Team Communication Guide

Establishes clear communication norms that reduce noise, prevent misunderstandings, and keep teams aligned. Covers channel selection, response times, escalation, meetings, and async practices.

Usage

Describe your team size, distribution (co-located, hybrid, remote), communication tools used, and any current pain points (too many meetings, slow responses, information silos). Specify the team function and workflow.

Examples

• "Create a communication guide for a 15-person remote engineering team using Slack, GitHub, and Linear"
• "Design communication norms for a cross-functional product team with members in 3 time zones"
• "Build an escalation framework that defines when to Slack, email, call, or schedule a meeting"

Guidelines

• Define which channels to use for what: Slack for quick questions, email for external and formal, meetings for decisions
• Set clear response time expectations by channel and urgency: Slack (2h), email (24h), urgent (30m)
• Default to async communication; schedule meetings only when real-time discussion is necessary for decisions
• Write communication norms as a team, not top-down; people follow norms they helped create
• Review and update communication norms quarterly; what works for a 5-person team breaks at 15