Why, Where, How, and When We Communicate

How do we keep everyone in the loop without everyone getting tangled in everyone else’s business? In-person? Real-time chat? Call, text, or email? Below we’ve gathered principles to keep in mind when communicating with teammates, within departments and campuses, across the entire organization, and even with the public.

Why

Provide info

• Inform & remind
• Cast vision

Share info

• Make decisions
• Assign tasks
• Get approval
• Give feedback
• Equip & teach

Request info

• Seek input, expertise, guidance
• Procure resources
• Organize & align

Where

Direct

• Meetings
• Phone calls
• Chats & text messages
• Gmail

Indirect

• Staff newsletter
• Grace One Stop
• Google Workspace

Inconsistent

Only some of us use each of the following tools, making them highly unreliable and unadvisable for anything other than single-team communication.

• In-person retreats & planning dates

• Slack

• GroupMe

• Asana

• ‣

• Basecamp

• Google Drive

• Dropbox

• Mailchimp

• Canva

• Church Community Builder (CCB)

• Planning Center (coming soon)

• Shelby Next

• Frame.io

• ServiceU

How

These aren’t requirements, but they help us create boundaries and shared practices to draw upon when communicating.

• Communication shouldn’t require schedule synchronization. Respect boundaries by using asynchronous communication.
• Never say the same thing twice. A single source of truth guarantees that everyone has access to the same information and minimizes confusion.
• Speaking only helps the people in the room, writing helps everyone. This includes people who couldn’t make it, or future employees who join years from now.
• Give meaningful discussions a meaningful amount of time to develop. A rushed approach can encourage a rushed response.
• Email is decentralized and has no permanent record for everyone to see. Important announcements are never worth an email.