💬Communication Practices & Tools

Practices

Here you can find principles and guiding questions that help us with our communications practices in Greaterthan, specifically mediated communication (typed, audio, video; not live conversations).

To see a collection of useful practices and tips from members, as well as a directory of key slack channels and their purpose, check out this living document.

A few communication principles

1. Personal responsibility: We are all responsible for (1) how we communicate and (2) how we keep ourselves informed on what is going on in GT. In a complex system with a lot of humans, we can’t expect to be able to follow everything at all times; so being explicit about our capacity helps us all. Ask yourself: What do I need others to know? What do I really need to follow?

2. The sum of our individual attention is a precious collective resource. Let’s treat it as such! Ask yourself: Who is the must-see audience for my message?

3. We’re all role models: How we communicate is a role model for communications across the system, especially for new joiners. Ask yourself: What would happen if everyone communicated the way I did?

4. Communicate purpose: When you start a new space for discussion (a new channel in Slack, Loomio thread, etc.), make explicit the purpose of it; for instance by always adding a channel description. Ask yourself: How can others find out why we are having this conversation and what is the expected outcome?

5. Check for redundancy. Ask yourself: Has someone else already started this conversation somewhere else, that I can build on?

6. Show that you’re paying attention. Acknowledgement keeps information flowing, and helps the collective tune into what’s attracting energy. Ask yourself: How would I like to let the sender know that and how their message was received. How can I provide the information they need to move forward? Examples: emoji reactions or responding to and updating calendar invites.

[no longer up to date - will be reviewed Sept 2023]

Tools

Here is an overview of the communications tools our team currently uses. To avoid tool overload, we usually onboard people to them on a needs basis, depending on the projects they are working on!

Who can be added to these tools and how?

To get access to any of these tools, please ask any of the partners to be added.

The majority of our tools are available for anyone working on our projects on a needs basis. There are certain tools reserved to associates and partners only, such as Loomio, for formal decision-making.

Communications & Decision-Making

Slack

For day-to-day communications and working together.

• Greaterthan Slack Team. Abbreviations for channels: Int- (internal) , Pr- (projects)
• Cobudget Slack Team: exists but currently not in use

Loomio

For decision-making and structured forum conversations.

• Greaterthan team group for documenting decisions
• Community of Practice >> not in use currently

Telegram

For informal discussions and sharing of articles and links.