Structuring Communication Channels

I was supposed to be the CEO building a billion-dollar venture studio. Supporting my partners, solving problems, and helping them scale. Instead, I got caught up in the day-to-day of my companies. I was being ineffective. Working in the businesses instead of on them. So I changed it. And now I’m a better resource for my partners and in my zone of genius. Here’s how: – 1. Ruthlessly cut calendar I worked with my amazing assistant, Patricia, to move all meetings to Mondays and Fridays. I truly believe that with a structured and focused 1-on-1 meeting, you can solve anything. Anything that didn’t contribute to the goals at GatewayX or my portfolio companies was removed (with compassion). I moved all my CEO 1-on-1’s to either Monday or Friday. It helps to be on the bookends of the week so they can either get input on this week's goals or do a debrief on what happened. This gave me the flex time needed during the middle of the week to: + Unblock a problem for a CEO + Give feedback + Finish checklist 2/ Structured communication internally I’d be getting slacks, texts, emails, calls - and this is just from my team! Not to mention the emails and DMs I might be getting from external. So, I set up a super straightforward way for us to communicate internally. I put everything into one of 3 buckets: 1. Comms 2. Requests 3. Meetings I pride myself on being responsive and available so I always have my CEOs: a) text/call when they need something real time b) always ASK me to cc: my assistant for scheduled time when they need it or are blocked. c) Not look at my calendar and conclude I'm too busy, I worry about that :) 1. Comms.  In general, here are ideal channels for the type of communication: + Slack - quick sync/internal comms (<5 mins) or where we want others to easily follow. Also internal scheduling requests. + Text - fast/urgent and super short + Call - urgent and/or to discuss something >5 mins + Zoom - more organized presentation for review etc + Email - async review and/or external 2. Requests For an async REQUEST thats >5 mins: a) EMAIL it to me and cc Patricia b) in the SUBJECT include a deadline + level of importance (0-10) + type of work you're seeking c) Patricia or I will confirm the deadline/request or ask for another date d) If urgent or the above process isn't a fit, just call me/text me. 3. Meeting Agenda/Prep - I ask everyone to share an agenda the day before for any given mtg and include any pre-read materials or something else they want me to be prepared to discuss. Examples of agenda questions/items to share: + Topics of discussion? + What is success in this mtg/convo? + What would make the mtg a 10/10? + What decisions are being made and who is making them? – I think of myself as a “servant” to my CEO’s. I need to show up for them and I need them to ask what they need from me. They are not reporting to me, I’m serving them. Trust me, it’s not perfect, but it’s made everyone’s life a whole lot easier.

Communication Systems - Reducing Information Overload Healthcare professionals are drowning in messages, emails, and notifications. Here's how to create communication systems that actually work. Essential Communication Principles: Urgent versus important messaging needs different channels. True emergencies use direct calls or secure messaging. Project updates and routine information use scheduled communications, not constant interruptions. Channel Designation: Email for non-urgent information requiring documentation. Secure messaging for quick questions needing immediate response. Video calls for complex discussions requiring back-and-forth dialogue. Shared documents for collaborative planning and updates. The Weekly Communication Rhythm: Monday morning: key priorities and changes for the week. Wednesday check-in: progress updates and obstacle identification. Friday wrap-up: completed items and next week's focus areas. Reducing Message Volume: Before sending any communication, ask: Does this person need to know this? Can they act on this information? Is this the best way to share it? Eliminate "reply all" culture and create specific distribution lists for different types of information. Implementation Strategy: Start with one department or team. Define communication protocols clearly and train everyone on new systems. Measure reduction in unnecessary messages and improved response times. The goal isn't eliminating communication, it's making every message count. Next week: Building decision-making frameworks that stick. #CommunicationStrategy #HealthcareOperations #InformationManagement #WorkflowOptimization

