In the loop: are your company's lines of communication working?

• Author: Stewart, Heather
• Position: Internal Communication - Neutron Interactive

In its early days, Neutron Interactive was like most small startups: the organizational chart featured the owners and a couple of employees. The two co-owners literally worked elbow-to-elbow with the small staff, and communication was constant and free-flowing.

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As the company grew, its spontaneous communication style didn't change much. But with more and more employees, as well as entire new departments, co-owners Dan Caffee and Shaun Ritchie decided it was time to formalize and streamline at least some of the internal communications.

Pieces of the Puzzle

Two years ago, Neutron Interactive hired someone to handle human resources. Brittany Call was brought on as director of culture, and she quickly discovered the company had few, if any, formal policies and procedures.

Call helped the owners craft vision and mission statements, along with five core principles they wanted employees to focus on. The five principles are embedded within the employee performance reviews so workers will be "constantly aware of how they're emulating these principles," she says.

Although at the time the company only had about 20 employees, leaders decided to invest in a workforce tracking software program. Through the program, the co-owners were able to break the corporate vision and mission down into measurable goals for each team. And then team leaders further reduced those to specific goals for each team member.

Each employee knows "this is your piece of the puzzle; this is how you contribute to the organization," says Call. "People are so much more likely to be involved and to work hard if they feel like they're part of the goal, if they can see how their piece is contributing to the pie."

Semi-annual performance reviews also include employees' progress on the established goals. The tracking system works well for the "tech-nerdy" culture at Neutron Interactive, says Call. "If it isn't on the computer, they don't bother looking at it."

Now at around 40 employees, the company has also had to create a structure of formal meetings, from weekly staff meetings to department overview meetings.

"The chain of communication has changed," says Call. "When you sat next to people, you could just say, 'Hey, what are you doing today?' Now we have different departments ... so how do we make sure everyone is marching to the same tune?"

For one thing, the office floor plan includes no cubicles. Workers "sit in a very open bullpen" which fosters dialogue and collaboration. While the senior leaders have...