Rules of thumb and general philosophy

Below, you’ll find a collection of general principles we try to keep in mind at White Rabbit when communicating with teammates across the company and the public. Our communication style may be challenging at first if you come from a workplace where frequent meetings are the norm. While these ideas aren’t strict requirements, they serve as shared practices to draw upon when we do the one thing that affects everything else we do: communicate.

• Real-time sometimes; asynchronous most of the time.
• Internal communication based on long-form writing, rather than a verbal tradition of meetings, speaking, and chatting, leads to a welcomed reduction in meetings, video conferences, calls, or other real-time opportunities to interrupt and be interrupted.
• Give meaningful discussions a meaningful amount of time to develop and unfold. Rushing to judgment or demanding immediate responses increases the odds of poor decision-making.
• Never expect or require someone to get back to you immediately unless it’s a true emergency. The expectation of an immediate response is toxic.
• Poor communication creates more work.
• Ask yourself if others will feel compelled to rush their response if you rush your approach. The end of the day has a way of convincing you what you’ve done is good, but the next morning has a way of telling you the truth. If you aren’t sure, sleep on it before saying it.
• If you want an answer, you have to ask a question. People typically have a lot to say, but they’ll volunteer little. Questioning others, early and often, helps people practice sharing, writing, and communicating.
• Urgency is overrated; ASAP is poison. Time is on your side, rushing makes conversations worse.
• Communication is lossy, especially verbal communication. Every hearsay hop adds static and chips at fidelity. Whenever possible, communicate directly with those you’re addressing rather than passing the message through intermediaries.
• Ask if things are clear. Ask what you left out. Ask if there was anything someone was expecting that you didn’t cover. Address the gaps before they widen with time.
• Communication often interrupts, so good communication is often about saying the right thing at the right time in the right way with the fewest side effects.

コミュニケーション（Communication）

原則と基本的な考え方（Rules of thumb and general philosophy）

ここでは、White Rabbit でチームメイトや社外の人とコミュニケーションを取る際に私たちが大切にしている一般的な原則をまとめています。

頻繁な会議が当たり前の職場から来た人にとっては、私たちのコミュニケーションスタイルは最初は少し難しく感じるかもしれません。これらは厳密なルールではありませんが、私たちがあらゆる業務に関わる重要な行為――すなわち 「コミュニケーション」――を行うときに活用する共通の実践です。

• リアルタイムでやり取りするのは時々。ほとんどは非同期で。
• 社内コミュニケーションは 長文の文章による伝達 を基本とし、会議・口頭でのやり取り・チャットに依存する文化ではありません。その結果、会議やビデオ会議、電話などのリアルタイムの中断機会を減らすことができます。