Messaging That Moves Projects Forward

A project manager can communicate daily and still have a communication problem. There can be emails sent and received, weekly status meetings, dashboards, presentations, steering committee meetings, instant messages, and carefully prepared status reports. Everyone may be receiving plenty of information, yet stakeholders can still walk away with very different ideas about what the project is trying to accomplish, how well it is doing, and what needs to happen next.

I have seen this happen frequently. The project manager tells the team that a particular milestone is critical. The sponsor hears that the project is generally on schedule. The customer hears that everything is progressing as expected. Then something goes wrong, and everyone discovers that they were working from slightly different versions of the story.

The problem isn't necessarily a lack of communication. It is a lack of consistent messaging. Effective project managers understand that every email, presentation, meeting, and status report contributes to the larger story of the project. That story needs to remain clear and consistent while still being adapted to the people receiving it. Address conflicting perceptions by reinforcing the core message across all communication channels to prevent misunderstandings. It means ensuring everyone understands the same fundamental reality.

Communication Is More Than Sending Information

Project communication is often treated as a collection of activities. Send the status report. Hold the weekly meeting. Update the dashboard. Send an email when something changes. Those activities are important, but they aren't the whole job.

Communication works best when it is treated as a system. Messages are consistent and build on one another. Stakeholders learn what the project is trying to accomplish, why it matters, what has changed, and what they are expected to do. This is consistent with a substantial body of project management thinking. PMI research has long emphasized the importance of tailoring information to stakeholder needs and establishing a systematic approach to communication rather than treating it as an afterthought.

In a previous article, Project Communication That Works, I described communication as a system rather than a side task. The same principle applies to messaging. Think of messaging as the thread that runs through that system. The email may be different from the executive presentation. The executive presentation may be different from the team meeting. But all three should reinforce the same basic understanding of the project.

That is especially important because stakeholders don't all look at a project from the same perspective. Executives may want to know whether the project is delivering business value and whether they need to make a decision. Team members need to understand priorities, roles, responsibilities, dependencies, and obstacles. Customers may be more interested in deliverables, timing, and the project's impact on their organization. The information can be customized without changing the underlying message.

Start with a Core Message

Before you can communicate consistently, you need to know what to communicate. While that may sound obvious, many project managers skip this step and start writing immediately. Should first define a few things stakeholders need to understand about the project.

I recommend starting with five basic questions:

• Why are we doing this project?
• What are we trying to accomplish?
• What value will the project provide?
• What does success look like?
• What do we need from our stakeholders?

The answers don't need to fill several pages. If you can't explain the project in a minute or two, you probably haven't simplified the message enough.

Suppose you're leading a project to replace an organization's outdated customer service system. Your core message might be something like this:

We are replacing the current customer service system because it is difficult to support and is limiting our ability to serve customers efficiently. The new system will improve response times, provide better information to customer service representatives, and create a foundation for future improvements. The project will be successful when the new system is implemented, users are trained, and the expected service improvements are achieved.

This is a foundation from which you can build a great deal of communication without having to rewrite the project's story every time you communicate.

Identify Messages That Matter Most

The core message is the beginning. Most projects have several important messages that need to be reinforced throughout the project lifecycle. These might include the project's strategic importance, major benefits, schedule priorities, significant risks, critical decisions, stakeholder responsibilities, or upcoming changes. I like to think of these as key messages.

A project might have five or six key messages that stakeholders should consistently hear. They don't need to appear word-for-word in every communication. Instead, they should provide a framework for deciding what to emphasize. For example, if one of your key messages is that a particular integration is on the critical path, that fact should show up whenever the project's schedule is discussed. It might appear as a line in the status report, a discussion point in the team meeting, a highlighted item in an executive presentation, or a reason for requesting additional resources. The wording changes. The message doesn't. 

This is one reason persuasive messaging shouldn't be improvised. In The Ultimate Guide to Effective Communication Plans, I discussed the value of developing a communication messaging platform that includes key messages and supporting evidence. Decide what you want people to understand before you decide how you're going to say it.

Build a Message Library

Once you've identified your core and key messages, put them somewhere you can easily find them. It doesn't need to become another massive project-management document. A simple spreadsheet or section of your communication plan may be sufficient. For each important message, consider recording four things: the message itself, the stakeholders who need to hear it, the evidence that supports it, and its current status.

For example:

This simple message library becomes a useful reference when you're preparing your next presentation or writing a difficult email. More importantly, it provides the project manager with a single source of truth for the project's key messages. That can prevent a surprisingly common problem: two people on the project communicating slightly different versions of the same situation.

