Communication plan template

Miscommunications are common. In everyday life, they might cause you to show up late to a restaurant or forget to host a weekly dinner. In project management, though, miscommunication can have a bigger impact, such as scope creep, missed deadlines, and dissatisfied stakeholders.

To avoid miscommunications and keep everyone aligned, it's helpful to use a communication plan template. This template shows how your team will share information with stakeholders during the project. By setting clear expectations, it helps your team stay organized, avoid extra work, and make sure everyone gets the right updates when they need them.

In this article, you'll find out what goes into a communication plan template, see different types of templates, and get a step-by-step guide to create one for your next project.

What is a communication plan?

A communication plan is a document that defines how your team will share important project information with key stakeholders. It establishes clear expectations so everyone knows what's being communicated, to whom, and through which channels.

An effective communication plan typically covers:

• What information will be shared (e.g., status updates, milestone reports)

• When updates will be delivered (e.g., weekly, at key milestones)

• How your team will communicate (e.g., email, Slack, meetings)

• Who needs to receive each type of update

What is a communication plan template?

A communication plan template is a basic outline for a project communication plan. It gives your team a standard structure to use for every project, so everyone follows the same steps and important details aren't missed.

Think of it like this: Without a template, your team would need to create a new communication plan from scratch for every project. With a template, you just make a copy and build your plan using the ready-made structure.

Why do you need a communication plan template?

Every project needs a good communication plan because it helps prevent miscommunication and makes sure everyone gets the right information in the right way. Using a template takes it further by giving you a standard structure you can use for any project.

With a digital communication plan template, you can:

• Ensure everyone is on the same page about how and where to communicate project information to stakeholders.

• Assign an owner to each piece of information so everyone understands their responsibilities.

• Reduce duplicative work by standardizing where you share information.

• Cut down on miscommunication and unnecessary work, such as unproductive meetings that could have been handled asynchronously.

• Provide communication guidelines for the whole team, so you can clearly communicate and move forward with work.

• Encourage transparency for internal team members and external stakeholders.

• Reduce app switching with integrated features and business apps, so you can focus on producing high-impact work.

• Create a standardized structure for delivering updates.

• Give stakeholders a place to leave feedback and collaborate with your team throughout the project.

• Align expectations of internal team members and external stakeholders, reducing scope creep and keeping the project on track.

What's included in a communication plan template?

A communication plan template provides a structure for developing your communication plan for any project. At a high level, a communication plan template should include:

• A description of the information you're planning to share (for example, updates on project milestones or deliverables).

• How often you'll share this information (for example, sending weekly project updates).

• The format or communication channels you'll use to communicate the information (for example, using Zoom for team meetings or brainstorms; using Slack for quick, asynchronous check-ins).

• The target audience you're communicating with (for example, external stakeholders).

• The project team member responsible for sharing the information.

Now, let's look more closely at each of these main parts.

Goals and communication objectives

Every communication plan should begin with clear goals. Setting these goals at the start gives your plan direction and helps you see if your communication is effective.

Common communication goals include:

• Keeping stakeholders informed on project progress

• Reducing the number of unnecessary status meetings

• Aligning your team on priorities and responsibilities

Target audiences and stakeholders

Not all stakeholders need the same amount of detail. Your communication plan template should have a section to identify who needs project information and how much detail each group should get.

• Executive sponsors: High-level progress summaries and milestone updates

• Project team members: Detailed task updates and day-to-day action items

• External stakeholders: Timeline updates and key deliverables

Mapping your audiences early ensures no one is left out of the loop or buried in information they don't need.

Key messages

Once you know who you're communicating with, define the core messages each audience needs to hear. Writing these out in your template keeps communication focused and helps you avoid ad hoc updates that lead to confusion.

