Stakeholders have reported poor communication about project progress, despite weekly status reports to the PMO and following the standard communications management plan. What should the project manager do?

The project manager should perform a root cause analysis (RCA) to understand why stakeholders perceive poor communication, despite established processes. This analytical approach helps identify underlying issues, such as ineffective reporting formats, lack of clarity, or misaligned expectations, rather than just addressing symptoms. Raising a change request for an online collaboration tool is premature; the problem might not be the medium but the content or frequency. Distributing printed reports and confirming readership is inefficient and doesn't guarantee understanding or address the root cause of dissatisfaction. Ensuring all complaining stakeholders are on the distribution list is a basic check but doesn't solve the problem if the communication itself is ineffective.