In our previous installment of this series, ‘Plan your communications with your “wins” in mind’,  we talked about how to plan and set up vehicles for heralding successes or “wins” as they occur on our project as we do our communications planning.  In this final article we’ll now discuss opportunities to be mindful of as your project progresses so that you have great material to feed into these PR machines you have set up.

  1. Schedule Milestones – each week you will undoubtedly observe a cadence and rhythm of activities including team status meetings and distribution of status reports or updating of dashboards.  As important milestones are achieved, be sure to point this out and credit the team responsible.
  2. Quality Objectives - Throughout the project quality goals will be measured and as they are achieved either through the use of automated or manual tests, these are also great things to herald with testimony if available to add a human perspective.
  3. Risk Management – Each week in the weekly team status meeting, the team should be reviewing the risk register and monitoring previously identified risks to update status if necessary, and capture and assess any newly identified risks.  As risks captured on the risk register get closed, advertise this in your PR vehicles and really crow about it.  This is some of the most important work you can do to achieve success on your project.
  4. Issue Management – Similar to risks, each week in the weekly team status meeting, the team will be reviewing the issue log.  As large or key issues get closed out, these are also great things to make noise about in your PR vehicles.
  5. Tollgate Phase Reviews – At the end of a project phase, it is a good practice to conduct a phase review in order to receive approval from your sponsors or steering committee to move forward.  This usually involves a facilitated process where votes and comments are tallied and captured.  When done correctly, this can be a great teambuilding experience regardless of the decision because the facilitator ends by soliciting comments on the work effort.   There are almost always positive comments issued about the efforts of the team and these make wonderful material for the PR vehicles.
  6. Lessons Learned sessions – These are conducted at the end of a project or at the end of a phase to review the work done in order to determine if any adjustments are necessary in the processes.  The team evaluates what went right, what went wrong, what needs to change and documents for the future.  The positive lessons (i.e. what went right), is of course great PR material, but even the negative lessons can be spun in a positive way.  They are mistakes that won’t be repeated in the future and can have significant as well as quantifiable benefits – such as cost savings, increased productivity, more efficient procedures, safer environment, or improved employee morale.

 So, as you wear your chief PR officer hat on your project and you move through your project, look for the above activities and accomplishments and advertise them promptly as they happen.  It may very well be what keeps your project or engagement funded.