Hey there, I'm Devin!
Most of the time you can catch me deep in the world of internal comms at Workshop (yes, the Happy Mondays folks!), and while I love AI, there are just some comms questions that need a human who really gets it… that’s me!
Hey Devin,
With so many internal channels — Slack, email, intranet, All Hands, and more — how do companies decide what goes where? Is there such a thing as a true best-practice channel strategy?
Believe it or not, I’m a big fan of a channel matrix and an even bigger fan of making that matrix public. Not just for the comms or leadership team, but for employees too. When everyone knows what lives where, it sets expectations and removes a lot of unnecessary confusion.
For tools like Slack or Teams, I think of those as places for quick, day-to-day updates and conversations. These channels help work move forward in the moment, but they don’t necessarily need to be referenced later. They’re great for fast communication and collaboration, but not ideal for information that needs to live on long-term.
On the other hand, your intranet should function as your knowledge base. This is where information should live and be easy to access when employees want to go deeper. Things like strategy, documentation, benefits, policies, or updates that people may need to refer back to later belong here.
All Hands is where I think information should be introduced, reinforced, or brought to life. This is your opportunity to create shared understanding, alignment, and context, especially for things that matter at a company-wide level. That said, All Hands shouldn’t be the only place information lives (even if there is a recording!). Follow those live events up with a recap via email or Slack so employees can revisit the details and actually act on what was shared.
Email and SMS tend to vary more by company, especially when it comes to volume and cadence. Personally, I like to think of email as a “saved-you-a-click” channel, delivering important, practical, and actionable information directly to employees’ inboxes while still making it a thoughtful experience. In practice, that means strong subject lines, helpful preview text, and design that encourages people to keep scrolling.
SMS is something I use more sparingly. Sending messages directly to employees’ phones, especially for non-frontline teams, requires a higher bar. When it is used, the same principles still apply: clear intent, thoughtful frequency, and respect for people’s time and attention.
So is there a single best-practice channel strategy? Not really. But there is a best practice in being intentional. When each channel has a clear purpose, is used consistently, and is communicated clearly to employees, people know where to look, what to expect, and how to engage. That’s when your channel mix starts working for you instead of against you.
