Weekly rhythms for better communication between tech and leadership
- Ceri Shaw
- May 22
- 4 min read
Frustrated by unclear progress from your tech team? Here’s how a few lightweight weekly rhythms can improve communication and visibility between engineering and business leadership without adding overhead.
Feeling Out of the Loop with Your Tech Team?
If you find yourself wondering:
“Wait… what’s the tech team actually working on right now?”
“Why are we still waiting on that feature?”
“Should I be stepping in, or staying out of the way?”
... you're not alone.
This is something I hear from CEOs and founders all the time, especially when their startup or scaleup has grown past a few people and the engineering team is now its own little island.
When communication starts to break down between tech and the rest of the business, it can feel awkward to fix. You don’t want to micromanage, but you do need clarity on what's happening. The temptation is to throw more meetings or tools at the problem, and that's unlikely to fix the underlying issues.
Here’s what works: a few simple weekly rhythms that keep things connected, visible, and on track, without slowing anyone down.
Why Weekly Communication Rhythms Help Align Tech and Leadership
The root of the problem usually isn’t bad intent or bad people. It’s just that the tech and commercial sides of the company end up operating in slightly different worlds.
You have different pressures. Different timelines. Different ways of thinking and talking about progress.
The solution isn’t more dashboards or more status meetings, it’s creating a regular, lightweight cadence where communication can happen naturally, with the right people present.
3 Simple Weekly Actions to Align Engineering and Business Goals
1. Weekly Check-In Between CEO, Engineering and Product
You may already have this meeting in place, so ask yourself how useful it actually is? Are the right people always there? Are you getting the information you need?
Who: You (the CEO), your tech lead, CTO or head of engineering, and your product person (if you have one)
When: 30 mins at the start of the week works best in my experience
Why: Get aligned on what’s been done, what’s coming up, and anything that might be drifting
Share:
Changes to business goals or priorities and the why behind them
This is important to reiterate, even if you think everyone already knows. Tech teams don't always make the connection between strategic changes and what they're working on and this helps to reinforce that connection.
Talk through:
What got shipped last week
What’s in motion now
Any risks, blockers, or trade-offs
Are we still building toward the right things?
This isn't a deep technical meeting, it should be focused on business priorities and how that relates to the work being done. If necessary, redirect the conversation back to a higher level.
2. Async Weekly Engineering Update for Leadership
This is an asynchronous weekly update and I'd encourage it to be in a public form e.g. a Slack or Teams update to the general channel or a company-wide email if you must.
Who: Your Tech Lead or CTO should write it
When: End of week, ideally same time every week
Why: Gives you visibility on progress without needing a meeting
This should take at most 10 mins to write and 2 mins to read and consist of a few bullet points:
What we delivered
Any delays or decisions coming up
What’s next
Anything the tech team needs from other stakeholders
Sharing these updates publicly improves visibility of what the tech team is doing and builds momentum and excitement around new features and releases.
3. The CEO–Engineering 1:1 to Strengthen Tech Leadership and Strategy
Who: Just you and your Engineering Tech Lead or CTO
When: 30 mins weekly, or 1 hour every two weeks is a good rhythm. Personally I prefer weekly as it doesn't matter then if you skip the odd one due to holidays or other commitments
Why: A safe space to talk about what’s going well, what’s stuck, and what the company really needs from tech
This isn’t about reviewing what's been done, it’s about building a shared understanding of where you’re heading and what’s getting in the way.
Some prompts that help:
“What’s feeling tricky or unclear right now?”
“What do you wish the business understood better?”
“What’s the team getting stuck on?”
“What needs to shift to make faster progress?”
It can also be good to share progress towards business goals and how the tech team is contributing towards those goals. For more tips, see this blog post on communicating with technical teams
Better Communication = Faster, Smarter Product Delivery
This isn't more process, it's about getting more out of your existing communication channels, ensuring you're asking the right questions and building trust and raport between yourself and your CTO or Technical lead.
A few regular check-ins like these can:
Surface misalignment early
Give your tech team more clarity and context
Help you feel confident without chasing updates
When done well, these rhythms create a quiet hum of communication that makes everything else run smoother and they don't add a huge comms burden to already busy teams. Good communication is essential for alignment between technical teams and the business.
You don’t need to run your tech team. But you do need to stay connected to what’s happening, and make sure your goals are actually showing up in what gets built.
These simple weekly rhythms can help you do just that.
Want Help Improving Communication and Alignment?
I work with CEOs and CTOs to improve delivery and leadership alignment in growing tech teams.
Or get in touch here: info@thistle-labs.com
コメント