Seamless Collaboration: Communication Guidelines #

Effective communication is crucial for us, especially as a remote team. This document outlines our communication standards and best practices to help you integrate smoothly and collaborate efficiently with your new colleagues.

Best Practices for Public Communication #

Use Public Channels for Most Communications: #

Whenever possible, use public channels for discussions, questions, and updates.

Tag Relevant Members: #

Tag specific team members in public channels to draw their attention to relevant messages without resorting to private messaging.

Using Threads: #

Utilizing threads for specific topics helps to avoid spamming and disturbing team members who are not interested in the particular discussion, keeping channels organized and focused.

Summarize Private Conversations: #

If a private conversation is necessary, summarize the key points and share them in the relevant public channel for everyone’s benefit.

Encourage Open Dialogue: #

Foster an open and supportive environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas in public channels.

Document Decisions: #

Any decisions made during discussions in the working messenger should be documented in the project specifications or relevant tickets to ensure clarity, accountability and easy finding.

Public Channels are Preferred. Why? #

Visibility: Public channels ensure that everyone has visibility into ongoing discussions and decisions, fostering transparency and building trust within the team.

Documented Decisions: Discussions in public channels serve as a form of documentation, capturing decisions and the rationale behind them for future reference.

Seamless Collaboration: If a discussion requires input from another team member, it’s easy to bring them into the conversation and provide the necessary context, unlike in private chats where information would need to be copied and shared separately.

Inclusivity: Using public channels allows all team members to contribute their insights and expertise, creating an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are valued.

Knowledge Repository: Public channels act as a knowledge repository where valuable information, solutions, and decisions are documented and easily accessible to everyone.

Collaborative Problem-Solving: Open discussions encourage collaborative problem-solving, where team members can brainstorm and contribute ideas, leading to more innovative solutions.

Easier Help Finding: It’s easier to find the right person who can help with an issue, ensuring that questions are answered promptly and no one is left without support.

Announcements: Major upcoming changes or blockers can be announced to everyone, ensuring that all team members are aware and can plan accordingly.

Onboarding: Newcomers can review past conversations and decisions to quickly get up to speed, reducing the learning curve and improving onboarding efficiency.

Peer Feedback: Public channels allow for peer feedback, where team members can provide constructive input and support each other’s work, enhancing overall quality.

Why We Avoid Private Communication #

Restricted Access: Private messages create information silos, where only a few individuals have access to critical information, leading to gaps in knowledge and potential misunderstandings.

Dependency Risks: If key information is shared privately, it creates dependencies on specific individuals, risking delays and disruptions if those individuals are unavailable.

Isolation: Private communication can lead to feelings of isolation among team members, as they may miss out on important discussions and feel disconnected from the team.

Lack of Context: Without access to full conversations, team members may lack the necessary context to make informed decisions or contribute effectively.

Repetitive Information Sharing: Private messages often result in repetitive information sharing, where the same message needs to be communicated to multiple individuals separately, wasting time and effort.

Missed Opportunities: Valuable insights and ideas shared privately may not reach the broader team, leading to missed opportunities for improvement and innovation.

Slack Communication #

In traditional office settings, spontaneous interactions around the watercooler foster quick problem-solving and team bonding, a dynamic that remote teams lack. Slack serves as a virtual watercooler, providing real-time and asynchronous communication that bridges this gap, ensuring instant updates and structured collaboration through dedicated channels. This is why Slack becomes indispensable.

1. Communication Guidelines #

Define Clear Response Times: Establish and communicate expected response times for different types of messages. For example, urgent matters should be tagged with @channel or @here and require a response within 1-2 hours. Non-urgent matters can tag only responsible individual/action owner and be discussed in threads with an expected response time of 4-16 hours.
Prioritize Urgency Levels: Use specific tags or keywords to indicate the urgency of a message. For instance, label messages with [URGENT]/[ASAP] for immediate attention.
Acknowledge Receipt: Acknowledge receipt of messages, especially for urgent matters, even if a full response will come later. A simple acknowledgment can provide reassurance that the message has been seen.
Set Availability Hours: Team members should specify their availability hours in their profiles or status messages. This helps others know when they can expect responses and plan accordingly.
Availability Updates: Update the team on any changes to availability or response times to avoid misunderstandings and ensure smooth communication.

2. Clear Channels #

Organized Structure: Create channels for specific topics, projects, or departments (e.g., #general, #dev-team, #progress-report, #investment-api).
Naming Conventions: Use consistent and descriptive naming conventions to make it easy for team members to find and join relevant channels.

3. Effective Use of Threads #

Thread Conversations: Encourage the use of threads to keep conversations organized and prevent cluttering the main channel.
Summarize Outcomes: Summarize key points and decisions from threads in the main channel to keep everyone informed.

Importance of Overlapping Hours for Distributed Teams #

Overlapping working hours are crucial for distributed teams, especially those spread across different time zones, for several reasons:

1. Enhanced Communication and Collaboration
Overlapping hours allow team members to have real-time conversations, which can lead to quicker decision-making and problem-solving.

2. Timely Feedback and Support
When team members’ schedules overlap, it becomes easier to provide immediate feedback and support, ensuring that tasks progress smoothly without unnecessary delays.

3. Building Team Cohesion
Regular interaction during overlapping hours helps in building stronger interpersonal relationships and a sense of unity within the team, fostering a more cohesive and supportive work environment.

4. Efficient Project Management
Having overlapping hours ensures that project updates, meetings, and coordination can happen more effectively, leading to better alignment on project goals and timelines.

5. Flexibility and Adaptability
Overlapping working hours provide a buffer to handle urgent issues or last-minute changes, making the team more adaptable to dynamic project requirements.

A general recommendation is to aim for at least 4 hours of overlap per day. Here’s a breakdown of why this range is effective:

Minimum Effective Communication: Team can conduct daily stand-up meetings, address urgent issues, and ensure there is a window for direct communication.
Time Zone Flexibility: It provides enough flexibility for team members in vastly different time zones to find a common window without significant disruption to their work-life balance.
Improved Collaboration: It allows for deeper collaboration on complex tasks and projects that require real-time interaction and decision-making.
Regular Meetings and Syncs: This window is sufficient for regular meetings, such as sprint planning, retrospectives, and other collaborative sessions.
Support and Mentoring: It provides time for team members to support each other, engage in mentoring, and resolve issues more comprehensively.

Quick Calls for Swift Resolution #

There are times when a quick call can resolve an issue more efficiently than a prolonged Slack conversation. Why it is reasonable:

Some problems are easier to explain and understand through verbal communication.
Immediate feedback and discussion can expedite decisions.
Foster collaboration: Voice call can enhance team understanding.

While quick calls are beneficial, it is crucial to ensure that the outcomes of these discussions are properly documented. This practice ensures transparency and maintains a record of decisions and actions taken. To achieve this always:

Summarize the call: write down main points discussed, decisions made, and action items.
Update relevant tickets: place the summary in the appropriate ticket or project management tool.
share with the team: Ensure that all relevant team members have access to the summary, whether through Slack, ticket, or documentation.

By adhering to these communication standards, we can ensure that our remote team remains connected, informed, and collaborative. Public communication helps us build a stronger, more cohesive team where knowledge is shared openly, and everyone has the opportunity to contribute to our collective success.