How Runtastic Makes Internal Communications

One thing most companies struggle with is how to make internal communications. Or rather, how best to share information with the relevant target group.

Although we are far from perfect, we have created several formats that have proven useful for Runtastic. These methods help us to disseminate the right information to the right audience in a timely manner.

First of all, we try to be interactive where possible. We have set up a lot of meetings – most of which are voluntary for everyone – so that we can all be informed about what is happening.

Complete meeting in the whole company

Like many other technology companies, we gather all members of the Runtastic team once a month to share the most relevant information for the entire company. Most importantly, we start from celebrating the new Runtastics, promotions and family updates. Each meeting has a focused topic where team members (ultimately experts) share valuable insights.

Questions and answers of the management

We dedicated an additional month to questions and answers with our management team. The management team answers everything Runtastics has at its heart: whether it’s product strategy topics or questions about people-related solutions.

In addition to these company-wide meetings, several areas (such as marketing or technology) also share their most important updates through special meetings for all hands. In addition, our product teams invite everyone to receive Sneak Peaks every two weeks Early eyes and Sprint Demo sessions.

Internal communication tools: Slack, emails and Wiki

The advantage of presentations is that they allow immediate feedback and interaction. It is difficult to document the information provided or even make it searchable for later use.

That’s why we try to keep our Wiki as good as possible. We use Slack and emails for important, concise information and calls to action. We also keep our team up to date and use emails and Slack to update everyone on New Joiners, Leaving Runtastics and career advancements.

Maintaining an overview

Since we learned that we have a lot of information to share within the company, the HR team decided to release a monthly newsletter, HR2 (Useful report on human relations). With the help of Gifs, links to valuable articles and intended puns, we not only summarize what is happening, but also Runtastics shares what drives them. This includes personal stories of the well-being of how they feel during inclusion.

Runtastic has mastered internal communications, right?

Although we put a lot of effort into internal communications (especially when I work from home), we know that we are far from perfect. Team members regularly miss information, and our suboptimal Wiki search feature can be problematic. Because we share so much information, it’s sometimes hard for Runtastics to figure out where they can find what they’re looking for, especially when they’ve only recently joined.

Nevertheless, we are constantly improving our internal communications and are always curious to learn how other companies are doing. Feel free to share your impressions in the comments!

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