handbook / Team
Communication
Quick reference
- Urgent, short: Zulip
- Needs a record, not urgent: email
- Needs discussion: bring it to group meeting or a 1:1
- Code-related: open an issue or merge request in the relevant repo
Default to public channels over DMs when the content would be useful to the whole group.
Day to day
We use a group Zulip channel for most day-to-day communication, both between you and me and among group members. It keeps a shared, searchable record and makes it easy to point someone to a past discussion or move a thread from one topic to another, which a pile of separate DMs doesn’t. Prefer it over DMs whenever the content might be useful to someone else in the group later.
For anything official, email is preferred, since it creates a clear, dated, exportable record.
Reaching me
My normal working hours are 9–6. You’re always welcome to come by the cabin directly if something’s urgent. Otherwise, the expectation is a Zulip message or email, so I can get to it at a point where I’m not already deep in something else. I’ll follow the same principle when reaching out to you.
For genuine emergencies, you can call or WhatsApp me directly; the number will be shared once you join the group.
Response times and time off
I don’t expect instant replies, or any reply at all outside your working hours. The same applies for the full duration of your vacation or leave, no need to feel obligated to check in. This goes both ways: I’ll try to hold myself to the same standard when messaging you. This applies to everyone in the group, not just to how I interact with you individually.
This isn’t just a courtesy: there’s decent evidence that even the expectation of after-hours availability, not just actually working after hours, is enough to raise stress and hurt recovery and wellbeing (see e.g. Becker, Belkin & Tuskey, “Killing Me Softly”, and this MIT Libraries summary of reasonable email norms if you want a sense of what’s considered reasonable practice elsewhere). Treat messages sent outside working hours as things that will be seen and handled the next working day, not as things that need an immediate reaction.