You sourced candidates, brought them in for interviews, emailed your colleagues for feedback, and got…radio silence. After making it through almost every stage of the hiring process, you’re stuck chasing down your colleagues while sought-after talent takes another offer.

Everyone involved in the recruiting process has faced this problem at some point or other. Lack of internal communication can be one of the most time consuming aspects of hiring new talent. No matter what size your company is, you’re bound to have more than one person involved in the hiring process. So how do you streamline communication between decision makers?

Even if you’re not the one waiting for feedback, these tips will help you better collaborate with your colleagues to reduce your overall time-to-hire. Don’t let those top candidates get away!

Appoint a Recruiting Lead

Chances are you have more than one person involved in your recruiting process. Whether it’s two people or twenty, appointing a leader for each position can significantly cut down your time-to-hire. The leader should be in charge of organizing the interview schedule, following up for feedback, and setting candidate review meetings. Internal recruiters or human resources professionals are usually in charge of this at larger firms. Otherwise, a great rule of thumb is whoever is most involved in the recruiting process (which is most likely the hiring manager).

Establish Deadlines

One of the more efficient ways to reduce your time-to-hire is to set a schedule for candidate review.  You can make it a company-wide rule or have the recruiting lead set a time frame for each position. Regardless of which one you choose, establishing a deadline will make it clear that feedback needs to be received in a timely fashion.

Use Collaboration Tools

Reviewing candidates shouldn’t have to be difficult or time consuming. Leverage tools designed to make the hiring process easier, like OneWire’s electronic resume books that can quickly send resumes and record feeback in one centralized place. Having a candidate relationship management (CRM) system significantly reduces your time-to-hire, while giving you the added benefit of maintaining information on previous applicants.

See how OneWire’s CRM talent management system simplifies candidate feedback.

Review Candidates in Person

One of the best ways to get feedback is to host an in-person meeting. If you’re recruiting team is in different locations, Skype or FaceTime is a great alternative. Set up a time directly after the interview for everyone to process and review the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate. Make sure you hear everyone out. Each interviewer had a different experience with the candidate which could bring up separate points you may not have considered.

If you already requested feedback and haven’t heard anything for a few days, walk over to your colleague’s desk and ask them for their thoughts. Sure, they might be on a different floor but a ten minute walk is better than waiting ten days and losing your best candidate to a competitor.

Update Candidates During the Recruiting Process

Staying in touch with candidates is necessary, even if there’s nothing new on your end. Tell them your team is still in the process of interviewing but that you’ll be there to update them if they have any questions. Not only will it retain their attention, it also gives you a reason to follow up with your colleagues. Send them a note saying you spoke with the candidate and wanted to check in for feedback.

Collaborating during the hiring process is time consuming without having the right system in place. Although these tips are a great first step towards decreasing your time-to-hire, every recruiting team is different. Discuss these options with your colleagues before you begin the hiring process to customize any of these steps.

This post originally appeared on the OneWire Resources blog. Still struggling to keep track of candidates while recruiting? OneWire's talent management platform can help.