With many leaders embarking on planning for the coming year, I thought it might be helpful to explore the optimal team structure for corporate communications.

It is worth thinking about the structure of the communications department because beyond laying out the reporting structure, it can have a huge impact on workflow, workloads and collaboration. And these things can in turn have an impact on employee satisfaction, team effectiveness and efficiency.

What is the optimal structure for my comms team?

The answer depends on your organization’s objectives, the functional areas you’re overseeing, and how much lateral or cross-team coordination will be required. Many heads of communications are responsible for corporate comms, product communications, employee comms, influencer programs and social media.

The options for team structure include:

• Internal managers or specialists for each of these areas
• External vendors for each of these areas
• Blended teams of internal staff and external agencies

Is there an ideal number of people for a comms department?

No. The idea team is often a function of company objectives, the type and volume of work that needs to be completed, and the expense budget the company can allocate to communications. We have clients who are part of large teams of 15 or more and others who are the sole communications leader in their company.

What is the comms leaders’ role?

As mentioned above, comms leaders typically oversee a variety of activity. It often includes corporate brand communications, crisis comms, product communications, influencer relations, media relations, internal comms and social media.

Leaders are often responsible for hiring and motivating staff. They ensure people are prioritizing the right activities and have the information and tools they need to do their jobs effectively and efficiently.

And leaders need to be good problem solvers because their direct reports will often turn to them when they’re unsure of what to do.

Finally, because the leader often oversees a variety of functional areas, they also play an important role in lateral communication within their team and the broader organization. They often must ensure information is shared with internal comms and external comms at the same time so they both can begin planning and preparing. For instance, if a company is doing layoffs internal comms and external comms must be handled with care.

Is there anything else I can do to avoid information silos on my team?

Consider a weekly or biweekly meeting with your team leaders where they share a high-level summary of the projects they’re working on with the larger team. A standing meeting can go a long way toward guaranteeing there is information sharing between teams. These meetings don’t have to be long: The goal is simply to quickly share an update on activity and, if there is activity that must be coordinated across teams, set up additional meetings to enable that to happen.

Formalize team collaboration and communication. Let managers know that part of their job is to think about and communicate in a timely manner with their colleagues.

Another more radical idea is to adopt a matrix structure, in which an individual reports up to one or more managers. For example, a communication specialist might have two bosses, such as the external communications manager overseeing PR and the internal communications manager.

In this situation, the managers work together. They jointly set objectives, supervise work, help with professional growth and development, and provide performance appraisals. Therefore, by default, there should be more communication between the managers, fostering better lateral or cross-silo communication.

Clearly, there are many ways to structure and grow your communications team. But as leaders embark on planning for 2023, it’s a wonderful time to consider whether their department structure still works given their priorities. If not, leaders should consider changes.