Stakeholder Communication Plan Template

Review it monthly or whenever your stakeholder set changes. A new executive, a reorg, a partner team joining your initiative, or a shift in project scope are all triggers to revisit. The plan itself should be a living document, not a one-time artifact.

Negotiate. Explain the time cost of each update and propose a sustainable cadence. Often stakeholders ask for daily updates because they lack confidence, not because they need daily information. A single well-structured weekly update that covers status, risks, and decisions needed usually satisfies the underlying need. Building trust through consistent delivery reduces the demand for frequent check-ins.

No. Tailor the format to the audience. Executives want a 3-line summary with a clear status indicator. Engineers want detailed technical context. Sales wants customer-facing talking points. The information may overlap, but the framing should differ. The [Stakeholder Management guide](/guides/stakeholder-management) covers how to adapt your message to different audiences.

First, verify the channel. If they never open email, switch to Slack or a 5-minute sync. Second, make updates decision-relevant. Ask yourself: "Does this update contain something this person needs to act on?" If not, reduce the frequency or remove them from the distribution. Third, use questions to create engagement. End updates with a specific ask: "I need your input on X by Friday" is harder to ignore than a status dump.

A [RACI matrix](https://www.atlassian.com/team-playbook/plays/raci) defines who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for specific decisions or deliverables. A communication plan defines how, when, and through which channels you keep those people informed. They complement each other. Use RACI to clarify decision rights. Use the communication plan to keep the information flowing.