Communication messages by project phase

There is an endless list of messages you may want to send about your change project. In this section, I have listed three or four key messages for each project phase that you don't want to forget. As you create your communication plan, use these as a starting point for developing your full list of messages.

Because this book is focused on IT projects, I am using the basic phases of a system implementation: Analyze, Design, Build, Test, Implement, and Maintain. Many of the messages would be the same regardless of the type of change you are implementing.

I refer to the change curve throughout this section. As a reminder, this is what the change curve looks like:

Analyze

During this phase, most people are still in the Unaware stage on the change curve. All you need to do is begin to give them basic information about the change project. Keep your messages simple and to the point.

Often at this phase in the project, even the team isn't sure of exact dates and...