Change Management Programme Communication Plan
This is a practical guide to building a communication plan for a change management programme project — who gets what information, when, how and from whom, adapted to the realities of delivering large-scale organisational change.
What a Communication Plan is
A communication plan is who gets what information, when, how and from whom. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Communication Plan. On a change management programme project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Change Management Programme project
Change Management Programme projects live or die on delivering large-scale organisational change. A well-built communication plan gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how change management programme projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Audiences
- Messages / information needs
- Frequency and channel
- Owner
Change Management Programme-specific considerations
Tailor the communication plan to the risks that most often derail change management programme projects:
- Resistance to change
- Sustaining adoption
- Leadership alignment
Example
On a real change management programme project, the communication plan would be shaped by delivering large-scale organisational change. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — resistance to change, sustaining adoption, leadership alignment — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.