Internal comms operating model: the four channels every company needs
Most internal comms is reactive — fires, leaks, surprises. A working model has four channels with different cadences, audiences, and owners.
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- Four channels: leadership broadcast, team operational, sensitive/1:1, async knowledge.
- Each has a cadence, an owner, a target signal-to-noise ratio.
- If 'all-hands' is the only channel, your CEO is the bottleneck and your news leaks first to Slack DMs.
- Measure comms by recall (do people remember the message?), not by attendance.
An internal comms function isn't a job for one person — it's a layered system. Stop treating every announcement as 'should we put it in the all-hands?' Start treating it as 'which channel, which cadence, which owner?'
The four channels
| Channel | Cadence | Owner | Audience | Use for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leadership broadcast | Monthly all-hands + monthly written | CEO + Comms | All | Strategy, results, big decisions |
| Team operational | Weekly team standup + weekly written | Each manager | Team | What we're shipping, what's blocked |
| Sensitive / 1:1 | Ad hoc + planned | HR + manager | Individual | Comp, performance, restructure, exit |
| Async knowledge | Continuous | Each function | Self-serve | Wiki, policies, FAQs, recordings |
RACI for comms
- CEO: Accountable for leadership broadcast. Responsible for own delivery.
- Comms / HR: Responsible for channel hygiene, RACI, message review.
- Managers: Responsible for cascading + translating into team context within 48h.
- Employees: Consulted via listening loops (pulse, AMAs); Informed via channels above.
The weekly rhythm
- 1MonLeadership team aligns on this week's narrative. One sentence per topic.
- 2TueManagers cascade in team standups. Q&A captured for follow-up.
- 3WedAsync write-ups published in the knowledge base.
- 4ThuListening: pulse, Slack sentiment, manager check-in roll-up.
- 5FriCEO Friday note: what shipped, what we learned, what's next.
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