Always Over-Communicate in Startups

Have you ever worked on a project and felt like there wasn’t enough communication? Now, have 100 projects going on around you with a small group of people — that’s how it is in a startup. If there wasn’t enough communication with one project imagine how it is with 100 simultaneously. You should always over-communicate in startups.

Over-communicating is different than micro-managing. I’m a big fan of empowering people through autonomy, mastery, and purpose where autonomy comes partly from trust. Now, with so many things going on in a startup it can be difficult to find time to communicate. Don’t let that happen.

The most effective communication tool I’ve found is the daily check-in. Daily check-ins are simple — everyone on your team meets for 10 minutes in-person and/or over Skype Video to answer three simple questions. The questions are what did you accomplish yesterday, what are you going to do today, and do you have any roadblocks. Simple and powerful. And, yes, you do this every single day.

What else? What are your thoughts on over-communicating in startups?