How to Create an Effective Stakeholder Communication Plan

Imagine you’re captaining a ship across stormy waters. You have the best crew, top-tier equipment, and a clear destination. But if no one knows the route, if your navigator isn’t in sync with your engineer, and your deckhands are guessing your next move, even the best ship can sink.

That’s what happens in projects lacking a stakeholder communication plan.

Whether you’re leading a tech rollout, launching a marketing campaign, or managing a construction project, clear and purposeful stakeholder communication is the key to success and avoiding chaos.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to create a stakeholder communication plan that builds trust, aligns teams, and keeps your project on course.

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Steps in Creating a Stakeholder Communication Plan

1. First Step: Identify Your Stakeholders

Before sending a single email or scheduling a meeting, you need to identify who your stakeholders are. Not all stakeholders are equal—and that’s okay. However, failing to recognize the right people early on can lead to blind spots.

Start with a stakeholder analysis. List all individuals, groups, and departments that your specific project will touch. These may include:

• Internal stakeholders include project sponsors, project managers, executives, the project team, other departments, legal, and finance.
• External stakeholders include customers, suppliers, government bodies, partners, investors, and the public.

Ask:

• What are their interests?
• What is their influence over the project?
• How involved do they want (or need) to be?

This process helps you determine who needs to be kept informed, who should be consulted, and who must be deeply engaged.

2. Define Your Communication Objectives

Just like you wouldn’t start a road trip without a map, don’t start engaging stakeholders without clear objectives. Ask:

• What do you want to achieve through communication?
• Is it alignment, buy-in, updates, or feedback?

Setting goals ensures you stay focused on sharing relevant information and not flooding inboxes with noise.

For example:

• Keep key stakeholders updated on milestones.
• Involve other departments in decision-making.
• Ensure external stakeholders are aligned on timelines and expectations.
• Gather input from the target audience to refine product features and improve their usability.

3. Understand Your Audience

Different people need different things. Your leadership team may require high-level updates, while your project team needs detailed technical information. A customer might care only about delivery timelines, not backend complexity.

Segment your stakeholders into groups based on:

• Level of involvement
• Preferred communication methods
• Information needs
• Influence and interest

Tailoring your messages to each audience helps ensure everyone receives relevant updates in a way they can digest. A key part of this is recognizing the different communication styles in the workplace—whether assertive, aggressive, or passive—as each requires a different approach to ensure your message is heard correctly and to avoid creating a toxic environment.  

4. Craft Key Messages

Next, outline the key messages each stakeholder group needs to hear. These should support your communication objectives and reflect their priorities.

Let’s say you’re rolling out a new software tool:

• For executives: “The tool will reduce costs by 20%.”
• For IT: “Here’s how it integrates with our existing stack.”
• For customer support: “Training begins next month. Here's the schedule.”
• For customers: “You’ll experience faster response times.”

Each message should be:

• Clear and concise
• Specific to the audience
• Actionable, where needed

Strong messaging supports a shared understanding of project goals, status, and expectations.

5. Choose the Right Communication Channels

This is where many plans fall short. Relying solely on emails or meetings may alienate stakeholders who prefer other formats. Today’s organizations thrive on different channels, from Slack and Teams to dashboards and newsletters.

Determine which communication channels suit your audience:

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Ensure the tool or channel you use supports transparency, allows feedback, and works for the person on the receiving end.

6. Establish a Communication Cadence

Consistency builds trust. Irregular or reactive communication breeds confusion. Set expectations early and stick to a rhythm.

Examples of regular communication might include:

• Weekly project updates for the project team
• Monthly reports for leadership
• Quarterly reviews with external stakeholders
• Real-time alerts for critical changes

Define who is responsible for sending updates, collecting feedback, and escalating concerns. This structure reduces bottlenecks and fosters better collaboration.

7. Create Your Stakeholder Communication Plan Document

Now, bring it all together. A stakeholder communication plan should be a living document that outlines:

1. Stakeholder groups and their interests
2. Communication objectives per group
3. Key messages to be communicated
4. Communication methods and channels
5. Frequency and cadence
6. Point of contact for each communication stream
7. Feedback loops—how you gather and act on stakeholder input

This approach helps you manage expectations, share updates effectively, and build trust across the board.

Here’s a simple example table from a project launch plan:

8. Build in Feedback Mechanisms

Communication is not a monologue—it’s a dialogue. If your stakeholders can’t ask questions, raise issues, or provide input, you’re not truly engaging them.

Build feedback loops into your plan:

• Use surveys to gauge satisfaction.
• Schedule regular check-ins
• Host Q&A sessions
• Use collaboration tools (like Google Docs or Slack channels) for ongoing discussions

This not only keeps stakeholders involved, but also provides insight into potential roadblocks early on.

9. Adapt and Improve

No communication plan is set in stone. Projects shift. Teams evolve. New stakeholders join. Your plan needs to be future-proof.

Review your plan regularly:

• Are your messages still resonating?
• Is the channel still effective?
• Are stakeholders engaged or zoning out?

Adjust your strategy based on feedback, project shifts, or organizational changes to ensure optimal performance. Keep what works, tweak what doesn’t.

👉 Highrise communication solutions:

1. Individual Stakeholder management
2. Companies communications plan

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