PMBOK® Guide - Sixth Edition: 19-Stakeholders and the Communication Management Plan

One of the most important skills a project manager needs to acquire and hone is the skill of being an effective communicator. Through experience and time on the job, a project manager will acquire a substantial degree of expertise and capabilities. Those skills will contribute to marketable competencies that prospective clients will require and are willing to pay a premium for. Stakeholders and the Communication Management Plan shows how effective communications works as an enabler, permitting a project manager to clearly articulate assumptions, objectives, goals and requirements; all of which are rudimentary components or deliverables of projects. Effective communications also contribute to efficiencies in project delivery and, while used often by the project manager, should be practiced by all project stakeholders and project team participants. A failure to communicate within a project can bring about risks and impact the overall integrity of the project manager and the project team. In order to be effective, the project manager needs to manage communications processes that will support project deliverables while syndicating project activities in the correct manner to all project participants.