Within CU System Administration, the office of University Information Systems (UIS) has focused attention on the critical role played by communications in project success.

As a first step in raising awareness of, and adding rigor to, the project implementation process, UIS leadership established a Project Management Office (PMO) – a new team within the larger organization. The next step was to develop the communications role within the project process and build related procedures and practices to align UIS communications with the work and needs of its CU customers.

Communications Program Manager Sharon Grant was tasked with developing a robust process around project communications. She began by analyzing past project communications, reaching out to customers, and identifying pain points and possible solutions. She then developed tools and templates to promote project effectiveness. Among the products: a detailed communication plan template, complete with instructions on its use, for UIS project managers and leads. She also developed a stakeholder register and stakeholder status report model.

These and other templates and technologies have since been fully integrated into the UIS project process and shared with other CU System and campus units. The result has been a better understanding of project stakeholders and an increase in the effectiveness of project communications.

To learn more about the project communications work, see Sharon's submission on the CUSP website.