"Internal communication" is the connective tissue that keeps everything and everyone in the company moving forward in the same direction. It's a broad term and is an aspect of our culture that every team contributes to in some form.
The People Communications & Engagement team aims to keep team members informed and engaged through compelling internal storytelling and timely information sharing to empower team members to become GitLab ambassadors.
This page defines how our People Communications & Engagement team operates to support GitLab team members and various cross-functional teams within GitLab.
GitLab team members can better understand how communication and engagement work together by reviewing our Engagement Strategy presentation.
Given the amount of information we need to communicate with GitLab team members around the world it's important that we have a structured approach to communication & engagement.
It's equally important that we provide team members with a well-rounded view of things happening across GitLab.
In preparing key messages to be shared with all team members, we ask all departments to follow the process below:
We use a variety of channels to communicate with various audiences within GitLab. The top channels we use, the purpose of each of these channels, and how everyone can contribute to each is as follows.
To contribute: Write a comment in the most current newsletter GitLab issue and tag @kaylagolden. Things to note when sending over content: - Is it globally relevant to more than 75% of GitLab team members? - Is this something all team members should know about and/or action? - Does it align with our GitLab values? - Make sure there is a team member action included - Send over a 1-2 sentence draft description of your content. If necessary, include additional context for internal comms teamās background and knowledge - this is helpful when reviewing and finalizing the messaging.
To contribute: Write a comment in the most current manager comms GitLab issue and tag @kaylagolden. Things to note when sending over content: - Is it globally relevant to more than 75% of GitLab People Managers? - Is this something all people managers should know about and/or action? - Does it align with our GitLab values? - Make sure there is a people manager action included - Send over a 1-2 sentence draft description of your content. If necessary, include additional context for internal comms teamās background and knowledge - this is helpful when reviewing and finalizing the messaging.
To contribute: Read the Internal Comms Tiered System to determine if your message falls into Tier 1a/1b which would signal a #company-fyi or #company-fyi-private message. If thatās the case, create a copy of and complete the request for internal communications support template and share on Slack using the #internal-communications-requests channel, or if confidentiality is a concern, please connect directly with @kaylagolden.
GitLab Handbook: For permanent and non-confidential updates, we consider how information should live in the GitLab Handbook.
GitLab Assembly: Synchronous time to hear from GitLab leaders and answer team member questions
To contribute: Content creation is determined by the People Comms & Engagement Team with review by members of the E-Group.
GitLab Assembly is scheduled to take place in the weeks following each quarterly earnings call and gives team members synchronous time to hear from GitLab leaders and ask questions. Assembly is a 40 minute meeting, consisting of ~25 mins content and ~15 mins Q&A.
To give global team members an opportunity to join live, there will be two live-hosted Assembly events each quarter, at 8 am PT (3pm UTC) and 5 pm PT (12am UTC).
To produce each quarterly Assembly, the People Communications & Engagement DRI:
We operate an internal communications editorial calendar (confidential to a small internal group) with key company-wide announcements, campaigns, and events. To get added to this list, please review the Internal Comms Tiered System to determine if your message falls into Tier 1a/1b which would signal a #company-fyi or #company-fyi-private message. If thatās the case, create a copy of and complete the request for internal communications support template and share on Slack using the #internal-communications-requests channel, or if confidentiality is a concern, please connect directly with @kaylagolden.
Timing of various messages and internal campaigns, and having a solid plan is a key to successful communication. As a company that's in growth mode, change is constant and we have a lot that needs to be shared with team members.
We operate as a lean team and due to limited bandwidth, we are unable to service all communications fully. Please review the Internal Comms Tiered System to understand how and what type of communications we can assist with.
| Content topic | Percentage of Internal Share of Voice |
|---|---|
| Team member total rewards and program updates (Primarily Finance & People Group) | ~30% share of voice |
| Values, culture, and team-building content | ~20% share of voice |
| Leadership updates about key projects and functional changes | ~20% share of voice |
| Business outlook / Product updates | ~20% share of voice |
| Reactive, unplanned messaging (we know it happens!) | ~10% share of voice |
Everyone plays a role in keeping GitLab team members engaged and informed. If you're partnering with the People Communications & Engagement team, please keep these best practices in mind:
It's important that we consider how information will be received by various sub-groups within GitLab before sharing a piece of information with all team members. A typical cascade of information may end up crossing through various channels in cases where a significant change is being introduced.
For example, if we were announcing a big, exciting new program we might cascade information as follows:
It's important to note that information cascading could be seen as lacking transparency. That's not the case, rather it allows for managers and leaders to keep people more informed as they will have a chance to understand key changes with enough time to then answer questions to their teams.
As we continue to grow our People Communications & Engagement function, we'll continue to add more detailed information to this page. Please offer feedback by suggesting edits to this page or reaching out in the #talent-brand-engagement channel on slack.
