38 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
38 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
name: choosing-a-comms-channel
|
|
description: Pick the right channel for a message instead of defaulting to whichever one is easiest to reach for. A fire-and-forget message is fine for pure notification with no expected reply. A tracked question needing a recorded decision belongs in a mechanism that threads the answer back to you, not a channel with no reply path. An issue-shaped question or decision belongs where the surrounding context already lives (the tracked item itself), not a side channel a future reader won't find. Ongoing back-and-forth belongs in a real conversational channel, not a one-shot send. Use this whenever you're about to communicate and there's more than one way to do it.
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# Choosing a Comms Channel
|
|
|
|
Different messages want different channels. Picking the wrong one
|
|
doesn't just look sloppy - it actively loses information (a reply that
|
|
never reaches you) or buries context (a decision made somewhere a
|
|
future reader won't think to look).
|
|
|
|
## Match the channel to what you actually need
|
|
|
|
- **Pure fire-and-forget notification, no reply expected** - a
|
|
dashboard-visible one-way message is fine. Don't reach for a
|
|
conversational channel just to say something that needs no response.
|
|
- **A specific decision you need recorded** (a gated approval, a
|
|
go/no-go call) - if it's issue-shaped, it's really the next bullet
|
|
(post it where the context lives and it stays that thread's own
|
|
back-and-forth); otherwise use a real conversational channel and
|
|
write the outcome down somewhere a future reader will actually find
|
|
it - no tool threads that bookkeeping back to you automatically.
|
|
- **An issue-shaped question or decision** - post it where the
|
|
surrounding context already lives (the tracked item itself), not in
|
|
a side channel. A future reader looking at that item should find the
|
|
reasoning there, not have to go hunting through chat history for why
|
|
a decision was made.
|
|
- **Quick back-and-forth, status checks, anything conversational** -
|
|
use a real two-way conversational channel if you have one, rather
|
|
than a one-shot message that doesn't invite a reply.
|
|
|
|
## The underlying test
|
|
|
|
Before sending, ask: "if I need an answer, does this channel actually
|
|
deliver one back to me? If someone reads this in a week, will they find
|
|
it where the rest of the context already is?" If either answer is no,
|
|
you've picked the wrong channel for what you're trying to do.
|