Communication is the very foundation of business. Effective communication is a powerful tool and differentiator for anyone working on a project. It can inspire colleagues, motivate teams, influence executives and reassure clients, all of which will increase project success rates.

The two words 'information' and 'communication' are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through. - Sydney J. Harris

For many of us, stakeholders, executives and clients make critical business decisions based on the data and reports we provide. In order to have the greatest impact and value, it is important to develop a communications plan early.

Crafting Your Communications Plan

Project Managers should start by recognizing that every audience has different needs. For example, executives may only want to focus on the project schedule, budget and a few key performance indicators, without going much deeper than that. Armed with this knowledge, PMs must identify the right channel and altitude for communicating the right data at the right time. For example, the most effective way of communicating with stakeholders may be via a regular newsletter, while executives may request a PowerPoint scorecard.

Successful PMs understand that it is also essential to communicate consistently. Whether via regular team meetings, monthly project reviews, or planned milestone re-caps, project communication is most effective when it is rhythmic. Intervals can be determined by the nature of the project or by the reporting cadence of the enterprise, however, the key is to do it consistently.

Regular communication also helps PMs mitigate project risk. Audiences who are engaged and current on a project will also be able to identify potential problems areas early and provide feedback to their Project Managers.Involving stakeholders, advisors and decision makers along the way helps keep your projects on track and on time. Projects that lack this valuable feedback often get into trouble. Effective communication should engage every project contributor and participant. It does not just convey facts or the work breakdown schedule, rather it helps people understand the role they play and why it is important for the project. To be effect PMO’s should:

1.   Plan ahead for communication and create a structured process.

2.   Keep all communication clearly aligned to the goal you are trying to achieve.

3.   Identify your audiences and customize communications for them. Be familiar with what metrics matter to your different audiences and utilize their language and data points.

4.   Use several communication channels and styles so information is easily received.

5.   Assess and refine your communication plan along the way. Don’t forget
the power of feedback.

A communication plan is foundational to the success of any project and it should be prioritized as a strategic enabler for any project’s success - not merely a mundane task. Creating a communication plan upfront and building communication tasks into the project schedule is worth the effort. Make the time to craft your plan now and reap the benefits in 2016 and beyond.

Project plans, reviews, and proposals often need to be presented to team, clients and executives.  Gantt charts and timelines are the proper way to communicate to these audiences.  Clients and executives, in particular, expect these Gantt charts and timelines to be graphical, visually appealing and easy to understand.  However, creating a Gantt chart in Excel has been challenging and time consuming.

This post and video will show you how to quickly turn timeline Excel data into a professional looking chart, like the one below, with the Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in.

Using existing tools to create professional looking Gantt chart and timeline presentations has not been easy.  Project tools, like Microsoft Project, are intended for large scale project management.  They are complicated to learn and they produce overly complex Gantt charts and timelines which are not suited for high level customer and management presentations.

Unlike heavy-weight project tools, visual tools like Visio are better at creating graphical images like Gantt charts and timelines.  However, they are painful to use and lack “smarts” which automatically adjust images when project schedules need updating.

Excel is often the place that project plans and schedules are created.  Most professionals and project workers find it easy to do this.  Once they have their project planned or tracked, they then need to quickly turn that Excel data into a graphical chart that can presented as a project status report, proposal summary or action plan.  This work is automated by the light-weight timeline maker from Office Timeline.

Office Timeline will immediately turn a Gantt chart in Excel into a professional looking PowerPoint slide that is easy to share and present.  It automatically manages updates, so if plans or project schedules change you can quickly update your Gantt chart or timeline without having to make major edits.

How to quickly build a Gantt chart with Excel

Once you have your timeline in Excel or Gantt chart in Excel simply cut and paste it’s data into the Office Timeline PowerPoint add-in.  This video shows how to do that.

Since PowerPoint has size limitations Office Timeline also provides the ability to customize spacing and sizing to maximize the space of your slide.  This is useful for a  Gantt chart in excel that has a long list of action items (tasks).  The video below shows how you can optimize your project slide if you need to present more.

Suggested Reading
Tutorial for making a Gantt chart with Excel 
Using Gantt diagrams for business planning
How to paste Excel schedules into PowerPoint 
Steps for creating a Timeline in Excel

Last month I attended a workshop for Grant Managers.  It covered a wide range of topics ranging from writing a sponsorship proposal and grant administration to how to effectively manage funded projects with grant application software.   One observation I came away with is that grant management professionals are being required to provide increasingly more documentation concerning the distribution of project funds and tracking progress against the initial sponsorship proposal or charter.   I heard that the administrative tasks involved with gathering data, creating reports, holding status meetings, plus all other tasks has been increasing along with the ever higher need to communicate with colleagues, contractors, staff, funding agencies, and facilities managers.

My take-away was that more people needed clearly communicated information about status and the progress of funded projects.  I noticed in the workshop that the grant management process, including project reviews, are very often managed with Excel worksheets and similarly communicated as Excel tables in PowerPoint.  In discussing this at one of the break-out sessions, I learned that, although PowerPoint was frequently used, creating a grant management timeline slide for a project presentation is tough to do, even for those who had strong PowerPoint skills.

This is an area in which Office Timeline could help.  It is a free timeline maker embedded into Microsoft PowerPoint (2007, 2010, and 2013), so using it is intuitive and easy.  If you need to prepare the grant, compose a sponsorship proposal, or manage research projects, you can leverage Office Timeline to create visual, project timelines that will drive the narrative.

Any grant management professional needing to effectively communicate plans or funding status can use Office Timeline to quickly create and share slides that are easy for funding agencies and project teams to understand. It starts with a simple wizard, where a user chooses a template and Office Timeline guides them through the entire process, making the design and creation of project slides a quick and intuitive process.  I have captured the process in a series of screenshots below and would be interested in your experience with it.

Download Office Timeline Free Edition

Suggested Reading
Steps for making a timeline
Exceptional PowerPoint Add-Ons
Simplifying Gantts for important presentations

Suggested Video
Cutting and pasting your grant schedule into PowerPoint