How do you communicate complex projects?

Understanding your audience is the first, last and always of communications. If you don't get this right, you risk doing the wrong thing well

I've always had this golden rule that any language I use while communicating a complex project should be understandable by a 12 year old at least. Simple is underrated. The way you communicate your project could be different for each stakeholder but it should be easy to grasp for them according to their intellectual habits as well.

Be audience first is always my mantra. It's important to keep this front of mind and remind other stakeholders/subject matter specialists who can over complicate language and attempt to get information across that they 'think' is important as opposed to what the audience need to know.

I take a circular approach: 1. What is the purpose/intent of the project? Who specifically is impacted? What do they need to know/understand and why? 2. Who needs access to the message? In what way can stakeholders enable/build on the dialogue? 3. What needs to be said, who needs to engage & why? 4. Is the communication trustworthy, factual, relevant, understandable, accurate & timely? What is the call to action? 5. What is the purpose of the communication? Is it necessary? Who is the communicator, what is their role? 6. What are the short, medium & long term goals of the communication? 7. How, when & in what form will it be delivered, reinforced & followed through? Is it coherent, logical & true? 8. Does it reflect the original intent?

Rule #1: thoroughly understand the nature and scope of the project so that you can identify/propose in advance the strategic goals and objectives as well as a result driven tactics/action plan. Rule #2: Identify stakeholders and assess/manage expectations; plan a communication strategy accordingly.

This is vital?– the greatest gift you can give as a communicator is simplicity and clarity. Your job is to deeply understand the complexities of the project or change and then distil it down into just the most pertinent information to engage, inspire and drive action.

I like to start with what I call the 80:10 rule - how would you explain it to an 80 year old or a 10 year old. That is the quickest way to clarify and simplify for your 'any' audience. Next - interrogate, clarify, simplify the rest. Cut through as much of the noise and detail as possible to break the complexity down to clear and digestible components. Then, only add back in levels of detail when there is a clear audience (not communicator) need or desire to know more or go deeper.

Visual storytelling that gives cues to nudge people's attention towards the core of messaging is an effective method. Supplementing or citing additional resources as a footnote can also be another way to make the understanding holistic.

Testing your message with the target audience is important. While you may consider the message to be simple, your audience may not. Testing helps to improvise your message and ensure that your audience is interpreting the message as intended. It also enables you to challenge your assumptions and explore nuances you may not have considered while crafting your message.

In today's fast-paced digital age, attention spans are shorter than ever. Ensuring that your message is clear, concise, and easily digestible is paramount. I've always believed that if you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough. Using techniques like the elevator pitch or employing analogies not only helps in clarity but also in creating a lasting impression.

One of the most successful mediums for a large, ongoing change project is a microsite. It gives you one source of truth on a link that your audience can easily come back to at any time. The transparency will build trust with your audience. You can use the site to house all project information, actions, leadership emails and videos, etc. and can continue to build out and refresh the content over time.

Make sure to leverage the tools that the company relies on to pass along your message. Avoid going rogue with your own preferences for tools, and ensure whatever medium you're using will be easy to access, contribute to, and understand.

Online shared visual space always works best. A space which everyone can have access to, can see tasks, sub-tasks, milestones, goals, KPIs, achievements, and can assess themselves versus their tasks.

The use of polls in social media help with this a lot. If you have the power to conduct surveys, that’s an even better way to illicit feedback and create a sense of ownership with the audience.

People are problem-solvers. Some prefer logic (“As a result of our joint actions a, b, and c, in x years we’ll be able to accomplish y and z.”), others need a story that illustrates how the premise relates to them and how the hero (they) could resolve the issue. But presenting problems to solve is also “problematic” in that everyone already feels inundated by a number of situations they have to handle. The initial reaction to being confronted with a new problem is often the attempt to distance yourself from having to tackle it. I have seen good results by reframing a problem as an opportunity to achieve something ultimately positive, even if there are temporary inconveniences. Road construction comes to mind.

It depends on the size of the project. What worked best for me at times? To identify key critical people and to have regular meetings or calls with those people. Large scale projects implementations don't leave a lot of free time, and there is a need to remember about power of delegation. Forming micro-teams help to increase the engagement.

Focus on what is being built, why it is needed and why are "we" building it. Getting the people to care about that helps in getting people to engage. Figure out how to make it personal for the people. People can be anyone, the engagement has to happen at their level.