If your emergency response plan has 2 pages on communication, that's not enough. I review these plans regularly. Engineering firms with 500+ employees. Healthcare facilities managing patient safety. Educational institutions protecting students. Oil & gas companies with complex operations. Most have precisely-mapped evacuation routes. Safety protocols for every scenario. Regulatory compliance checkboxes filled. Then I flip to the communication section. Often two pages. Maybe three. "Notify stakeholders." "Issue press release." "Monitor social media." That's like saying "fly the plane" without teaching someone how to take off. Here's what those 2 pages are missing: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼 Not just "employees and media." Which employees? Through what channels? Who speaks to families vs. regulators vs. community members? Figure this out - the conversations you have now make it so much easier when the heat is on. 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘀 Scripts fail under pressure. But frameworks work. C̲o̲m̲p̲a̲s̲s̲i̲o̲n̲,̲ C̲o̲n̲v̲i̲c̲t̲i̲o̲n̲,̲ ̲O̲p̲t̲i̲m̲i̲s̲m̲ with facts sprinkled in. Under stress, there's no need to guess what works. A structure with flexibility brings clarity for you - and for your audiences. 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 "Significant media attention" means nothing at 8pm when social media is lighting up. You need specifics: 5+ media calls in an hour, trending in your city's top 3 media stories, employee post shared to community Facebook groups. Take away the guesswork by sorting out what is meaningful to your organization ahead of time. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 Your people check for texts before email. Parents use Facebook groups. Media monitors X. Your channels need to match where people actually go for information during a crisis. If they're out of date or have gaps, the time to rectify is now. 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 Who approves what, when? Not titles - actual names. Not "Communications Director" but "James can approve statements up to Level 2. Above that, call Sarah." One education client's 2-page communications section hadn't been updated since two Communications Managers ago. Their media list included retired reporters and outlets that no longer existed. We built it out to 20 useful pages. Not bureaucracy but tools. Templates they actually use, even in day to day work. Frameworks that flex with reality. Later that school year, a bus incident triggered parent concerns. The expanded plan meant they responded in minutes, not hours. Parents got answers where they looked for them. The situation was quickly contained, media didn't even pick up on it. That's the difference between 2 generic pages and being ready. What's in your communication section - real tools or wishful thinking?

Connection at work doesn’t happen by accident. It’s designed: message by message, moment by moment. That’s what my CONNECT Framework is all about. It’s a simple, human-centered way to think about how we communicate - not just what we say. If you’re shaping employee comms, leading teams, or navigating change in 2026, here’s a framework worth bookmarking 👇 The CONNECT Framework C - Clarity Through Alignment Connection starts when things make sense. When people can clearly see how purpose → strategy → team priorities → their work links together, friction drops and confidence grows. No more hunting for the “why.” O - One Purpose per Message Every message should earn its place. Ask yourself: What is this meant to do for the employee and why now? When the purpose is clear, messages feel helpful, not noisy. N - Navigate With Leaders Leaders aren’t megaphones. They're guides. The real magic happens when leaders help teams connect the dots, especially when the picture is blurry. Clarity without pretending to have certainty builds trust. N - Nurture Two-Way Dialogue Communication isn’t complete until someone responds. Listening only works when people can see what happens next: “Here’s what we heard. Here’s what we’re doing. Here’s what we’re not changing and why.” E - Experience-Led Channels The channel should serve the experience. Inspiration feels different than action. Storytelling lands differently than instructions. When channels match intent, information finds people and feels human. C - Create Inclusive Belonging If everyone can’t participate, connection breaks. Plain language. Asynchronous-first thinking. Designing for real lives, not ideal ones. That’s how messages say, “This was meant for you, too.” T - Track What Truly Matters Connection isn’t the goal - movement is. Look beyond vanity metrics and ask: Are teams aligned? Are decisions clearer? Is the organization moving together? Good communication doesn’t just inform. It creates clarity, trust, and momentum. Which part of CONNECT do you find hardest to get right in practice? #internalcommunications #employeeexperience #wrightinsights

