# Comms

> >-

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-michaelsvanbeek-personal-agent-skills-comms`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [michaelsvanbeek](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/michaelsvanbeek)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [michaelsvanbeek](https://github.com/michaelsvanbeek)
- **Source:** https://github.com/michaelsvanbeek/personal-agent-skills/tree/main/skills/comms

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-michaelsvanbeek-personal-agent-skills-comms
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Communications

## When to Use

- Preparing an executive briefing or leadership update
- Writing a team or org newsletter
- Announcing a launch, migration, or deprecation
- Managing expectations when timelines slip
- Negotiating priorities with peers or product
- Escalating a blocking issue
- Delivering difficult messages
- Building team visibility across the org

For recurring status updates (weekly, monthly, quarterly), see the **status-updates** skill.

---

## Principles

1. **Know your audience** — tailor depth, language, and framing
2. **Lead with "so what"** — why should this person care? Start there.
3. **Be direct** — state your point in the first 2 sentences
4. **Propose, don't just present** — come with a recommendation
5. **Quantify** — numbers build credibility
6. **Close the loop** — end with a clear next step or ask

---

## Writing for Each Audience

### Upward (Manager, VP, Exec)

**They care about**: business impact, risks, decisions needed, confidence level.

#### Executive Briefing

```markdown
## [Topic] — [Date]

### Bottom Line
[1–2 sentences: the key message. Most important thing first.]

### Context
[2–3 sentences: enough background to understand]

### Options
| Option | Pros | Cons | Effort | Rec |
|--------|------|------|--------|-----|
| A | ... | ... | ... | ← |
| B | ... | ... | ... | |

### Recommendation
[Which option and why — 2 sentences]

### Ask
[Specific: "I need a decision by Friday" or "Approve option A"]
```

**Tips**:
- Don't bury the lede — if the project is off track, say so first
- Frame problems with solutions — "X is at risk. My plan: Y"
- Use their language (revenue, retention) not yours (story points, tech debt)
- Pre-wire important decisions — align with your manager before the VP meeting

### Lateral (Peer EMs, PMs, Designers)

**They care about**: dependencies, shared priorities, capacity, coordination.

```markdown
## [Topic] — Cross-Team Update

### Context
[What's happening and why it affects both teams]

### Our Plan
[What we're doing and our timeline]

### What We Need From You
[Specific, timeboxed asks]

### What You Can Expect From Us
[Deliverables and dates]

### Open Questions
[Things to resolve together]
```

**Tips**:
- Be transparent about constraints
- Negotiate, don't mandate — you have influence, not authority
- Document agreements — follow up Slack with a written summary or email
- Proactive > reactive

### Downward (Your Team)

**They care about**: context, impact on their work, recognition, honesty.

**Tips**:
- Share context generously — the "why" matters more than the "what"
- Be transparent about uncertainty
- Celebrate publicly, coach privately
- Don't sugarcoat — teams respect honesty
- Repeat important messages across channels

### Org-Wide (Broad Audience)

**They care about**: high-level impact, customer stories, team culture.

Keep it accessible to non-engineers. Good for team visibility and recruiting.

---

## Newsletter Format

**Cadence**: bi-weekly or monthly
**Channel**: Slack, email, or Confluence
**Length**: 3–5 minutes to read

```markdown
# [Team Name] Update — [Date]

## Wins
- [Win with impact] — [brief context]
- [Win with impact]

## What's Coming
- [Initiative] — expected by [date], enables [outcome]

## By the Numbers
- [Metric]: [current] (from [previous])

## Spotlight
[Person or topic] — [what happened and why it matters]

## Links
- [Confluence page, demo recording, or dashboard]
```

**Rules**:
- Lead with impact, not effort
- Name people — recognition builds morale and visibility
- Include visuals when possible — charts, screenshots
- Keep it scannable — bullets, headers, bold key phrases
- Consistent cadence — same schedule every time

---

## Announcements (launches, deprecations, changes)

```markdown
# [Announcement Title]

## What's Changing
[1–2 sentences]

## Why
[1–2 sentences]

## Impact
[Who is affected and how]

## Timeline
| Date | Milestone |
|------|-----------|

## What You Need to Do
[Numbered action items]

## Questions?
[Slack channel, FAQ link, contact person]
```

**Post the announcement before the change, not after.**

---

## Escalation

### Before Escalating

1. Attempt to resolve at the current level
2. Document the issue, impact, and what you've tried
3. Notify the other party that you plan to escalate

### Escalation Message

```markdown
## Escalation: [Issue]

### Situation
[Factual, no editorializing]

### Impact
[Business impact: customers, revenue, timeline]

### What We've Tried
[Steps taken]

### What We Need
[Specific decision or action]

### Timeline
[Urgency: "Need a decision by EOD"]
```

Stick to facts. Quantify impact. Propose a path forward.

---

## Pushing Back

```
"I understand the importance of [their request]. Here's the trade-off:
taking this on would mean [what we'd deprioritize].

My recommendation is [alternative]. If [their request] is the higher
priority, I'm open to adjusting — I want to make sure we're making
that trade-off intentionally."
```

---

## Delivering Bad News

1. **Be direct** — "We're going to miss the deadline by two weeks"
2. **Own it** — acknowledge what your team could have done differently
3. **Bring a plan** — bad news + recovery plan is 10× better than bad news alone
4. **Give advance notice** — get ahead of it

---

## Anti-Patterns

| Anti-Pattern | Fix |
|-------------|-----|
| Burying bad news | Lead with the most important item |
| Problems without solutions | Always propose a path forward |
| Jargon with execs | Translate to business language |
| Vague asks | Make every ask specific and actionable |
| Over-communicating | Match detail to audience; less is more for execs |
| Forgetting to name people | Always credit individuals |

---

## Related Skills

- **status-updates** — Recurring cadence-based updates
- **planning** — Presenting plans to stakeholders
- **meeting-facilitation** — Running effective meetings
- **inbox-management** — Triaging incoming communications

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [michaelsvanbeek](https://github.com/michaelsvanbeek)
- **Source:** [michaelsvanbeek/personal-agent-skills](https://github.com/michaelsvanbeek/personal-agent-skills)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-michaelsvanbeek-personal-agent-skills-comms
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/michaelsvanbeek
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

---
Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.