SE-Radio Episode 340: Lara Hogan and Deepa Subramaniam on Revitalizing a Cross-Functional...

Flow Techniques

Enhancing communication flow is crucial for distributed teams to ensure everyone has the necessary information to perform their tasks effectively. Deepa Subramaniam emphasizes the importance of diagnosing communication blockages and reverse engineering solutions, such as using tools like Basecamp for asynchronous discussions 1. Lara Hogan adds that setting clear expectations for team members regarding meeting attendance can help manage workloads and improve communication flow 1.

A manager should be setting expectations for their individual teammates, what they should be expecting in their given week, to actually attend meetings and be invested in meetings.

--- Lara Hogan

By establishing clear communication channels and expectations, teams can better navigate their tasks and responsibilities.

   

Communication Context

Context plays a vital role in communication strategies, impacting decision-making and team alignment. Deepa Subramaniam and Lara Hogan highlight the importance of providing consistent and unified communication updates to avoid disjointed messages and ensure everyone understands the reasoning behind decisions 2. This approach fosters a culture of transparency and trust, encouraging team members to share their decision-making processes openly.

You got to share that backstory, share that journey to the decision, because that buy-in then comes when people understand the thought process that brought you there.

--- Deepa Subramaniam

By sharing the context and narrative behind decisions, teams can achieve better alignment and reduce uncertainty.