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Chat Rules

We agree on effective and convenient communication with remote work (and not only)


Recently I talked with a friend who transfers the company to remote work, talked about our experience in maintaining effective communication in a team. Then I re-read and realized that I had a list of recommendations that could be useful not only to my friend. And if so, it is worth sharing it.



We at Setronica as a whole company completely switched to work from home two weeks ago. Nevertheless, the company has many years of online experience. We always worked with remote customers and partners, and periodic work from home or from a remote location was encouraged. So the transition was almost painless for us.

The article describes my own experience and the rules that I try to maintain in my team.

We use Slack for most text communications and ad hoc calls. You can use other instant messengers, which is more familiar and convenient for you. I find specialized solutions for work more convenient, but I know teams that use, for example, Telegram. Personally, I prefer not to use the same messengers that are used for personal communication with family and friends, so for me it would not be convenient. Some tips are specific to Slack, in other systems it can be implemented by other means, but most seem to me quite universal.

Rule 1: be chatting during business hours


The presence in the chat during business hours should be mandatory. Moreover, if before this there was no such rule, it is important to explain why it appears. Otherwise, the introduction of the rule can be perceived as an attempt at micro-control, which will not have the best effect on team morale.

This is important because it immerses in the general context, replacing the real presence in the office:

  • The analogue “came to work / left work”. There are no colleagues in the chat, we believe that they are not at work, we try not to pull without special need.
  • No need to run around and look for a way to contact a colleague if you need to chat.
  • An opportunity to ask “into the air” as if they were sitting in the same room and get an answer from who is available.
  • Opportunity for colleagues to keep abreast of discussions around, offer their advice or help, if necessary.

Rule 2: Tell When You Leave and Come


It’s convenient to agree to announce that you are absent for a while or have finished work. Sometimes it makes sense to start a special chat for this, so that such messages are not lost in the general stream of work discussions.

Without this rule, if they wrote to you, but you don’t answer, it’s not clear what to do. If you wrote before that you left for half an hour, everyone is calm, everyone understands that you will return - you will answer. There is a problem with this rule: colleagues warn that they were absent, but forget to tell you that they returned, immediately plunged into work. At least I notice this for myself. In Slack, you can set the text status and immediately set how long it will automatically reset. I started using it recently, while it seems convenient.

Rule 3: check that there are the right channels


It’s worth starting a chat “all sorts of things” (conditional name) for easy communication. After all, "not a single work." Let the jokes send there, memes, your photos, interesting links, etc. Moreover, if the team does not start to do this itself, I will try to set an example. We still have a whole set of thematic chats, about conferences and meetings, for example.

Still need a chat "announcements", where, on the contrary, it is strongly recommended not to write without an important reason. This chat has only important announcements that apply to everyone. Everyone is subscribed to it without fail and should be read at least a couple of times a day.

Now we have opened a separate channel for near-viral and home-based cases. Because it "hurts" and otherwise, conversations about it spread throughout all the chats and distract from work. This is inconvenient, someone may be nervous. And so here are funny pictures, and good tips on organizing a home office and the like. Those who don’t like this do not go into this chat and feel calmer.

This, by the way, is a general rule, there are channels, the presence of which is mandatory - announcements, team (or several, as we have, for different topics), project, if several teams work on it, but there are purely voluntary ones. If you want, unsubscribe completely, if you want, browse once a week.

Rule 4: arrange a comfortable response time


It makes sense to immediately agree on the rules of communication and the expected response time. It is clear that this is not an SLA, for violation of which they are deprived of a premium, but a benchmark for communication speed that is convenient for everyone. For example, general messages can be viewed in comfort mode, but at least once or twice a day. At the same time, personal appeals ( @usernamein Slack) and special appeals ( @hereand @channelin Slack) require a quicker response. Here you need to find a balance that is convenient for you between distracting people from their work and communication efficiency.

Rule 5: Notification Mood


It is important to help everyone set up notifications so that messages in general chats do not arrive with constant notifications on the screen and headphones, distracting from work every few minutes, but the special ones attract attention. In Slack, this is conveniently done. There you can also configure notifications for keywords. I have set it to “failed” :) If necessary, you can agree on “periods of silence” when an employee can turn off all notifications. It is convenient if this state is displayed in status. It helps not to get nervous while waiting for an answer or immediately go to the call if the question is urgent. Slack has a snooze function through which the sender, if desired, can break through if there really is such a need.

