Project managers can spend 90% of their time communicating. No wonder you can feel overwhelmed by e-mail messages, phone calls and phone messages, and people coming to your office with questions. You need all the help you can get to streamline your communication process. Here are some tips:

• Set up communication channels at the very beginning of your project. For example, create e-mail and phone distribution lists, and set up a central network location for the project. Get ahead by preparing templates for presentations, meeting minutes, and similar communication tasks. Beat the rush by scheduling conference rooms and equipment well in advance.
• Know your audience. Instead of trying to make project stakeholders conform to your communication style, take time to find out what works for them.
• Don't forget to monitor public communications. The wrong communication with the public is the hardest kind to clear up later.
• As your project progresses, be flexible. If you've built feedback into your plan, you'll know when you need to change the means or timing of your communication.

To help you keep stakeholders apprised of your status, Microsoft provides several tools that you can use. Using Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, you can create a team site to share and collaborate on project status documents. Also, you can use the new Project Report Presentation Add-in for Microsoft Office Project 2003 to create for your team quick Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 status presentations from a Project file.

Use the following resources to improve your project communication today.

• Communicate with project stakeholders (Article)
  Learn how to communicate more effectively with the members of your project team.
• Use Windows SharePoint Services to post a project calendar (Article)
  Create a SharePoint site for your project calendar and team communications.
• Project Report Presentation Add-in for Microsoft Office Project 2003 (Tool)
  Download a quick-and-easy way to create a PowerPoint status presentation from a Project 2003 file.
• Project status report (Template)
  Use this Word 2003 template to create a project status report that keeps everyone informed.