Give your team a chance to shape the project, and the opportunity to make their lives easier. As managers and leaders, we should be looking for every opportunity for voices to be heard. Ensure any feedback is taken seriously, and actioned wherever possible, even if in a small way.

I've learned that setting appropriate expectations in my communications (for example, not over-promising on project timelines) is helpful in setting the tone for others to adapt to change.

Recognize this is a journey not a one-and-done method of communications. Complex issues need consistent updates, opportunities to ask questions and respond, and ongoing testing to understand where the audience is in the journey. One major challenge to look out for - when executives say "I already told them that. They already know." Just because you told them, doesn't mean they know. The right kind of repetition, said in different ways at different times using the right channels is important.

If you prefer an agile project management method to a waterfall, there will be no issues with adaptability. If there is a requirement to proceed with a waterfall approach and every change requires a substantial effort in getting it approved, than what might make life easier is to agree on a list of pre-approved changes at the start of the project.

On this aspect, about adapting to changes, I think my answer will be readiness. Be ready to understand project focus changes and communicate immediately to your own stakeholders. Be accurate to understand why this change has to be implemented, in order to share the key points with the team.

Change is evitable, but it's the impact of change that no one can predict after all look at America's shopping culture. Remember Sears, Toys "R" Us, Hechinger's Hardware etc. used to be the standards that economics used to look at in terms of the strengthen of the U.S. economy before the growth of the internet shopping/e-commerce. Remember in particular video game arcades and Blockbusters videos before the internet reached into every home and every pocket by way of a mobile device. So, stay in touch with trends and how to set the trend rather than being a victim of being left behind.

From the government perspective, and particularly in public safety, we like to use the term "relentless follow up" to encourage seeing the project or investigation through. The same is true for public communications. If there is a gap in communication, there is a gap in information. I like to default to the idea that if you're wondering whether to update or add another message then it means it's time to do it.

"Caring" is the key word. Caring your project until is ended means to be committed with follow ups and follow throughs anytime. Be responsible not only about timeline but above all about changes during it. This is key. Once understood, you are on the right path. You are the driver. Schedule recurrent meeting with your team helps you to keep them always up-to-date and responsible themselves about their own task.

Always follow-up and follow through, start a "To Do List" to ensure all bases/points/verbal commitments are covered and most important handwritten notes with business cards attached is a must. Remember potential and loyal customers cannot follow-up with you if they can't contact you.

I've been in multiple roles where my job is to be the technical communicator-in-chief. Here are some of the things I always try to do: 1. Understand the psychographics of my audience as well as their baseline understanding and comfort with the topic. I want to know how they like to receive information and from whom. 2. Assess the broader social context and how this issue fits within it. 3. To what degree is this relevant to them? Start with the why before the what or the how. Avoid TMI at one time. Make sure they know what is expected from them next. 4. Speak with empathy and an appropriate dose of humor. If you were in their shoes, how would you want to be communicated with.

Understand the goal of the communication, the audience & ever-dwindling attention spans. Most of the communication platforms come with tracking mechanisms. Use these to gauge audience behaviours. If the goal is clear, the message should be heavily simplified to get to all types of audience. The usage of metaphors or storytelling techniques can be largely effective, with video content focusing on visuals than written language to capture even a multilingual audience. The message in a simple and concise way should explain how the audience of that message is impacted within the “what’s in it for me?” framework. Predicting human behaviour accurately is impossible. So, have a “launch and iterate” plan, fueled by continuous feedback and testing.

What Melissa Musiker said! I’ve also been the lead comms counsel on complex projects, and her advice is spot on. I’d also add this: bring communication experts in early. Far too often the business will map out a plan and drop it on communication with little advance notice. That reduces the impact effective communication can have and disadvantages the plan overall, since a solid communication pro can help you understand what pitfalls you may face (especially if your plan contains negative news) and how to avoid them. You need communication counsel at the start of the project—and to drop the expectation they can wrap it up in a tidy bow overnight.

Communication means people. The best thing about working in this so changing context is that is made of people, people around that are willing to be engaged in something always new. I like that thrill to think out of the box again and again trying always to capture client and/or colleagues attention, guiding them to the next level. Trying to be always on the next level before others this is strategy. Communicate it is the scope.

In case of complex projects. adapting existing communication frameworks (such as Communication Strategy Framework and Communication for Development) increases the chance of having a holistic excellence of the informational flow.