. Now implementation begins, and Sandra is faced with an important question: How should she communicate this to the company?
Project communication – what does it mean?
Let’s first clarify the term. What do I mean when I talk about project communication? Project communication means that everyone involved is informed to the right extent about the status and developments in the project. Well-planned communication in the project helps to avoid misunderstandings and reduce reservations and resistance.
However, it is not enough to simply throw out information and hope that the right people read and understand it. In order for the information about the project to be noticed and understood, it must be designed to suit the respective target group.
For you as a project manager, project communication means: You have to carefully consider which information is relevant for whom, for what reason, and at what time.
In our use case example, project manager Sandra has reached an important milestone. Management has decided how the new desk sharing concept will be designed. Sandra knows that she now has to inform the workforce promptly. But what should she keep in mind, and what is the best way to go about it?
Target group-oriented communication: why it is indispensable in projects
We live in a time of constant sensory overload. We receive emails and chat messages every day, new articles are constantly being published on the intranet, and in our free time we scroll nonstop through social media. With the abundance of information, many employees find it difficult to keep track of everything. There is a risk that important information will be lost.
To prevent this from happening, targeted communication is essential. It addresses the needs and expectations of the various stakeholders and is the key to the success of any project.
Successful communication in a project means adapting the information to the needs of your target group. A “one size fits all” approach does not work here.
Using the example of desk sharing, project manager Sandra asks herself which aspects of the new concept are particularly relevant for whom. She bases her communication concept on this.
If you are currently in the situation of reporting on a project milestone, you can ask yourself these questions:
- Are all employees affected to the same extent?
- Are there groups of people for whom exceptions apply?
- What advantages does the concept bring for which groups of people?
- What potential questions or resistance might the respective groups of people have (and how can these be addressed)?
- Which information channel is best suited for which target group?
Based on these questions, you can plan in a targeted manner how best to inform which group of people about your project milestone. This increases the chances that your information will be noticed and signals to your stakeholders that you care about them.
Project manager Sandra realizes that the concept does not apply to the shift workers who already share workstations in the company’s workshops. She places this information right at the beginning of her project update. This way, the group of shift workers knows immediately that nothing will change for them, and they do not need to pay any further attention to the information.
The three crucial groups in project communication that you need to know
When it comes to communication in a project, you can roughly distinguish between three groups. Depending on which group is affected, the depth of information, the information channels, and the frequency vary.
Project team
The project team consists of people who are directly involved in the implementation of the project. This includes internal departments as well as external contractors and service providers. This group requires detailed information and regular updates to carry out its tasks effectively.
Clients and decision-makers
This group has a direct influence on the project and makes important decisions. They are often members of the steering committee and decide on important decisions. In addition to the classic roles such as requesters and clients, there are also groups with a say, such as the works council or authorities. This group needs concise, strategic information in order to be able to make well-founded decisions.
Affected parties (customers)
The third important group are the people or customers affected by the project. These can be external users of software or internal employees who are to use a new system. This group needs clear and understandable information that explains the benefits and changes brought about by the project.
Now that we know the most important groups in project communication, let’s look at how you can communicate effectively with each of these groups to successfully move your project forward.
Communication in the project team: How to ensure smooth collaboration
The project team is responsible for driving the project forward. The team members regularly deal with the project topics and therefore require detailed information. The following tools and methods are particularly suitable for communication within the project team:
- Microsoft Teams: For short-term coordination in chat.
- Central file storage: for concepts, plans, evaluations, and all other relevant documents.
- Regular project meetings : digital, hybrid, or in person.
- Digital tools for task management : For example, M365 Planner, Trello, Asana, or Jira (I do not recommend Excel spreadsheets at this point, even though they are widely used).
Now that we have looked at communication within the project team, let’s turn to the clients and decision-makers. How do you communicate effectively with this important group?
Communication with clients and decision-makers: Get support for your project
Communication with the stakeholder group of clients or decision-makers has one thing in common: As a project manager, you want something from this group of people and not the other way around.
This group is occasionally included in project communication, for example, when important milestones or unforeseen changes occur. Clients and decision-makers need a general understanding of the project as well as concrete figures, data, and facts.
You should always speak to your clients and decision-makers in person (if possible). This helps to avoid misunderstandings.
In this case, synchronous communication is best. For example, in the form of a presentation followed by an exchange. Modern methods such as interactive graphics or walk-in formats, where the onus is on the recipient to collect information, are not really suitable for this group.
Tool tip for presentations
Create modern management presentations with clear infographics in Canva.
Now think again about project manager Sandra. You can see at a glance that this stakeholder group is not the target group of your project communication. Rather, they have already reached out to the clients and decision-makers when the new concept was approved, so there is a big green tick at this point.
This leaves the third group: the internal and external stakeholders, or customers.
Stakeholder communication: strike the right tone towards users and customers.
Users and customers know the current product or process. Changes catapult them out of their comfort zone and into an unknown situation – that means stress. Resistance is inevitable. You will experience all kinds of reactions, from “That doesn’t affect me” to “I don’t want that.”
It is important to understand the needs and requirements of this group so that you can tailor your project communications to them.
For those affected internally, changes mean stress. Resistance is inevitable.
The group of internal stakeholders is particularly critical. These people often have a lot to do even without your project. Switching to new software or a new process costs additional time and energy. Always assume that they do not have these resources or are not willing to use them.
