process

Communication Planning Feedback Analysis

Communication

Everyone is aligned on what the goals are Everyone is accountable for their responsibilities Everyone is transparent on the progress being made

Alignment

accountability

transparency

Meetings Written Updates

Update meetings: people communicate status of an objective or task Decision meetings: relevant people discuss an issue and come to a decision

Written Updates

written updates

Progress: what did I accomplish this week? Plans: What tasks am I doing next week? Problems: what is blocking progress? Other: what else should the team know?

Tool:

Weekly Update



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Leadership Meeting

Progress on achieving current quarterly objectives How the product is being received in the market How the most important customers are succeeding (or not) using the product How the team is performing and any people changes needed Financial position of the company and review of metrics

All Hands Meeting

once per week

Props (2 minutes): praise specific people for exceptional work that week Metrics (3 minutes): share metrics, such as customer growth Functions (20 minutes): each leader shares department summaries Strategy (5 minutes): CEO or COO shares strategy and the “why”

Functional Meeting

Example:

Joe Lee, AVP of Marketing at Sutherland



Joe oversees a team of 7 marketers at a global outsourcing firm. Each week, they hold a marketing meeting to review metrics and brainstorm ideas to drive new leads. It is highly specific and often gets technical.

Planning

Annual Planning

outside the office

Quarterly Planning

Sprint Planning

sprint

Example:

Laura Marelic, Partner at Loco Studio



Laura runs a design studio where her team consults for clients to build apps and websites. Their sprint planning is largely based upon client volume and requests, so it changes frequently.

Documentation

Feedback

1-1 Meetings

Ask each team member to arrive with an agenda for discussion Take notes so you can follow up on action items and commitments Try to avoid discussing specific tasks, and instead focus on personal growth

Replies to written updates

Formal Reviews

See how the best teams communicate with bit.ly/manager-guide. Tweet Share

Analysis

Quarterly Summary

Example:

Drew D'Agostino, CEO of Crystal



Drew leads a 12 person team at a tech startup in Nashville with $5M in funding. He sends a detailed quarterly summary to his investors and advisors. He includes metrics and clear asks for how advisors can support his efforts.

Annual Report