Internal communication has been a hot topic lately. As a startup grows the amount of in-person communication needs to grow even faster. But, what’s the right amount of in-person communication in a startup? How do you know when there’s enough? As a general rule it’s better to have too much communication rather than too little.
Here are some of the in-person communication processes we use:
- Daily check-in – Quick stand-up meeting for 10 minutes each day answering the questions what did you accomplish yesterday, what are you going to do today, and do you have any roadblocks
- Weekly all hands meeting – 20 minute meeting with everyone talking about good news and answering town hall questions
- Bi-weekly or monthly catch-up – Status update on top three projects, what’s working, what needs to change
- Quarterly check-in – Lightweight performance review answering questions what did you accomplish last quarter, what are you going to do this quarter, how can you improve, and how are you following the values
- Quarterly simplified one-page strategic plan – A one page document with S.W.O.T. analysis, vision, goals, elevator pitch, and more talked about at the first all hands meeting of the quarter
In-person communication and alignment is tough. As a startup grows it becomes even tougher. The fine balance between extensive communication and death-by-meeting needs to constantly be evaluated.
What else? What are some other in-person communication processes that you’d recommend?
David Cummings on Startups 