Comment by jjice
5 years ago
> effectively communicating ideas through text was one of the most underrated skills in software engineering
Absolutely. So many hour long meetings could be shortened by better communication skills (just more targeted), or even a small email chain.
Communicating in short form confidently is a skill. Many people, including myself (something I've been working on) struggle with saying something that was a complete idea in a meeting and not stopping because they feel like they need to say more. Short and sweet is the way to go pretty much whenever you can, for technical work that is.
And many many people don't do it well. On both ends. Reading is a skill too.
I find 'small email chains' don't help at all. Too many people just don't read past the first sentence or paragraph. And email is slow.
I usually 'escalate' quickly. Support didn't understand a ticket comment I made on how this isn't a bug or why there really is a workaround for it?
I send them an IM trying to coax it out of them/get them to understand for a few minutes. Doesn't work? Quick call and do screen sharing. Problem usually solved after a few minutes. Problem is they might stay longer than that took just to 'catch up' ;)
This is really not that different from when we were all at the office just that the last part would be walking over to their office and looking at the computer together. In some situations that makes it even easier nowadays because I don't need to take an elevator down 20 stories and back up again after.
Having asynchronous means of communication is great. But as soon as the back and forth is more than maybe twice on each side, there's probably a miscommunication happening somehow that will be much easier to get solved with a really short feedback loop. Some people you have to call right away coz they just type soooooo slowly ;)