- By: Mark Jakobsen
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Team Communication Strategy: How to Scale From 8 to 80 People
Two weeks ago, I showed you why communication gets exponentially harder as your teams and/or company grows, let’s talk about what to do about it. Sometimes I think it would be great if we were all Betazoids, able to talk telepathically. Surely that would negate a lot of the mis-communication we see in our lives. But then I remember that would also mean everyone being able to read each other’s minds. At that point I’m grateful we’re only human, where clear communication is something we struggle with.
No one is immune to bad communication. Name a song where you thought the lyrics were something completely different, like Starship singing “we built this city on sausage rolls”, or Celine Dion belting out “I believe the hot dogs go on”. Hint, if you could read my mind you’d see I have an overly healthy addiction to sausages… or should that be unhealthy?
My last post spoke about why communication becomes more complex as companies and teams grow. The more channels you add, the more channels you create and the more potential for misunderstanding. The thing is, we’re never going to stamp it out, like I said in my opening paragraph, we’re only human. But what we can do is work to minimise it by getting communication structures in place. So, as I promised you daily stand ups and cross function syncs, let’s take a look at them, and more to help you manage those 28 communication channels you have with just 8 people.
Start Small: Communication strategies for internal teams and SMEs
Let’s start easy and cover the basics. Before we can look at cross-departmental alignment, we need to ensure we get it right within your teams. Or if you’re a SME, habits that can work across your company, because good habits scale beautifully.
Daily Stand-Ups (or Weekly Check-Ins)
Short, focused meetings of 10 minutes max. You may ask why 10 minutes? It’s to keep everyone engaged and alert on what’s being said. Also, it will help to stop scope creep and meeting fatigue. After all the goal isn’t to create another meeting monster, it’s to provide a short succinct update on any potential roadblocks. So, only focus on the key developments.
Shared Knowledge Hub
Stop letting information live in someone’s inbox. Use tools like SharePoint, Notion, or Confluence, to store processes, FAQs, and updates. Make it accessible and searchable.
Clear Channel Rules
Define what goes where and which tools to use for what. Microsoft Teams for quick updates, email for formal communication, project management tools for tasks. When everyone knows the rules, chaos decreases.
Cross-Department Communication: Where It Gets Tricky
This is where complexity really ramps up. Marketing needs to know what product is launching. Sales needs to know what marketing is promoting. Product needs feedback from sales. Without structure, everyone will start playing fast and loose with the facts.
Here are our tips on improving team communication strategies:
1. Monthly Cross-Functional Syncs
One meeting, clear agenda. For example, marketing presents the pre-Christmas campaign targeting enterprise clients so sales knows which prospects to prioritise. Or commercial reports back with insights and updates that help align marketing, sales and product efforts with overall commercial goals. The key is to keep it tight and focused.
2. Shared Dashboards
Make KPIs visible across departments. Revenue targets, campaign performance, product adoption, when everyone sees the same numbers, alignment becomes easier.
3. Communication Champions
Assign a liaison in each department. Their job? Make sure updates flow smoothly and questions get answered quickly.
4. Feedback Loops
Create structured ways for information to move:
Sales → Marketing:
Marketing → Product:
Product → Sales:
Customer feedback and objections
Campaign performance and messaging gaps
Feature updates and timelines
The key important point to add to this is, these meetings should be designed to inform and update. Not to problem solve and tinker. If an issue is raised that can’t be solved with a quick show of hands, progress it later and focus on what’s at hand.
Good Team Communication Takes More Than Just The Tools
The above tools aren’t rocket science. The hard part isn’t understanding what to do, it’s getting everyone to actually do it. Real implementation requires leadership commitment, team buy-in, and consistent follow-through. The best communication rhythm in the world falls apart if people don’t engage with it. So start small, get early wins, and build momentum before scaling up.
The Path To Clear Communication
Clear team communication strategy isn’t about adding bureaucracy, or meetings for the sake of meetings. It’s about creating clarity and reducing friction. These structures won’t eliminate all 28 channels when you have 8 people, but they will ensure the right information is shared at the right time allowing growth to become smoother, faster and far less stressful.
Don’t forget, there are tools on the marketplace to help as well. CRMs like HubSpot, or Salesforce can bridge the gap and help provide a single source of truth. Tools like Jira keep product updates visible. As for automated alerts, imagine marketing getting notified by product the second a new feature goes live, allowing them to launch the campaign while sales automatically gets pinged to start outreach!
So, whether it’s scenic steamboats, cities built on sausage rolls, or something else, don’t wait until your sales team are presenting the wrong numbers to a potential client, start building these structures now. Your future self, and future teams will thank you!
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