BUILDING A PROACTIVE
COMMUNICATION PLAN
Avoiding Lazy Communication Practices

PROACTIVE
COMMUNICATION
PLANNING
With the rise of
distributed teams,
the lazy
communication
methods of the past
are not working

LAZY COMMUNICATION
RELIANCE
•An accidental overhearing of relevant information
(https://agile-mercurial.com/2019/01/26/what-is-
osmotic-communication/)
Osmotic
Communication
•Accidental moments of collaboration
“Watercooler
Moments”

LAZY COMMUNICATION EFFECTS
• Lack of Standardized Reporting
• Departments deciding on the format of information they
receive with no input from other departments receiving
the same information or the department producing the
information
• Increases the time it takes to communicate
• Over-reliance on “Formal” Communication Methods
• Don’t tell me in person, put it on your report
• Can cause delays in communication
• Reporting of Useless Information
• Communicating because you think someone needs to
know something
• Often results in too many meetings with little relevance to
those involved
• Failure to communicate
• But I thought someone else told you

Distributed teams
are increasing
The remote
workforce is
growing
You can no longer
afford to roll the
dice with your
communication
methods

EVALUATE YOUR NEEDS
What Do You Hope to Gain?

FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU NEED
• Is your team highly distributed?
• Does your team include people from multiple
countries and/or cultures?
• What tools do you have? Do you need new/better
tools?
• What problems are you currently having with
communication? Where has poor communication
failed your teams?
• Who needs to communicate? Who should
communicate? Who is involved in over-
communication (meetings or communication with
almost no benefit)?

DEVELOP
GUIDELINES
•Don’t overdevelop guidelines
– this will cause
communication and morale
to suffer
•Keep things as general as
you can
•Some areas may need more
attention than others
• For example: ensure that sexual
harassment is defined and not
tolerated

LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION
Collaborative Communication Planning

ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS OF
COMMUNICATION
INTERPERSONAL TEAM MULTI-TEAM
COMMUNICATION
MULTIDEPARTMENT
AND ORGANIZATIONAL

INTERPERSONAL
COMMUNICATION
• The core of the “Watercooler
Moment”
• Communication between
individuals that may or may not
be work related
• Organizations need to actively
work at avoiding the
discouragement of this type of
communication
• Develop opportunities to
carryout interpersonal
communication for those that
wish to engage

TEAM COMMUNICATION
• Communication that is
intended for the whole
team or a majority of
the team
• This communication
may include
communication that is
not work-related, but it
tends to be less
personal
• Team communication
plans should be decided
on a team level by the
team

MULTI-TEAM
COMMUNICATION
• Multiple teams
communicating together
within the same department
• This communication tends
to be only business focused
• The communication plan
should be developed
through a collaborative
effort involving the whole
department using
representatives from the
various teams

MULTIDEPARTMENT AND
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
• Communication between multiple departments or
communication that is organization-wide
• This communication plan should be facilitated by
the highest levels of leaders or management, but
include representatives from the individual
departments
• The plan may be more general in nature, mostly
standardizing communication practices
• Example: Defining the layout of an accounting report
that impacts multiple departments or defining when
people should be notified about important events

REEVALUATE YOUR PLAN
At Regular Intervals, Verify the Plan is Still Relevant and
Being Followed

USING DMAIC
TO IMPROVE
Define
Measure
Analyze
Improve
Control

EXISTING
PROBLEMS
Verify problems were solvedVerify
Ensure plans are being adhered toEnsure
Look for new problemsLook
Accept criticism of the current plan and adapt as necessaryAccept

BUILDING A PROACTIVE
COMMUNICATION PLAN
Joshua Render
https://agile-mercurial.com/
https://twentyfirstcenturyworkforce.com/
https://agile-mercurial.com/2019/05/15/the-distributed-workforce-
is-exposing-flaws-in-business-communication/