In any work setting, cultivating a sustainable mindset involves considering human, financial, and environmental aspects. Communication is no exception.
A critical factor in achieving sustainability in project communication is ensuring sufficient time and competencies. The balanced connection between the budget of research, development, or innovation project and the sustainable implementation of project communication is a crucial component.
Project managers and communicators often play intertwined roles. Project managers must effectively communicate with various stakeholders, including funders, owners, partners, and the media, and this role can never be fully outsourced, not even to a publicist. However, in large projects aiming for high exposure and impact, the project manager most likely can’t coordinate everything on their own—proficient project communication personnel is a great asset.
To ensure quality work, it is essential to allocate adequate working hours and ensure that the individuals responsible possess the necessary competencies.
In many cases, project communication is integrated into other tasks, such as project coordination, highlighting the importance of proper training and onboarding for communicators.
How about outsourcing?
While complete outsourcing of communication responsibilities is rarely feasible, certain communication tasks, such as graphic design, audiovisual production, or event management, can be outsourced. From a sustainability perspective, careful selection of service providers is crucial, considering potential challenges from both the service buyer’s and provider’s perspectives. Understanding how to procure what the project truly needs is a specific competence.
Outsourcing communication tasks may pose challenges, such as uncertainty regarding compliance with copyright rules. The increasing use of AI introduces the possibility of unintentional violations of indie artists’ rights in the outsourcing processes.
Project managers typically bear full responsibility for all project activities and costs, necessitating a thorough understanding the limitations of competence. This may require project manager, or project communicator, to understand when collaboration with other professionals, such as seeking legal advice for interpreting contract terms, is necessary.
Tight project budgets may result in inadequate communication or hasty decisions, negatively impacting the project’s outcomes.
Insufficient or poorly conducted communication has the potential to damage reputation, making it imperative for project organizations and funders to collaboratively create a working culture where communication is not limited to writing bulletins and social media posts but is an integral part of successful projects.
Even during tight budget negotiations, maintaining a focus on aligning communication efforts with available resources is essential.
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