Coordination strategy and goals#
2i2c is a distributed organization, and believes strongly in following practices that are inclusive, participatory, and collaborative. It has team members spread out over many time zones working on a variety of projects. There are many guides and tips for distributed working[1], and we’ve tried to distill a few key components for our workflows.
Our goals#
Here are the goals we optimize for in organizing our team coordination practices.
Give team members insight into what one another is working on (not to “report up”)
Look for opportunities to work together and/or support one another’s work efficiently
Provide some social accountability to get stuff done
We want to do this with high efficiency so that people can quickly get on the same page and focus efforts around decision-making and collaboration. We also wish to do it in a 💯 remote-friendly way since we are split across many different time-zones.
Have a single source of truth#
For any information or projects in 2i2c, there should be one source of truth. Any conflicting information will defer to this source of truth, and it should be updated first and often. The default source of truth is this team compass, unless otherwise specified.
If it’s not written it doesn’t exist#
Documentation is the most important tool for coordinating and distributing information across distributed teams. It is crucial that 2i2c team members document all relevant information about their projects, what they are working on, etc.
Broadcast updates in multiple places#
Different people have different preferred methods of engagement and communication on 2i2c projects. For this reason, don’t assume that posting an update or question in a single location will reach everybody that you wish to reach. Do not hesitate to post questions or ask for feedback in multiple places (e.g., GitHub, Slack, or even email). However, try to keep information in a single place to have a single source of truth.
Update early and often#
Err on the side of updating the team more often than not. Nobody should be surprised when something gets done - especially nothing major. Your work should be as transparent to others as possible!
rems