Your project means additional stress. Your internal employees have to deal with it. They can’t just carry on as before.
This is particularly true for project manager Sandra’s desk-sharing project. Not only do the employees have to switch to clean desks, they also lose their jobs. Sandra expects strong resistance, especially from those who are currently in the comfortable position of using a single office permanently. That’s why it’s particularly important for Sandra to communicate the goals and effects of the new concept in a way that everyone can understand.
Let us now look at modern approaches that can be used to optimally inform internal stakeholders about projects.
5 innovative methods that will revolutionize your internal project communication
Long-winded intranet articles scare away stakeholders – you should definitely avoid that. The good news is: There are simple ways to make your project communication more effective and engaging. In this section, I’ll show you 5 modern ideas on how to communicate content better and ensure that your messages really get across to stakeholders.
Animated User Stories: How to convey complex content in an engaging way
User stories are short, simple descriptions of a function or process from the user’s perspective. They help to understand the requirements and needs of those affected and to align the products or processes accordingly. In many projects, user personas are already created as part of the requirements analysis. So why not use these considerations to make the processes and requirements tangible and understandable for the stakeholders? With a little creativity, you can turn your user story into a captivating animated presentation. In this way, you can create your own “Sendung mit der Maus” (Mouse Show) in which your user personas explain the project in simple terms.
Project manager Sandra could use an interactive user story to give the different types of employees a voice. For example, desk sharing could include conservative Manfred, who is very attached to his workstation. Or funky Kim, who is excited about trying out different places and networking with people from other teams. By giving these people a voice, Sandra makes employees feel understood and realize that their fears, worries, and wishes have been taken into account in the project.
Walk-in formats: low-threshold communication offer
A walk-in format is an open, face-to-face meeting where those affected can drop in spontaneously to ask questions about a project or find out about the current status. This shows your stakeholders that you take their concerns seriously and value transparency and accessibility. This format not only promotes trust, but also enables questions and concerns to be clarified immediately and effectively, which is always an advantage for your project.
Digital Q&A sessions: Effective project communication with Microsoft Teams
A Q&A session in Microsoft Teams (or another platform for digital meetings) is the virtual counterpart to the walk-in session described above. In a digital Q&A session, you answer project questions in real time and encourage direct exchange. The digital version of the walk-in format is particularly suitable for large companies with different locations or a high proportion of hybrid work. This method can also be very useful for projects with many participants.
With a digital information appointment, you can reach a large group of people with little effort.
Interactive timeline: Visualize your project progress
Project schedules are often difficult to understand, especially for people who are not directly involved. Instead of just posting a detailed plan on the intranet, try an interactive timeline with TikiToki. This digital timeline shows all the important project phases and dates clearly and concisely. Your stakeholders can simply click through the phases and get a better picture of the project’s progress. They can see at a glance what happens next. The interactivity of the timeline makes it more interesting for users to engage with the information. This form of gamification ensures that everyone involved is better informed – a direct contribution to your project’s success.
AI Pro Tip: If you find it difficult to describe individual steps of your project in a way that outsiders can understand in the schedule, you can ask the M365 Copilot to explain them “for dummies.” ChatGPT can basically do this too, but you should be careful here with regard to data protection and information security.
Gamification with Genially: Infographics to Click on
Not only project plans but also other project information is often complicated and difficult to access. Company agreements, terms of use, or service instructions often have a daunting effect. You can use this to achieve a positive “aha” effect with your recipients. Use a gamification approach and create interactive graphics that can be clicked on. Tools like Genially are great for turning dry and complex content into appealing and easy-to-understand presentations. Users can click on individual elements to find out more details at their own pace. This significantly increases the chance that the information will actually be perceived and understood – far more than when simply reading an intranet article.
More creative ideas for successful project communication
Finally, I’ll show you a few more ways to make your project communication more interesting and engaging. These approaches are a little more demanding and usually require collaboration with external experts, but they can enrich your communication considerably.
Explain your project with a video
Small, concise videos are great for presenting important updates or complex topics in a simple and understandable way. Visual content grabs the attention of your stakeholders and helps communicate information clearly and engagingly.
Talk about your project in a podcast.
A project podcast offers the opportunity to regularly report on progress, challenges, and milestones. Especially in times of remote work, a podcast is a flexible and personal form of communication that can be conveniently listened to on the side.
Create virtual tours
With a virtual tour, your stakeholders can experience project progress in a completely new way. In a 3D environment, they can interactively explore key milestones and developments, enabling an immersive and vivid presentation of complex project information.
Create a professional project newsletter.
A regular, attractively designed newsletter that summarizes current updates, successes, and upcoming milestones keeps all stakeholders informed and promotes a sense of participation in the project.
Although these methods require a little more effort, they offer the opportunity to make your project communication much more varied and effective.
Conclusion: Communication as the key to project success.
Successful project communication requires more than just conveying information. The way you communicate your project can make all the difference. Well-thought-out and target group-oriented project communication is essential to getting everyone involved on the path to project success.
Use the creative approaches presented to inform and inspire your stakeholders. Whether through interactive graphics, animated timelines, or innovative Q&A sessions – with smart communication, you lay the foundation for the success of your project.
With the right communication, you not only create transparency, but also promote engagement and acceptance among your stakeholders.