Comms Guidelines
Comms Guidelines
This guide is here to give an overview of the channels we've decided to adopt and to give you some tips for how best to communicate with the network.
These comms channels are hosted by the Enspiral Foundation and are open to all contributors (or wider). If you are a contributor but lack access to something, contact foundation@enspiral.com
Comms Platforms and Tools
Loomio - Group Decisions
Our tool for decision making and thoughtful discussions. By default, assume the whole network will see everything.
Posting on Loomio in the main Enspiral group won't necessarily alert everyone, but if you invite the whole group to a thread or to vote on a poll, Loomio will notify everyone (sending emails to any of our 200 people around the world, if they haven't changed their settings,) and so should be used judiciously. Big announcements can make a lot of noise if we overuse them.
Feel free to start subgroups on Loomio if you'd like a more targeted collaboration space with a subset of Enspiral people.
Enspiral Insider - Internal Newsletter
Every month, an internal newsletter goes out to all Enspiral contributors via private Substack. It compiles updates from the network, requests, offers, and showcases content created by Enspiral members, and other content that our members found valuable to share.
To get something included in the newsletter post on Slack (#enspiral-news is a good place, but we scan most popular channels, for example #watercooler). If you want to reach the whole network with non-urgent infomation, this is the way.
When you join Enspiral you should be added to the newsletter. If for some reason you are not receiving our internal newsletter, contact foundation@enspiral.com and we'll fix it for you 💜
We also have an external newsletter. There's no need to subscribe to both - internal newsletter has more info + links to our internal affairs.
Enspiral Chat - Daily Realtime Comms
Daily chatting, realtime comms, quick questions, interesting links. There is a ~town-spiral channel for general discussion, and many channels for teams, projects, locations, and topics, or you can create your own!
If you'd have to pick ONE channel to join, it's definitely ~town-spiral.
Enspiral Chat runs on the Mattermost open source platform. Here's an Onboarding Guide to help you join the chat.
You can browse through, and join, all the channels by clicking the + button at the top left. Note that some channels are inactive.
Here's a list of popular Enspiral Chat Channels:
Locations
(particularly relevant if you're based around a specific place.)
Europe
Wellington
Auckland
Melbourne
...
Topics
Cool-Shit - whatever you think is cool.
Enspiral_Help - How do I enspiral?
Enspiral-News - A channel to add in any links or news you would like to have shared in the next issue of Enspiral news. If there is important or useful context you would like included, please drop that in as well
Enstagram - Like Enspiral-Instragam: a place we can share snapshots from daily life so it feels like we are hanging out together even when we’re all over the world!
Thanks - expressing gratitude
Want-Ads - enspiral classifieds + mirror of Enspiral Opportunities
Watercooler - The primary channel for sharing cool stuff
Cobudget - Collaborative Funding
Our tool for budgeting and financial decision making. Enspiral's discretionary budget is distributed using a democratic process. All contributors are welcome to raise buckets (funding requests) and comment on buckets. If your message is about spending collective money, it probably makes sense to post it here as a bucket or comment.
Google Workspace
Email - Everyone at Enspiral can pay a subscription fee to have an Enspiral email address if they need one to represent Enspiral to clients or the public. Email is great for one-on-one or small group correspondence, or one-way announcements. Here's the email accounts agreement.
Calendar - Great for your own planning and for private events and meetings where you have a specific guest list in mind.
Drive - We use Drive (Docs, Sheets, Forms) extensively. If a team you're working with uses Drive, you'll be invited to the relevant folders/docs.
Facebook - Casual Asynchronous Comms
Public Facebook page - Updates, news, and links relevant to Enspiral followers. This is a one-to-many channel. To get something posted here, contact news@enspiral.com.
Private Facebook group - A space for Enspiral contributors to share links, updates, ideas, and discussion. This is a many-to-many channel, where everyone can post and reply.
Enspiral has a publication on Medium called Enspiral Tales and a youtube channel. We welcome content from anyone in the network. Find out more.
Comms Tips and Guidelines
We operate in an attention economy. Getting the attention of people at Enspiral is expensive! Here's some advice about making it count.
This is YOUR Space
We are all greatly enriched by all of our engagement. Your voice is welcome. Your perspective is valued. Your interests are interesting. The best thing you can do to give and receive value is participate.
Pick your Channel Wisely
Know the various channels available and consciously decide where to post. Within a given tool, post to the right group or channel:
Topics requiring a group decision and affecting everyone go on Loomio
Issues, improvements and general discussion go on Github
Broadcast announcements to all contributors go in News
Casual realtime communication goes on Slack. You will reach whoever opts in to read when you happen to post.
Other casual communication goes in the Facebook group - again you'll reach whoever opts in there.
Public info and links go on Facebook and Twitter
Long form public sharing goes on Enspiral Tales
Messages relevant only to a limited group of people should be emailed directly, or posted in a specific Slack channel or Loomio subgroup.
Subject Lines
Put all the relevant info you can very concisely in the subject line (or discussion title on Loomio). Messages on Loomio trigger an email hundreds of people, many of whom will look no further than the subject line. Who, what, where, why, when.
Key Details in the First Message
Put all the relevant details in the body of the message, Chalkle event description, calendar invite, etc. You often only have one shot to reach people. Most will never click through to look at followup comments. Make sure the key info is in the initial post.
Include Links, Make it Easy
If you want people to click through to other content, include links! People will not go searching for facebook events, google docs, etc, on their own. Put everything they need right in front of people.
Tag Specific People
If a post is relevant to specific people, tag them (on Slack, Loomio, Facebook) to help them notice it's there. People will often respond directly to stuff they are tagged in, which can increase engagement. Don’t post a comment that is just tagging a name though - that means the person will get an email notification that simply says their name. You want them to get a message too.
Be Very Sparing with @Channel tags
In Slack, @channel or @everyone notifications will send notifications to everyone in that channel - please use this sparingly for very important or time sensitive information, especially in large channels. Don't use @channel in #watercooler unless it's something that literally affects everyone.
Get Permissions Right
If you’re linking to something on Google Drive (or any other site), make sure you check the sharing settings before you hit send! It’s very common to be given a link only to be told “you don’t have permission” when you try to view it. Most people won’t come back and try again, so get it right the first time.
Include All Context
Write every message as if to someone who has never heard of it before, especially network-wide messages. Don’t assume people already know any context, since your audience has diverse levels of engagement. We want invitations to engagement to be as accessible as possible. Be aware of Enspiral jargon and assumptions. Include links to relevant background info or previous discussions so people can catch themselves up.
Make it Count
Send out as few messages as possible, and use each one to the max. Consider how precious people’s time is. Our attention is a commons we share - if we start overusing it, we'll degrade it for everyone. Do a quick search to see if there’s already an existing thread on the topic before posting a new one.
Ask for Help
Realize that any time you’re communicating to large groups of people, you are doing comms work. If you’re not sure, or not very experienced with comms work, just check in with someone who can help you think through your message and how you’re delivering it to make sure it’s maximally effective.
Keep it brief
‘nough said!
If you'd like to learn more about digital engagement here's a deep dive conversation.
If you need help...
Contact foundation@enspiral.com or drop into the #enspiral_help channel on Slack
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