Effective SaaS messaging depends on how teams communicate with each other.

The CS team can’t onboard users without communicating well with the product team. Or, you can’t expect results from the product team if executives fail to communicate their vision.

But communication between SaaS teams is far more complex than it looks. And before anything, we should understand how information travels between departments.

There are four dynamics in SaaS team communication.

Dynamic 1. Top-down communication

The information goes from the upper levels of the company to the operational ones. Top-down communication may involve sharing the following:

• Directives
• Policies
• Strategies
• Decisions
• Goals
• Changes and updates
• Company achievements
• Performance expectations

The goal of top-down communication is to make teams aware of the company’s goals, expectations, procedures, and more.

Examples:

• The CEO communicates a new product growth strategy to the Marketing Director.
• The Head of People Operations informs the HR manager about the new remote work policy.
• The Product Owner sets quarterly product goals with the development team.

Dynamic 2. Bottom-up communication

The information moves from the operational level to executives and managers. Bottom-up communication includes sharing the following:

• Progress status
• Concerns
• Improvement ideas
• Innovation ideas
• Frontline observations
• Team achievements
• Requests

The goal of bottom-up communication is to leverage operational insights. This may have a positive impact on decision-making and workflows.

Examples:

• The VP of Marketing presents new lead engagement insights to the CEO. They suggest adjustments to the marketing strategy based on recent campaign data.
• The HR manager reports concerns about employee retention rates to the Head of People Operations. They also offer suggestions for tackling the issue.
• A developer suggests a more efficient workflow to the Product Owner. They also propose a new tool to reduce errors.

Dynamic 3. Lateral communication

The information travels between people at the same organizational level within the SaaS company. Lateral communication includes sharing the following:

• Task status
• Knowledge
• Best practices
• Updates
• Feedback on shared projects
• Coordination efforts
• Resources
• Insights

The goal of lateral communication is to improve efficiency. It also facilitates operational work, builds transparency, and encourages ongoing collaboration.

Examples:

• The Content Marketing Specialist shares strategy with the in-house SEO expert.
• The Product Developer gives feedback on user flow to the UI/UX Designer.
• A CS rep shares insights on recurring issues with the CX Manager.

Dynamic 4. Diagonal communication

This dynamic enables the bypass of traditional hierarchy. It involves the interactions between employees of different departments and levels of hierarchy.

Diagonal communication includes sharing the following:

• Strategic goals and updates
• Cross-departmental project info
• Support requests
• Updates
• Feedback on shared projects
• Coordination efforts
• Performance metrics and analysis

The goal of diagonal communication is to break work silos.

It can also facilitate operational tasks and foster transparency. Finally, it encourages collaboration between different teams and hierarchical structures.

Examples:

• The in-house Ads Expert requests deal insights from the Sales Rep.
• The Content Creator shares a content project update with the CTO.
• The CS rep shares performance metrics with the Product Owner to align goals.

It’s worth noting that miscommunication may happen at all levels.

These communication gaps may impact SaaS messaging across different touchpoints. But we’ll discuss this topic in a different doc.