Communication Norms

Default channels

• Slack — quick questions, status updates, blocker notifications, decisions that need a quick answer.
• Direct conversation with the lead — for anything that needs real-time alignment or is blocking you.
• Jira — all work tracking: tickets, their discussion, approval and status. Also the written record of decisions, incident write-ups and postmortems.
• GitLab MRs — technical discussion tied to code changes.

Async defaults

• Threaded replies. Don't blow up the channel.
• Document decisions in writing. If a decision happened in a DM or call, post the outcome as a comment on the related Jira ticket, or in the channel.
• Long-form context goes in the Jira ticket, not in Slack messages.

Synchronous

• Meetings are called when needed — blockers, problems, or company/team updates.
• No meeting without a clear purpose. Wrap up with outcomes or action items.

Working hours and availability

• No expectation of response outside those hours. If it's urgent, escalate through on-call or ping the lead directly.

Blockers

If you are blocked for more than half a day, it is your responsibility to escalate — not to wait. Sitting quietly on a blocker is not patience, it is a risk to the team's delivery.

• Reach out to the lead or whoever can resolve it directly — Slack message or in person.
• Don't wait for a scheduled meeting. Don't assume someone will notice.
• If the first person can't help, keep going up the chain until it's resolved.

The team cannot help you if they don't know you're stuck.