Writing Internal Communications

Overview

Internal comms fail in one of two directions: too long to be read, or too vague to be useful. Both come from the same cause — writing what the author knows instead of what the reader needs in order to decide.

Core principle: Lead with the conclusion. The reader should get the point from the first sentence and read on only for supporting detail.

The Iron Law

NO INTERNAL COMMS WITHOUT GATHERING THE FACTS FIRST

An update assembled from memory is an update full of hedges. Pull the actual state — commits, tickets, threads, metrics, docs — before writing a line. Vague comms are almost always under-researched, not badly written.

If the facts are genuinely unavailable, ask the user for them. Do not paper over the gap with "significant progress was made."

Checklist