Remote-First Communication for Project Teams ⇝

Mike English on preferring written communication for remote teams:

Generally speaking, remote-first communication means preferring written, searchable methods of communication that work even when the sender and receiver aren’t engaged at the same time.

Every meaningful conversation should have a URL, even if it's only a summary of a face-to-face meeting after the fact. Seeing the conversation leading up to unpopular decisions builds trust.

This means that phone calls, while potentially much better at conveying tone and establishing emotional connections, cannot be the default method of connecting with teammates.

Phone calls and hangouts have their place. Tone is important. It's more difficult to convey in writing but it can be done.