Communicating Projects: Project Management

Every programme and project manager knows that they need interaction and engagement to be truly effective, but their understanding of what good communication looks like can vary. All too often people are put into communication roles without the necessary skills or experience. Whilst there are many texts on public relations and an increasing number on internal/employee communication, programme and project communication spans a number of disciplines and has its own requirements. Communicating Projects gives programme and project communicators a framework for developing an effective strategy that goes well beyond inter-programme/project communication and looks at how to achieve behaviour change and even increase employee engagement through the process. The book follows a best practice model for communication strategy development and planning. The model is supplemented with vignettes that explore communication concepts in more detail (for example employee engagement, communication theory and persuasion). At the same time, the text follows the project lifecycle with the appropriate approaches for initiation, development and delivery stages outlined. If you accept the crucial role communication plays in securing project success then this book is a must-have guide for any project manager or anyone tasked with stakeholder engagement.

Ann Pilkington moved from a career in journalism into press and public relations with major blue chip companies including BT, The Automobile Association, The Woolwich and Barclays. She left Barclays to teach and pursue a freelance career in change communications on major programmes within the public sector. She subsequently co-founded PR Academy which provides education and training for communicators. She teaches across a range of courses that cover internal and external communication and continues to provide consultancy services. She is a chapter author in the text Exploring Internal Communication, which supports the CIPR qualifications. She holds a Masters in public relations from the University of Stirling.