Keep the Message Current 

Consistency does not mean repeating the same words for three years. Projects, requirements, and many aspects of projects change. Sometimes the business reason for a project becomes even clearer as the work progresses. Your messages need to change when the facts change.

Major project events (e.g., unknown risks, major change requests, and executive decisions) should trigger a review. The goal is to make sure the messaging remains accurate. Consider:

• What has changed (and not changed)?
• What do stakeholders need to hear now?
• What proof supports the current messaging?
• What actions or decisions do we need from stakeholders?

There is an important difference between consistency and rigidity. Consistency means stakeholders can depend on you to tell them the truth and explain the project coherently. Rigidity means repeating an outdated message because you don't want to admit that circumstances have changed. Good project managers are consistent. Great project managers are consistently accurate.

Customize the Message

One of the biggest communication mistakes inexperienced project managers make is assuming that everyone needs the same information. But the opposite mistake can be just as damaging: creating a completely different message for every stakeholder.

The better approach is to customize the emphasis, depth, and delivery while keeping the underlying message consistent. Stakeholders differ in their influence, interests, responsibilities, and information needs. Effective communication takes those differences into account.

Consider a project that is two weeks behind schedule. An executive doesn't need a detailed explanation of every task that contributed to the delay. The executive needs to know what happened, why it matters, what the impact will be, and what decision or support is required. The project team needs more detail. They need to understand the causes, revised priorities, dependencies, and actions required to recover. Customers may need something different. It is critical to provide the right information to the right stakeholders at the right time and in an appropriate format.

Match the Message to the Medium

The medium you choose also affects how effectively your message is received. Don't force every message into the same communication channel. A status report is useful for documenting information. A meeting is useful when discussion or a decision is required. A presentation can help build understanding and support. An email can document a decision or provide a concise update.

For example, imagine you need executive approval for a significant change in scope. Sending a three-page email might technically communicate the information, but it may not be the best way to move the decision forward. A short executive briefing followed by written documentation may be much more effective. Likewise, trying to communicate a complex technical issue to the project team in a brief status report may raise more questions than it answers.

The medium should support the message. And the message should tell people what they need to do with the information. A communication that doesn't make its intended outcome clear can leave everyone informed but nobody responsible.

• If you're informing someone, say so.
• If you need a decision, make the decision request clear.
• If you need an action, identify the action and the deadline.
• If you're asking for support, explain what support you need

Reinforce the Message

There is a difference between repetition and reinforcement. Repetition is saying the same thing over and over. Reinforcement is the process of connecting new information to something stakeholders already understand.

Suppose the project's primary objective is to launch a new customer-facing system by October 1. Early in the project, you might say, "We are targeting an October 1 launch because the new system needs to be operational before the beginning of the fourth quarter." Later, when discussing the schedule, you might say, "The testing milestone remains critical because completing testing on time is necessary to protect the October 1 launch."

You're reinforcing the same message through changing circumstances. This approach helps stakeholders connect individual project activities to the larger objective. A schedule milestone isn't just a date. A risk isn't just a line in a risk register. A resource request isn't just a request for another person. Each one has a relationship to the project's larger story.

Delivering Bad News

Consistent messaging becomes even more important when delivering bad news. A missed milestone, a major risk, a budget problem, a failed test, or a scope issue can tempt project managers to soften the message, but there is a difference between providing context and hiding the problem.

Effective project leaders don't sugarcoat bad news. They explain it. Strong project leaders are willing to have difficult conversations and communicate honestly rather than allowing problems to become bigger surprises later. A project manager should think carefully about what the audience needs to know, how the information should be presented, and what decision or action needs to follow. A useful structure is:

• Here is what happened.
• Here is why it happened.
• Here is the impact.
• Here is what we are doing about it.
• Here is what we need from you.

Projects Move When People Understand What Comes Next

A project can have an excellent schedule and still stall. People need to understand what the project aims to accomplish, why it matters, what has changed, and what they need to do next. That's where messaging comes in.

Clear messaging gives a project a common story. Consistent messaging keeps that story from changing as it moves from one stakeholder to another. Customized messaging makes the story relevant to different audiences. And the continuous maintenance of messaging ensures that the story remains accurate as the project evolves.

The best project managers don't simply communicate information. They create understanding. And when stakeholders understand where the project is going, why it matters, and what they need to do to help get it there, the project has a much better chance of moving forward.

Related Articles:

Essential Traits of Effective Project Leaders

Project Communication That Works

How Project Managers Can Deliver Bad News Effectively

Additional Resources:

Managing Communications Effectively and Efficiently

Build Product Messaging that Stands Out

5 Steps to Create Terrific Product Messaging