What Microsoft taught me about communications
How communications differ between small companies and large companies
I started my career at a medium-sized company working on two products with a local team of 15 people. Later I joined three startups with less than 100 people. For both settings, it was easy to establish relationships with everyone. Moreover, there were only a few products that the team was focusing on and everyone was usually in the loop of what was going on. This high level of mutual understanding yielded to a form of communication I call cursory communication, where the number of stakeholders is low, communications can be more ad-hoc and less formal, and one does not need to provide too much context for their communication to be effective.
Compared to the former, Microsoft is a much larger organization with a complex team structure and diverse stakeholders. Cursory communication no longer works because not everyone involved in the project is familiar with the product, the team may be different every time so new relationships need to be built, and not everyone will be local. This naturally leads to several challenges:
- With the increase in stakeholders, the difficulty in managing expectations surges.
- More time needs to be spent on establishing relationships with new team members.
- There is a lack of common understanding among team members.
- Increased risk of unforeseen issues due to increased inter-team dependencies.
- More time needs to be spent on communication.
- Higher risk of duplicating efforts.
- Increased number of meetings due to increased stakeholders.
- Lowered tendency to seek inputs from people connecting remotely.
How to communicate more effectively at large companies
To tackle some of these challenges, I shifted my style of communication to something I call exhaustive communication.
Use the DACI framework to manage stakeholders
When leading a complex project with many stakeholders, it is important to understand who your stakeholders are. The DACI model is one of the tools that can help you categorize the stakeholders into Driver, Approver, Contributor, and Informed. This will help you identify who should be included in different forms of communication. There are many articles on how to use the DACI model so I’m not going to elaborate in this article, but I will share a template I’m using below. Note that this is a living table because more stakeholders may surface as the project progresses.
Always provide context for clarity
For projects involving collaboration with many teams, it is common that some people may not know much about the product. In addition, it is frequent that more people will join the team as the project evolves. Therefore, it is important to include an appropriate level of context in your communications. This mostly manifests in three areas:
Chats. Whenever sending chats to others, remember to include a brief message on which project you are inquiring about, the context of your question, and what you are hoping to get from them. The reason this is important is that people are working on many projects at once in large companies. Asking a question without context will cause confusion.
Meetings. In order to have an effective meeting, you should always include a meeting agenda in the invite which should include the related background information, the goals of the meeting, and points of discussion.
During the meeting, always start with a short opening stating the goals of the meeting and the topics to be discussed. This will ensure throughout the meeting everyone is focused and stay on track.
Spec documents. At a minimum include the Why, Goals, and Background. This helps readers to start with a common understanding and allow subsequent communications to be easier and less repetitive.
Use templates to improve communication efficiency and effectiveness
The use of templates can help reduce the amount of written work, mental stress, and communication time. Predictability helps readers to find content easier. Below are some templates I use frequently.
The template for first-time outreach over chat or email
Hi …, hope you are doing well. my name is …. I’m a <role> on the … team. Currently, I’m working on a project that …. I’m reaching out in the hope of…. (optional) Would it be ok for us to set up a quick call this week to discuss further?
The template for weekly status reports
Having a template for weekly status reports can help you keep track of the various moving parts in a project. Sending reports out on a regular cadence can help all parties stay in touch. It can also act as a reminder for people who have tasks assigned to them. In addition, it can prompt people to alert you of any duplicated efforts across teams and any unforeseen risks. Below is an example of the template I use:
Use chats more instead of meetings
Let’s be blunt, most people don't like meetings. It distracts people from their work and may not be the most effective way to share information. Therefore, think really hard if you need a meeting. Most of the time, a group chat may be sufficient. It has the benefit of lessening miscommunication, minimizing distraction, and reducing paperwork.
As a final thought, what is most important is to find a method of communication that works for both you and your team. I’ve shared some of my learnings and practices, hoping to hear yours.
Disclaimer: All views and content expressed in this article are based on my own experience and do not represent the opinion of any entity whatsoever with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated.
