tines Internal communications
Good internal comms respect the reader’s time. Lead with the point, keep it skimmable, and say only what the audience needs to act or stay informed.
Principles
- Lead with the takeaway (BLUF). The first line should carry the most important information — the decision, the status, the ask. Don’t bury it under context.
- Know the audience. A leadership update is terser and more outcome-focused than a team update. Match the altitude.
- Make it skimmable. Short paragraphs, headers, and bullets. Bold the few words that matter.
- Be specific. Dates, owners, numbers, and links beat adjectives. “Shipped to 100% on Tuesday” beats “made great progress.”
- State the ask. If you need a decision, a review, or nothing at all, say which.
Formats
3P update (Progress / Plans / Problems) — a recurring team update:
- Progress — what got done since the last update.
- Plans — what’s next, with rough timing.
- Problems — blockers, risks, and where you need help.
Status report — headline status (on track / at risk / off track), a one-line summary, then key updates, risks, and next steps.
Leadership update — outcomes and decisions, not activity. Open with the headline, then progress against goals, the top risks, and any decisions you need from them. Keep it short.
Incident report — a summary line (what happened, impact, current state), then impact (who/what was affected, for how long), a timeline of key events, root cause, remediation (what fixed it), and follow-ups (owners + dates to prevent recurrence). Write blamelessly — focus on systems, not people.
Project update — where the project stands against its plan: milestones hit, what’s next, risks, and changes to scope or timeline.
FAQ — group by theme; lead each answer with the direct response, then the detail. Anticipate the real questions, including the uncomfortable ones.
Newsletter — a short, scannable digest: a brief intro, themed sections with headers, and clear links out for depth. Celebrate wins concretely and credit the people involved.
Tone
Clear, warm, and direct. Plain language over jargon. Confident without overclaiming — if something is uncertain or went wrong, say so plainly and say what happens next.
Adapted by 3B from Anthropic’s “internal-comms” skill (github.com/anthropics/skills), © Anthropic PBC, licensed under Apache-2.0. Modified for 3B.