
Ask HN: How does your startup keep employees well-informed? - jm13
I am looking for ways of improving information flow within a start-up. Our company&#x27;s problem is that information is generally only shared on a need-to-know basis. For example, a lot of business discussions either happen face-to-face or in private messages. As such, only a few people understand (each only partially though) what is happening business-wise in the company.<p>I would like to increase transparency in our company by asking people to actively share what they have done&#x2F;learned. I am wondering what format would work the best - Q&amp;As? all-company meetings? newsletter emails?<p>How did you address the problem of how to share information with everyone?<p>Thanks a lot for any advice!
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detaro
> _example, a lot of business discussions either happen face-to-face or in
> private messages._

That's an obvious starting point: public documentation of results, public
channels instead of private messages. Regular updates summarizing the state of
things and taking questions for executives.

Especially important once you start to have remote employees, so they aren't
always behind people in the office who get informal updates at the
watercooler.

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davismwfl
You have to start with exactly what you have done, find why people aren't in
the loop then start addressing each issue. People make it sound easy, just
have the conversation in a public channel, but that isn't so black and white,
nor does everyone see the information timely. A lot of conversations also
should NOT be done publicly, but the outcome of those discussions should be
available at the proper time.

The best way to start solving it is formalize communication a little, don't
stop having the conversations that are necessary but make sure people really
understand the need to spread the word far and wide. Successful companies
always communicate. The "need to know" delusion is a way to kill a small
company and destroy your company culture, there are items which have a need to
be held close yes, but those should be the rare items not the regular items.

Having worked a lot with remote teams and distributed teams this is my
starting point always. Make it part of leadership responsibilities that each
exec, manager and team lead is responsible for sharing the information with
their team members as a whole within a set time period. When you have a
meeting with someone, state clearly at the end of the meeting, what are we
communicating and who has the responsibility to communicate it and hold each
other accountable to do so. This builds a team and culture that is set around
communication, and makes what is communicated more consistent. If two execs
have a meeting, the same rule applies to them to get the other execs looped in
quickly and then the rest of the team. And when I say set a time period, it
should be like 24-48 hours, not longer as the chances of information leaking
and being found out start to go up and the team starts loosing trust in the
process and leadership.

As for town halls, Q&A's etc, yes, all that is good, but don't overdue it or
they become a waste of time and people stop wanting to attend so they start
bringing their laptops and working or doing other things instead of paying
attention. For a small startup though with < 20-30 people, IMO a monthly town
hall with current state and updates is always good thing for the founders to
hold and allow people to ask questions. It helps tune the focus and dispel
rumor done properly.

There are lots of other ways to help too, but you need to start with the
people part of the equation in my experience. Then worry about tools to help
make it easier.