• For your project team: Upcoming milestones, blockers, and task priorities

• For external stakeholders: Timeline updates, deliverables, and high-level progress

• For leadership: Strategic alignment, risks, and resource needs

Communication channels

Your template should specify which channels you'll use for each type of communication. Picking channels ahead of time helps your team know where to find and share information, and cuts down on switching between apps. Often, you'll send each type of update and connect these updates to your project timeline.

For example, you might have weekly team meetings, reports every two weeks for stakeholders, and updates after big milestones. A clear schedule keeps communication consistent and ensures important updates aren't missed.

Success metrics

How can you tell if your communication plan is working? Add a section in your template to track success metrics, so you can improve your approach as you go.

Examples of communication success metrics:

• Stakeholder satisfaction scores

• Number of missed or late updates

• Meeting frequency vs. necessity

• Time to resolve blockers once communicated

Types of communication plan templates

Not every project needs the same communication style. Depending on your goals and audience, you might need a different kind of template.

Strategic communication plan template

A strategic communication plan template is meant for long-term projects that involve several teams or departments. It helps align communication with your organization's bigger goals, defines key messages for each audience, and sets a timeline that fits your overall strategy. Use this template for company-wide changes, new product launches, or projects that last several months.

Project communication plan template

This is the most common type of communication plan template, built for a specific project with a defined start and end date. It outlines how your team will share updates, who is responsible for each type of communication, and which channels to use. It's ideal for cross-functional projects where multiple team members and stakeholders need to stay aligned.

Internal communication plan template

An internal communication plan template focuses on team communication and the flow of information within your organization. It's especially useful for HR teams, operations managers, or leadership teams who need to coordinate announcements, policy changes, or cultural initiatives. This template typically includes sections for audience segmentation, message approval workflows, and internal channels like intranets or company-wide emails.

Crisis communication plan template

When the unexpected happens, your team needs a crisis management plan ready to go.A crisis communication plan template explains how to respond quickly and clearly in urgent situations. It includes pre-approved messages, steps for escalating issues, assigned spokespeople, and fast communication channels. Having this template ready helps your team act confidently rather than rush to figure things out.

How to create a communication plan in 5 steps

Now that you know what a communication plan template includes, here’s how to make one from scratch. Follow these five steps to keep your team and stakeholders informed during your project.

Step 1: Define your communication goals

Start by clarifying what you want your communication plan to accomplish. Write down two to three specific goals that will guide the rest of your plan, such as:

• Reducing unnecessary meetings

• Keeping stakeholders informed on milestones

• Aligning your team on responsibilities and next steps

Goals help you decide what to communicate, how often, and to whom.

Step 2: Identify your stakeholders and audiences

Create a stakeholder register of everyone or every group who needs project information, including your core project team, executive sponsors, external partners, and clients. For each audience, note what level of detail they need and how involved they are in day-to-day decisions. This step ensures your communication reaches the right people with the right amount of context.

Step 3: Choose your communication channels

Choose the best channel for each type of communication. Using the right channel reduces confusion and helps your team find what they need more easily.

• Slack: Quick daily check-ins and informal questions

• Email: Detailed progress reports and formal updates

• Asana: Task tracking, status reports, and project milestones

• Zoom: Real-time discussions and stakeholder reviews

Step 4: Set your communication frequency

Decide how often you'll share each type of update. Daily stand-ups, weekly status reports, and monthly stakeholder reviews are common cadences, but the right frequency depends on your project's pace and complexity. Be specific: instead of saying "regular updates," define exactly when and how often each communication happens.

Step 5: Assign ownership and responsibilities

Every piece of communication should have a clear owner. Assign team members to specific updates so there's no confusion about who is responsible for sharing what. For example, your project manager might own weekly status reports while a team lead handles daily stand-up notes to keep the plan running smoothly.

How to use a communication plan template

Your communication plan template shouldn't be static. It's a flexible tool you can update and customize to ensure your team meets your project's communication needs. Once you've made a copy of the basic communication plan template, you can begin customizing it for your specific project. Steps to follow might include:

• Identifying key stakeholders who need project updates.