Rule 6: call if that


If the answer is no longer than the agreed time, you can always call. I would say you need to call if the issue is really urgent and important.

For convenience, we asked everyone to fill out a phone number in the Slack profile and, if desired, alternative messengers. Now you don’t have to look for a contact somewhere else.

Rule 7: Let me know you will answer later


It is not always convenient to answer immediately, even if you read the message. Maybe because to answer you need to collect information, it may be more important to first complete the current task, or maybe just not convenient at the moment. But I ask everyone to be courteous and to note "I see, I will answer later." In Slack, it’s convenient to use emoji reactions for this.

Rule 8: do not remember - write down


There is a risk later still forgetting to answer, so in such cases I immediately put a reminder on my message. This helps when "oh, there’s no time to reply to the message, then," and then "went on." True, it may happen that the reminder then torments you :) But it’s better than leaving the question completely unanswered or forgetting to make the promise. I think it’s useful for everyone to learn how to use reminders in Slack, this is a great tool.

Rule 9: discuss work in the chat, not in PM


I beg my colleagues to discuss all working issues in general chats, not to hide in personal correspondence. This habit is slowly inculcated, but I do not give up and slowly everyone understands the benefits. Firstly, it is easy to invite other colleagues to connect. Secondly, there is no feeling of "silence in the room", it is clear that some kind of movement is going around. Well, of course, this helps me, as a manager, not to engage in micromanagement and not to constantly ask “how are you?”, To keep abreast of problems and decisions made.

UPD:AlexP11223in the comments gave a link where it is described in more detail why communication in public channels is preferable and how to stop being afraid of it.

Rule 10: Use Thematic Branches


One of the great features of Slack and similar groupware is its support for threads .

I consider it useful to develop the habit of giving an answer to a message not in the next message, but in the attachment to it. We get two advantages at once:

  • Parallel discussions do not interfere with each other. Little is more annoying than trying to sort out a few mixed-up conversations.
  • In Slack, the discussion threads are very clever - messages in topics are not displayed in the channel status as “not read”, unless you specifically subscribed to it or you are not automatically subscribed there. The latter will happen if you started a discussion or participated in it, or you were mentioned there. You can unsubscribe at any time. Thus, you can track only those topics that are important or interesting to you.

11:


Recently, I have heard recommendations for virtual voice rooms, where everyone is with mics turned off, but sound is turned on. Like, it gives the illusion of being in the same room and the ability to speak to colleagues in a voice. And sometimes recommendations to keep not only the sound on, but also the camera turned on. It seems to me a completely unnecessary and unnecessary invasion of privacy. Still, we are not in the office, but at home. Not everyone has a cozy separate office.

Sometimes when solving a joint problem it can be convenient, and we use this option. When a difficult task arises, developers spend several hours at Zoom conference. They work with the development environment on the common screen, discuss the details, switch between individual work and the common screen. And so for several hours, all the while staying in touch.

The important thing is that the team itself chose this format, it is not imposed by the manager.

Rule 12: do not wait for instant returns


Well and the most important rule - without fanaticism. It will not work right away and 100% adherence to the rules will never happen. But gradually everyone understands the convenience and chatting becomes more comfortable. The rules are developed and instilled gradually and there is nothing to worry about if they are accidentally sometimes violated. The keyword is sometimes. First you have to prompt and remind.

Rule 13: Improving Evolutionarily


Perhaps not all of these rules will be helpful to you. Somewhere, the specifics of historically selected instruments are strong. Somewhere, processes developed in a special way.
But of which I am sure that it will work for sure: to negotiate with colleagues. Do not take inconvenience for granted. Together look for opportunities for improvement. And be ready to help each other. So we will make effective any remote or whatever the universe will throw us.

And what are your team rules for effective communication?

Additions from Habrovsk



Do not ask meta questions.


thank AlexP11223
A meta-question is a question that implies other questions, for example:

Can I ask a question?
Is there anyone who understands N?
Did anyone here take a course from Yandex on a cursor? There is a question on text analysis ...
Guys, there is a question on% framework_name%

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