According to the PMBOK® Guide, the Plan Communications Management process is the process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for project communication activities based on the information needs of each stakeholder or group. To initiate this process, the project manager requires high-level direction, existing management frameworks, and specific stakeholder data.
The primary groups of inputs include:
Project Charter: Provides the high-level project description, objectives, and the list of key stakeholders which helps determine initial communication requirements.
Project Management Plan: Specifically the Resource Management Plan (to understand team roles) and the Stakeholder Engagement Plan (to understand the engagement strategies that require communication support).
Project Documents: Key documents used as inputs include the Stakeholder Register (which identifies who needs information) and the Requirement Documentation (which may include communication requirements).
Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs) and Organizational Process Assets (OPAs): These provide the organizational culture, established communication channels, and historical templates.
Analysis of Other Options:
A. Work performance reports and change requests: These are primary inputs to the Manage Communications process (Executing), where you are actually distributing information, rather than the planning stage.
B. Work performance data: This is raw data from project execution. It is an input to Control Communications (Monitoring and Controlling) to see if communication is effective, but it is not used to create the initial plan.
D. Team management plan: While resource information is needed, " Team management plan " is a sub-component of the Resource Management Plan. More importantly, Work performance data is again incorrectly placed in the planning phase.
