Our Project Communication Plan

Below are some details for our agency manages communication and expectations with our clients. We share this document with them at the outset of every project we engage in.

Communication Details & How We Work Together

Our team is available to support you Monday – Thur, 9a – 5p, PST. Please use our project tool to communicate about a specific task. If you have an unrelated question please email your PM directly.

Meetings

For every project, we set up the following meetings

  • Kick-off meeting
    Frequency: Once
    Purpose: The purpose of this meeting is to get all relevant stakeholders together in one place, identify key roles and responsibilities, cover communication plans, and ensure that we’re in alignment with the project goals.
    Format: Video Conference, Zoom
  • Sprint meetings
    Frequency    : Recurring. Once every two weeks.
    Purpose: The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the work to be done, discuss what’s been done, and discuss what work is next on the list and to review any specific functional updates.
    Format: Video Conference, Zoom
  • Weekly check-ins
    Frequency: Recurring. Once per week.
    Purpose: To address specific questions from client or agency side. To provide project status or advise of any project blockers.
    Format: Recurring. Email.

People and Roles

We use a RACI chart to make it easy to understand who’s responsible within each org. RACI is a framework for how we communicate and ensure success.

During our kick-off meeting, we’ll determine which stakeholders from your team will be involved with your project and which stakeholders are available from our team. This ensures that we’re clear on who’s involved and responsible for project communication from both teams.

R – Responsible, the person doing the work.

A – Accountable, the person who has to answer for why something isn’t done.

C – Consulted, someone providing input on how something should be accomplished.

I – Informed, this person should be advised of what is happening, even if they don’t have decision-making powers.

Our Communication Tools

Below are our most common internal communication tools. DigiSavvy will use whatever tools your team is most comfortable with. We’ll also add you and your team to our tools if you like.

  • Slack – Used for instant, async, communication. This is used by our team and we’ll invite you to your project channel. We encourage you and your team to use this tool in between sprints to communicate feedback/questions.
  • Zoom – We use Zoom for all video chats. You can participate via video or phone. Please let us know if this presents a problem.
  • ZenHub/Github – We use this tool for managing project tasks and feedback on specific items. You and your team will receive an invite to your portal. Weekly updates are made here.
  • Notion – This is our “company brain” and also where we’ll be storing your documentation. Your team will be invited to your Notion Dashboard for your organization, which includes company documents.

Managing Scope Changes (aka Scope Creep)

Change Requests are a common thing that happens in every project. Ideally, we have identified all necessary scope. Sometimes things are missed or come up.

Please communicate with your PM in Slack or in ZenHub.

  • Change Request – Something out of scope. We’ll provide an estimate and timeline for any such requests.
  • Bugs/Fixes – Something in scope but not working. We’ll assign to the upcoming sprint and address at no additional cost. Additional time may be required.

Project Risks and Wins

Project Risks

Projects always have some measure of risk, even the smoothest projects have associated risks.

When we talk about risk, we mean things that cause us to lose time, that cause frustration on your side or ours.

Examples of Project Risks

  • Misaligned project goals and deliverables. Meaning that there’s scope added to the project that wasn’t agreed to. Sometimes this happens. Our contract allows for Change Requests for such events. If this occurs be prepared to discuss changes in timeline and budget.
  • Decision by Committee – We strongly advice having one or a couple of key decision makers on your end for this project. Too many decision-making stakeholders can delay a project needlessly. Using our RACI format, identify who your key decision makers are and who should be informed, that way we avoid late feedback that changes the timeline of the project.
  • Mystery Voices – As noted above, it’s important to include essential stakeholders in your project. We find when stakeholders are not present from the beginning, misalignment occurs, leading to late feedback, dissatisfaction, and frustration on your end and ours.
  • Technical Hardship – Even with our best plans and research, it’s possible to run into a technical hurdle that leads to delays. We’ll do our best to communicate these ASAP, should they happen.
  • Delay in Feedback or Lack of Involvement – It’s important we get timely feedback when we ask questions of your team. It’s also important that all key decision makers attend meetings or are informed, at a minimum. Failure to inform key stakeholders or to provide timely feedback will lead to project delays.

Examples of Project Wins

  • Use the Right Tool – You communicate using the designated tools discussed previously. Contact people on their provided/preferred contact devices.
  • Communicating Issues – Since we work in cycles (sprints) it’s always more efficient to collect any issues or bugs during a sprint and communicate them with us during the next sprint meeting. Your PM will collect the issues, triage, and add to a future sprint!
  • Timely Feedback – We believe in transparency and bringing things up as soon as we’re aware of them. We ask the same of you, too. Please be transparent with your concerns early and often. It’s the best way to ensure alignment and co-create a winning project for you!
  • Time-off – Sometimes people take vacations, have personal emergencies and that’s okay. We expect that to happen and try to plan for it as best as we can, understanding that absences can have a direct impact on our project and timeline. If you or people on your team will be out, do let us know and we’ll do the same. We’ll share more details in our timeline.