Preferences for communicating with me

Headshot of Adam Jones

Adam Jones

This was a section on my homepage, part of a How to work with me manual / User Guide. I extracted it here to reduce clutter there, and make it easier to reference directly.

Note: Don't worry too much about following these exactly! Details here are mostly relevant for people I work with a lot or AI virtual collaborators.

From you to me

  • Bias towards overcommunicating. Leave pauses so I can interrupt you if you're telling me stuff I don't think is relevant.
  • State your uncertainties and where you've made assumptions.
  • Give me feedback. Prefer unpolished timely feedback to no or late feedback. Bonus points if you can be specific or provide examples.
  • If you're asking me to review something, see my review guide.
  • Prefer async communication (email, Slack, docs) over unplanned calls, with clear action items and timelines.
    • Exception: if we are colleagues and something is blocking you.
  • Asynchronous communications
    • Slack if we have a workspace in common relevant to the topic, you know I check that workspace, and it's something short.
    • WhatsApp, Messenger or Telegram for personal stuff (no formal work comms).
      • Exception: If we're working somewhere that doesn't have a communication tool, you can send work comms here.
    • Google Docs or similar for anything longer or that needs collaboration.
    • Email for everything else, or where you're not sure.
    • It's fine for you to send me asynchronous communications while sitting next to me.
    • If you need me to do or answer something, make it obvious. For example:
      • Add '[Action required]' to the subject.
      • Prefix tasks with 'Action required:' and bold them.
      • State any relevant timelines upfront.
    • If I need to read it, use the email 'to' line or tag my Slack handle.
    • Don't inline reply to emails. It's hard to see what's been added, muddies email history, and causes difficult-to-resolve forks.
    • Don't just say hello.
    • Prefer to communicate widely (e.g. Slack channels/email distros, not DMs) so others can learn from our conversation later.
      • Exception: discussions about personal or sensitive matters
  • Synchronous communications

From me to you

  • I don't usually send acknowledgement messages unless asked.
  • Assume misunderstanding, not malice in my comms. In particular:
    • If I'm going in the wrong direction, tell me early.
    • I tend to overcommunicate to ensure we're aligned. Interrupt me if I'm telling you something you know!
    • If I am slow to respond, I'm likely a bit overloaded with other stuff.
  • I will send you asynchronous communications while sitting next to you, unless you ask me not to. This avoids interrupting you, and lets you address comments at a time convenient to you.
  • Emoji meanings: 👀 is 'looking', ✅ is 'done', 👍 is 'acknowledged' (not meant passive aggressively), ➕ is 'agreed', 🙌 or 🎉 is 'yay'