Shared Communication Channels
Shared communication channels refer to digital platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar, where members of different Stream Teams can post messages, share files, and collaborate asynchronously. These channels facilitate open communication and information exchange across the organisation.
Goal
Shared communication channels enable Stream Teams to share relevant insights about the work that they are doing to assist other teams or keep them informed. On top of keeping people informed it helps to foster a culture of transparency and open access to information.
Context
Any reasonably sized product will have multiple Stream Teams working on different parts of the product. While every effort is made to ensure that teams are independent, users do not care about the internal structure of the product. They see a single product. This means that it is useful for teams to know what work is going on in different parts of the product. In addition, during discovery or design users might raise items related to other parts of the product that would be useful to capture and share.
Inputs
| Artifact | Description |
|---|---|
| Research Insights | Findings from user research, market analysis, or competitive analysis. |
| Design Insights | Results from assumption validation experiments and design explorations. |
| Development Insights | Architectural decisions, impacts and outcomes. |
| Product Insights | Product strategy, vision, roadmap updates & outcomes. |
Outputs
| Format | Description | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Blogs | Written articles or posts published on an internal or external platform to share insights, updates, and stories. | Sharing in-depth knowledge, company news, and best practices with a wider audience. |
| Email Newsletters | Regularly scheduled emails containing updates, news, and resources sent to all employees or specific groups. | Consistent, broad communication that keeps the entire company or specific departments informed on key initiatives and updates. |
| Internal Wikis | Collaborative web pages that can be edited by anyone in the company to provide and update information. | Centralising knowledge, maintaining up-to-date documentation, and sharing best practices or guidelines. |
| All-Hands Meeting Agenda | Regularly scheduled meetings where the entire company or specific departments come together to discuss key updates, initiatives, and goals. | Major announcements, strategic updates, fostering a sense of community, and aligning the entire organisation around common goals. |
Rationale
The majority of the methods for cross-team communication should be asynchronous so as not to disrupt the work of the teams. The exception to this is the all-hands meetings which are synchronous but having periodic synchronous communication is important to ensure that everyone is up to date on what is happening across the Product as well as for building a sense of community.
Other Format Artifacts
| Format | Description | ZeroBlockers Opinion |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time Chat Tools | Platforms that enable instant messaging and collaboration among team members. | Realtime chat is great for within a team but it is not great for cross-team collaboration. The intent of realtime chat is quick, informal communication. Cross-team collaboration should be less frequent and more structured. |
Anti-patterns
- Over-segmentation: Creating too many specific channels can fragment communication and make it hard to follow.
- Under-utilisation: Failing to actively use or engage in the channels can lead to silos and missed information.
- Over-utilisation: Posting too frequently creates an overhead for people to try to keep up with the updates.
- Lack of Moderation: Without moderation, channels can become cluttered with off-topic messages or spam, reducing their effectiveness.