Don't Silo Communication

We've all likely had the thought to take a question that was asked in a large email thread or on a full team message board and to move it to a direct message or talk about it with the person 1:1. Maybe it seems like there's something you don't understand and you don't want to bore the group while you catch up on the details. Maybe there's something the person asking doesn't understand and you don't want to point that out in such a public setting. Maybe you're both well-informed and the answer is nuanced so you don't want to bother the group with a lengthy back and forth on the details. Sometimes, that's for the best.

But it's also important to realize that keeping communication out in the open can offer many benefits! Recognize that others may be new to a project and are craving a way to get up to speed faster. By breaking out to a sub-thread, you've taken this opportunity away from them. Further, junior members of the team may benefit from the public dialogue by seeing how more experienced team members think about and work through problems. You might uncover a new question through the debate that requires broader team alignment. By talking openly everyone else can readily follow the line of thinking by which the new question was discovered.

For teams, communicating is one of the hardest pieces of work. Don't make it harder than it needs to be. Keep information in the open.