Scalable communication in  a distributed organization

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HIGH CONTEXT, LOW CONTEXT Scalable communication in   a distributed organization LENA MORITA

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@mirka Software Engineer at Automattic Co-Director at  Women Who Code Tokyo LENA MORITA

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and more!

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@mirka Uruguay United States Spain (living in UK) Slovakia Romania Japan Philippines MY TEAMMATES BY COUNTRY

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SIX MONTHS AGO…

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@mirka HIGH-CONTEXT COMMUNITY • Common values and ideals • Shared history • Everybody knows each other • Similar cultural background • Running jokes and jargon

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@mirka EXTREMELY HIGH CONTEXT! MY PREVIOUS JOBS • 3-person, all-Japanese agency  where we had a similar sense of humor and taste in music • 2-person agency with my significant other

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MY BEGINNINGS AT  AUTOMATTIC

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@mirka OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE • Audience • Longevity

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@mirka FOR AUTOMATTIC “WHY” REMOTE WORK? • Things can be built remotely (OSS). • When building for a diverse user base,  it’s better for the workforce to be diverse. • Only way to hire from the global talent pool.  “Talent and intelligence are equally distributed  throughout the world. But opportunity is not.”

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@mirka Remote work can be much more than “WORKING FROM HOME”

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@mirka FOR AUTOMATTIC REMOTE WORK IS… Replicating the co-located workplace experience Synchronous → Asynchronous  Verbal → Written

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SCALABLE COMMUNICATION

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@mirka ADVANTAGES ASYNC, WRITTEN COMMUNICATION • Public by default = No silos • Newcomers have access to historical context

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@mirka A framework for thinking about SCALABLE COMMUNICATION is useful for any organization,  remote or not.

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@mirka SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION can be very useful, but is expensive.

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@mirka In an async, written context, COMMUNICATION = EMITTING INFORMATION

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@mirka 1. Lifespan 2. Audience 3. Mode EMITTING INFO HOW AND WHERE?

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@mirka WILL WE NEED TO RETRIEVE THIS INFORMATION? LIFESPAN • Zero — Calls, meetings • Less than a few weeks — Slack, chat • More than a month — Blog, wiki, or any agreed-upon, searchable repository

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@mirka WHO WOULD WANT THIS INFORMATION? AUDIENCE • Only a specific person (private) • Only my immediate team • Topic-based narrower broader

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@mirka PUSH OR PULL? MODE FEED  Timely information that is mainly useful now. WIKI  Evergreen information that is retrieved when needed.  Anyone can edit.

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LOW-CONTEXT  COMMUNICATION

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@mirka LOTS OF SHARED CONTEXT HIGH-CONTEXT COMMUNICATION • Easier • Faster • More fun! But not scalable

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@mirka NOT MUCH SHARED CONTEXT LOW-CONTEXT COMMUNICATION • Takes empathy • Takes more time • Aﬀords less “personality” But scalable

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@mirka 1. Topic 2. Structure 3. Rhetoric CALIBRATE IS THERE ENOUGH CONTEXT?

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@mirka HOW FAMILIAR IS MY AUDIENCE? TOPIC • Imagine being a newcomer, or yourself in six months • Hypertext is your friend

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@mirka DOES IT SUPPORT DIFFERENT CONTEXTUAL NEEDS? STRUCTURE • Provide a TLDR • Clear structure with subheadings • If you have an “ask”, be clear about it

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@mirka ARE MY EXPRESSIONS STRAIGHTFORWARD? RHETORIC • Be careful: Slang, acronyms, colloquial expressions • Restrain the impulse to be “clever”