• Establishing your communication methods for both synchronous and asynchronous communication.

• Outlining your stakeholder engagement plan for updating stakeholder groups about different project details.

• Determining the types of project updates you'll share and who you need to include in each update.

• Working with stakeholders to identify their ideal method of communication for receiving project information.

• Determining the frequency of updates to best serve stakeholder needs and keep the project on track.

• Assigning owners to the information-sharing tasks so your team aligns on responsibilities.

• Setting up custom tags to highlight essential details, such as the frequency of updates and where your team will share them.

• Using recurring tasks to keep your communication plan on track.

Recommendations for your communication plan template

A communication plan template creates transparency for your team and reduces miscommunication by clearly defining what information gets shared and who on your team is responsible for sharing it. Our synced features and business apps make communicating even easier, reducing app switching and streamlining information sharing.

Integrated features

1. List View. List View is a grid-style view that lets you see all your project's information at a glance. Like a to-do list or a spreadsheet, List View displays all your tasks at once so you can not only see task titles and due dates, but also view any relevant custom fields, such as Priority, Status, and more. Unlock effortless collaboration by giving your entire team visibility into who's doing what by when.

2. Automation. Automate manual work so your team spends less time on busywork and more time on the tasks you hired them for. Rules in Asana function on a basis of triggers and actions, essentially "when X happens, do Y." Use Rules to automatically assign work, adjust due dates, set custom fields, notify stakeholders, and more. From ad hoc automations to entire workflows, Rules gives your team time back for skilled and strategic work.

3. Custom fields. Custom fields are the best way to tag, sort, and filter work. Create custom fields for any information you need to track, from priority and status to email addresses and phone numbers. Use custom fields to sort and schedule your to-dos so you know what to work on first. Plus, share custom fields across tasks and projects to ensure consistency across your organization.

4. Adding tasks to multiple projects. The nature of work is cross-functional. Teams need to be able to work effectively across departments. But if each department has its own filing system, work gets stalled and siloed. Asana makes it easy to track and manage tasks across multiple projects. This doesn't just reduce duplicative work and increase cross-team visibility. It also helps your team see tasks in context, view who's working on what, and keep tasks and team members connected.

Recommended apps

1. Slack. Turn ideas, work requests, and action items from Slack into Asana tasks and comments. Go from quick questions and action items to tasks with assignees and due dates. Easily capture work so requests and to-dos don't get lost in Slack.

2. Google Workplace. Attach files directly to tasks in Asana using the Google Workspace file picker, built into the Asana task pane. Easily attach any My Drive file with just a few clicks.

3. Zoom. Asana and Zoom are partnering to help teams have more purposeful, focused meetings. The Zoom + Asana integration makes it easy to prepare for meetings, have actionable conversations, and access information after the call. Meetings begin in Asana, where shared meeting agendas provide visibility and context about what will be discussed. During the meeting, team members can quickly create tasks within Zoom, so details and action items don't get lost. And once the meeting is over, the Zoom + Asana integration pulls the meeting transcripts and recordings into Asana, so all collaborators and stakeholders can review them as needed.

4. Gmail. With the Asana for Gmail integration, you can create Asana tasks directly from your Gmail inbox. Any tasks you create from Gmail will automatically include the context from your email, so you never miss a beat. Need to refer to an Asana task while composing an email? Instead of opening Asana, use the Asana for Gmail add-on to simply search for that task directly from your Gmail inbox.

Manage your project communication with Asana

A solid communication plan template is the difference between a project that stays on track and one that spirals into confusion. By defining who gets what information, when, and through which channels, you give your team the clarity they need to focus on the work that matters most.

With Asana, you can build and manage your communication plan alongside your project work:

• Use custom fields to tag communication types

• Set up recurring tasks for regular updates

• Keep stakeholders informed without switching between apps

Ready to bring structure to your team's communication? Get started today.

FAQs about communication plan templates