Every team should have clear communication guidelines that are taught and enforced for all employees. Teams should make a cultural communication guideline document that lists out the channels they uses to communicate and how each team member is expected to use them. By defining how the team should communicate it becomes easier to enforce the cultural norms you want and accelerates how quickly new team members can onboard into the culture. Check out this example from Proletariat: https://lnkd.in/drGPdH3T What should be in a Cultural Communication Guide? For the guide to be useful it should include at least three sections. By reading this document every employee should be on their way to becoming a great communicator with the rest of their team. 1. Choosing the Right Communication Channel Teams often use multiple channels—email, Slack, meetings. Clearly define which type of communication belongs where based on message content, urgency, and response needs. 2. Communication Channel Usage Guidelines Once a channel is chosen, the guide should outline how to use it effectively. This includes setting expectations for tone, timing, format, and best practices for emails, meetings, and other interactions. 3. Examples and Best Practices Include examples to show the guidelines in action, making it easier for employees to understand and follow. How do you use a Cultural Communication Guide? The two primary uses for this guide will be with existing teams and with new team members. For existing teams this should be used for creating consistency and agreement on how the team wants to communicate. For new employees it should be part of their training and onboarding. At Proletariat we would include this guide as part of the employee handbook, send it to new employees when they started, and also give a presentation covering these details as part of their onboarding. It is up to company leadership to decide how to enforce these guidelines. The way these are enforced, and how strictly, is also a major reflection on the culture of the team. Do not define these rules and then decide to not enforce them! How do you make a Cultural Communication Guide? Crafting a document like this should be a group effort with feedback from the full team. If there is no agreement on ways to communicate, use the creation of this guide to find compromises. The process of choosing how the team will communicate is a great step to improving efficiency across the team. The best way to start making this guide is to simply write down all the ways the team communicates now. Taking stock of the current communication practices of the team sets a good foundation for discussion around what areas of team communication are working well and what areas could be improved. This should be a living document, something that is updated regularly as your team grows and changes. I have found that certain communication styles can work well when a team is small but fall apart when a team is big. 

Here's an exercise for all the internal communicators seeking clarity and a smallish project that can drive significant results 👇🏼 Consider defining your organization's communication channels, their purpose, whether they're synchronous or asynchronous, and behavioral recommendations to include in your employee onboarding experience. Communication falls short when we don't understand: 🔺 Where to find information (or how to use it) 🔺 What to expect from each source of communication 🔺 WHY each channel matters 🔺 How to interact with the communication we receive We're all guilty of making assumptions about why a specific channel performs poorly, or messages miss the mark. And sure, there's plenty of room to improve in these areas, too. But if we go back to basics, the first thing we should do is take a good, hard look at what we're working with and ensure everyone is on the same page. A few things might happen when you start this exercise: 🔸 You might realize you don't know the purpose of one or more of your channels (Good! Now you can prioritize this!) 🔸 You might hit the gray space between whether a channel is synchronous or asynchronous (It's time to add some definition and set clear expectations) 🔸 You might realize you don't have any set communication behavior expectations (But now you can discuss this with your leaders!) Here's a basic example for inspiration👇🏼 I'd love to hear what you find if you try this exercise. Also, this isn't only a helpful tool for internal communications. You can run a similar exercise with your loved ones and friends to strengthen relationships and clarify expectations.

I'm at the initiation stage of a very exciting digital transformation project. Instead of diving straight into technical requirements, I found myself pausing to solve a critical challenge: If we don't get our team communication right from day one, even the best project plan won't save us. Like many of you, our team uses MS Teams. But here's the question keeping me up at night: How do we turn this powerful tool into a productivity driver rather than another source of digital noise? After leading remote teams through dozens of projects, I've discovered a surprisingly simple structure that changes everything: The "3-Channel Rule" for Project Success: 1. "Project-Decisions" Channel: - ONLY for final decisions and approvals - No discussions allowed—just clear outcomes - Each post must state: Decision made: Impact on timeline/budget: Next actions & owners: 2. "Daily-Sync" Channel: - Morning updates by 9:30 AM - Blockers that need immediate attention - Quick wins from yesterday 3. "Team-Collaboration" Channel: - Working discussions - Document reviews - Quick questions and answers First thing I plan to do? Pin the "Project-Decisions" channel. I know I'll thank myself when searching for that critical scope change decision three weeks into the project. Here's what I believe: The magic isn't in creating more channels—it's in designing the right ones with crystal-clear purpose from the start. Sometimes the simplest solutions have the biggest impact. #ProjectManagement #DigitalTransformation #RemoteWork #MSTeams #Productivity"