Communication

Overview

With the project scope being defined by new features and fixes of current problems, the communication plan will serve to define crucial components of project communication.

This plan facilitates the two-way channel of communication between the Software and Documentation teams and management, by:

• Providing directives to development teams
• Providing updates to stakeholders/management

Additionally, the communication plan contributes to the established guidelines for project development:

• Facilitating documentation directives including updates, translation, and localization.
• Enacting on established company development structure mandates and policy.

Communications Objectives

Audiences The following stakeholders and involved parties will be in constant communication with Software and Documentation teams, and require access to project information: CEO/CTO/CFO/COO Director, Software Development Director, Business Development Director, Sales & Marketing Communication Manager Product Development Manager(s) Project Manager(s) Limited access: Software Team Leads Technical writers/editors Key Messages In adherence to our defined development cycle, and in accordance with our commitment to product improvement and ongoing development, we will be offering in our upcoming release four significantly improved features as well as two major improvements on currently defective features. This project, entitled Q1-3 Features will offer users an improved experience in line with expectations from both internal and external stakeholders by providing desirable quality in deliverables and accountability in a timely manner. By implementing this project, we will continue to serve current users while attracting new users. Q1-3 Features represents a development cycle with results intended to remain consistent with our trusted branding, thus maintaining and creating customer loyalty, as defined by our key stakeholders.

Communication Strategy

Constraints and Assumptions As a globally remote team, we are constrained by issues related to communication due to time zone and language discrepancies. The assumptions will be that members of each team are at a satisfactory level of experience and professionalism to successfully handle the communication mandate, as outlined in the Communication Approach section, below. Communication Approach Using an Agile methodology, daily scrums will be held via conference call with the project development team, based in Seattle. The team will meet at 9:00 am PST (12:00 EST), and we will be using JIRA to track progress and bugs through Stories, Epics, and Bugs, under the Project name Q1-3 Features. During scrums, the KanBan Board feature via screen sharing will track the development. Jack Geddes will be leading the scrum and moving issues through the lanes from To Do to Done as they progress. The lanes are as follows: To Do > In Dev > For Review > In Review > For Test > In Test > Resolved > Done The Software Schedule will dictate upstream communication to stakeholders/management via a report that Jack will generate based on the progress tracked through the JIRA Project Q1-3 Features. The distribution method will be via conference call through Skype with sharedscreen PowerPoint. Reporting dates are outlined below, under Reporting Schedule.

Reporting Schedule

Milestone	Status Delivery Date	Objective/Deliverables	Delivered by
Project Q1-3 Planning	January 10, 1:30 pm	Status update for stakeholders based on project planning development such as requirements, from Jan 2 – Jan 29.	Jack Geddes
Project Q1-3 Design	March 10, 1:30 pm	Status update for stakeholders based on results from API impact testing and defined features.	Jack Geddes
Project Q1-3 Development	Feature 1: Speech to text; March 31, 1:30	Status update for stakeholders based on functionality of features	Jack Geddes
	Feature 2: Social Media Content Management; April 26, 1:30 pm
	Feature 3: Cat detection; April 25, 1:30 pm
	Feature 4: Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts; March 29, 1:30 pm
	Twice per month throughout May to mid-July; May 14 & 28 June 11 & 25 July 9	Report on bugs identified early and throughout development. General status report.
Project Q1-3 Implementation	July 23, 1:30pm	Status update from stakeholders based on results from enabling the new features and bug fixes	Jack Geddes
	August 14, 1:30pm	Status update for stakeholders based on results from QA/QC testing, plus update before entering translation phase.
Project Q1-3 Translation/Localization	August 27, 1:30pm	Status update from stakeholders based on results from translation and localization of the updated documentation.	Jack Geddes
Project Q1-3 Summary/post-release meeting	Aug 30, 1:30pm	Recap of project. Evaluation of successes vs. failures/missteps. Evaluation of improvement areas.	Jack Geddes