Building Bridges: The Art of Effective Communication Across Teams

At HackerOne, we believe that the better we are aligned, the better we know where to go, and the more confident, empowered, and engaged HackerOnies will be.

So, how do you run prime communication on a project that spans multiple teams? The 3 Ps: Purpose, People, Process.

Purpose

Have a clear sense of where you are going, and communicate it well. The more time you spend on explaining and defining the final outcome, the less you need to align on specific tasks. You empower others to make decisions. The more people are on the same mission, the less room for problems. Try to be concise and to the point with the message, and be explicit about what you expect from other people. If necessary, you may want to add a Call To Action or try to engage other people to contribute to the discussion by explicitly asking them what they think.

More than that, repeat yourself all the time. Say it in the same words, find something catchy, make it like a chorus to your favorite song.

People

We are all unique as humans, we all carry different cultural backgrounds. The feeling that you create in your project contributes to an open and honest culture. We are all products and producers of culture, so it is up to you to create that environment.

It is always recommended to over-communicate something rather than under-communicate. This will allow us to increase visibility into the things we are working on that may spark some interest for other teams, thereby leading to a natural collaboration. This will also help us identify blockers earlier, address dependencies and work around removing them gradually as we communicate it to other teams. Not only will it be useful for sharing information but also for gaining a common understanding of the topic that is being discussed, addressing pros and cons, and eventually agreeing on the next steps. It is very important that the goal should be creating an alignment between teams so that it would be easier to divide responsibilities, sequence the work, create feedback loops and, as a bonus, identify improvement opportunities.

Process

I also cringe at the word ‘process.' But, processes are your friend! They are there so you don’t need to waste time thinking about what to do all the time.

At HackerOne, we are Digital First. This means that we are working remotely, and that most of our communication goes via Zoom or Slack.

Depending on the type of communication we need to make, the medium might also change. For instance, if it’s something that concerns only the team, e.g., stand-up notes, team planning, or code reviews, typically, we would put this in the internal team Slack channel. If there is an incident that may affect more people in the entire company, it would be useful to publish this in the public Slack channel. So that we can more easily reach out to a broader audience and vice versa, other people could easily chime in in the thread. Or, you may also need a group of people to address some discussion points and come out with a decision, in which case you’d probably need to set up a meeting.

The best way to know when, who, and how to communicate with the interested parties is to agree in advance when starting the project. It is impossible to predict the future to know things in advance, but we can try to put ourselves in other people’s shoes to be able to think about what they’d like to know. From there, it’s easier to set expectations from all sides. Expectations prevent miscommunications, which help prevent damaging surprises and bad relationships.

Conclusion

In summary, effective communication goes beyond a singular act and should be viewed as an ongoing environment that you create. It is crucial for establishing strong connections with colleagues and maximizing their collective expertise. While challenges are bound to arise within any organization, a thriving company culture is not defined by the absence of problems but by the ability to address and resolve them swiftly and effectively. Each day presents an opportunity to cultivate a culture of open communication and knowledge sharing, which ultimately leads to enhanced outcomes for all stakeholders involved.