Team Collaboration & Change
Communication Protocols
Agree where the team talks about what, how fast people answer and when nobody is disturbed.
- Time: 30 to 45 min
- With: The whole team
- You get: A short agreement the team can point to when expectations clash
How to use this worksheet
- Collect how the team communicates today and where it hurts (missed messages, duplicate threads, meetings that could be e-mails).
- Fill the sections in order. Prefer specific numbers ("within 4 working hours") over adjectives ("quickly").
- Agree to try the protocol for 4 weeks, then revisit it in a retrospective.
One purpose per channel. Say what belongs where, so nobody has to guess.
Prompts and example
Ask yourself
- Where do decisions get recorded?
- Where do urgent things go?
- What should never be discussed in chat?
Example
- Chat (#team): quick questions and coordination, thread replies - E-mail: external contacts and anything formal - Tracker: tasks, status and decisions, never only in chat - Calls: conflicts, brainstorming, anything with more than three replies
How quickly should people reply on each channel? Slower is fine, if it is clear.
Prompts and example
Ask yourself
- What does "urgent" mean, and how is it flagged?
- Does the answer have to be complete, or only an acknowledgment?
Example
- Chat: within 4 working hours - E-mail: within 1 working day - Urgent (call or @here with "URGENT"): within 30 minutes during core hours
What do we expect before, during and after meetings?
Prompts and example
Ask yourself
- Camera on or off by default?
- Who takes notes and who follows up?
- When is a meeting not needed?
Example
- Agenda sent 24 h before; no agenda, no meeting - Start on time, end 5 minutes early - Camera on for small groups, optional in large ones - Notes with owners and dates within one working day
When is nobody expected to respond, and how are people protected?
Prompts and example
Ask yourself
- Which time zones does the team span?
- What status do people set when focusing?
Example
- No internal meetings Tuesday and Thursday mornings - No reply expected after 18:00 or on weekends - Focus status in chat means: only call if urgent
How do we reach each other when something is really on fire?
Prompts and example
Ask yourself
- Who is on call, and how do people find out?
- What counts as an emergency?
Example
Emergency means customer-facing outage or a data risk. Call the on-call phone (rota in the wiki). No answer after 10 minutes: call the team lead.
Anything else that causes friction: language, tone, tools, documentation.
Prompts and example
Example
- Shared channels in English - Decisions are written in the tracker within a day - Assume good intent; ask before escalating
Before you finish
- Every channel has exactly one purpose.
- Response times are numbers, not adjectives.
- Remote and part-time colleagues can follow the agreement as well as everyone else.
- A date is set to review how it is working.
Why write communication rules down
Most communication friction comes from unspoken expectations: one person answers in minutes, another in days, and both think they are being reasonable. A written protocol turns those expectations into something you can discuss and adjust.
Keep it short enough to remember. If the team never looks at it, it is too long.
Recommended reading
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- Crucial ConversationsPatterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler
Tools for talking when stakes are high, opinions vary and emotions run strong.
- Nonviolent CommunicationMarshall B. Rosenberg
A language of needs and requests that defuses conflict and builds understanding.