Communication

Prior to the Execution phase, it is necessary to identify how each of the stakeholders will be kept informed of the progress of the project. The Communications Plan identifies the types of information to be distributed, the methods of distributing information to stakeholders, the frequency of distribution and responsibilities of each person in the project team for distributing information regularly to stakeholders.

A simple communications plan can look like this:

The last planning activity within the Planning phase is to identify the elements of the Project which will be acquired from external suppliers to the project. The Procurement Plan provides a detailed description of:

• the Products (i.e. goods and services) to be procured from suppliers,
• the justification for procuring each product externally, as opposed to from within the business,
• and the schedule for procurement.
• It also references the process for the selection of a preferred supplier (“Tender Process”) and the process for the actual order and delivery of the procured products (“Procurement Process”).

At the end of the Planning phase, a Phase Review is performed. This is basically a checkpoint to ensure that the project has achieved its stated objectives as planned.