Context matters… why
Have one of your friends ever asked you some vague theoretical question like “Would you rather never be stuck in traffic again or never get another cold?” and you answered “It depends” but the friend says that you are evading the answer? But it really depends on the context of the situation: how often are you sick, how hard is a sickness for you, how often and how long do you commute… Talking about commuting, here is an example based on true events. When I moved to Copenhagen, I started looking for a perfect commute route. This is a part of my professional deformation, I try to optimize some aspects of my life, don’t judge. So, here is the map, the route in beige is me walking from the office, and there I have two bus stops where I can hop on the bus. The first choice would be to take the path marked in blue as it leads to the closest bus stop, right?
But then I’ll give you more details: the bus goes to the south, so by walking to the blue bus stop I’m actually going against my route home. Moreover, there are several colleagues who go down to the second bus stop as it is located outside of the central train station so many of them commute from there and you can enjoy a nice chat while walking there. Is this green route the optimal one then?
Not really, because on the right there is a great park Tivoli and I have a yearly subscription that allows me to enter without a fee and bring one person with me. Ok, so should I take the yellow path then?
Well, you need to know that since the blue bus stop is the first on the bus route there will be fewer passengers on the bus at that point and it’s more likely that you will get a good seat. So which route is optimal? The answer depends on the context: are you walking alone, how many colleagues are walking the same way, do you carry a bag, is it raining outside, are you in a rush, have you already seen a new theme in Tivoli?
I keep preaching in my teams that context is essential and we need to reach that level of transparency in our communication where everyone understands the context of the situation. Many people, especially in the game industry, try to limit the amount of noise in the channels or in the office, sometimes taking this to the extreme. Please remember that important information about the project is not noise, it’s something that everyone on the team needs to be aware of so it should be openly shared.
Post messages in public Slack channels with tags, talk about important stuff in the meetings and don’t be hesitant. If information is irrelevant, others will let you know but if something will be missed it might become a problem eventually which will lead to miscommunication and assumptions.
Ask questions (there are no right, wrong, or dumb questions), it helps to understand the context better and show all the participants the way you perceive things. It should not be one person in the team like the lead or manager who asks questions and help to establish a shared understanding, in a perfect world it’s a team effort. Make your world perfect together *mic drop*
Originally published on my LinkedIn page.
