Bridging Communication Gaps in Engineering Teams

I once worked with a team that was, quite frankly, toxic. The same two team members routinely derailed meeting agendas. Eye-rolling was a primary form of communication. Side conversations overtook the official discussion. Most members had disengaged, emotionally checking out while physically present. Trust was nonexistent. This wasn't just unpleasant—it was preventing meaningful work from happening. The transformation began with a deceptively simple intervention: establishing clear community agreements. Not generic "respect each other" platitudes, but specific behavioral norms with concrete descriptions of what they looked like in practice. The team agreed to norms like "Listen to understand," "Speak your truth without blame or judgment," and "Be unattached to outcome." For each norm, we articulated exactly what it looked like in action, providing language and behaviors everyone could recognize. More importantly, we implemented structures to uphold these agreements. A "process observer" role was established, rotating among team members, with the explicit responsibility to name when norms were being upheld or broken during meetings. Initially, this felt awkward. When the process observer first said, "I notice we're interrupting each other, which doesn't align with our agreement to listen fully," the room went silent. But within weeks, team members began to self-regulate, sometimes even catching themselves mid-sentence. Trust didn't build overnight. It grew through consistent small actions that demonstrated reliability and integrity—keeping commitments, following through on tasks, acknowledging mistakes. Meeting time was protected and focused on meaningful work rather than administrative tasks that could be handled via email. The team began to practice active listening techniques, learning to paraphrase each other's ideas before responding. This simple practice dramatically shifted the quality of conversation. One team member later told me, "For the first time, I felt like people were actually trying to understand my perspective rather than waiting for their turn to speak." Six months later, the transformation was remarkable. The same team that once couldn't agree on a meeting agenda was collaboratively designing innovative approaches to their work. Conflicts still emerged, but they were about ideas rather than personalities, and they led to better solutions rather than deeper divisions. The lesson was clear: trust doesn't simply happen through team-building exercises or shared experiences. It must be intentionally cultivated through concrete practices, consistently upheld, and regularly reflected upon. Share one trust-building practice that's worked well in your team experience. P.S. If you’re a leader, I recommend checking out my free challenge: The Resilient Leader: 28 Days to Thrive in Uncertainty  https://lnkd.in/gxBnKQ8n

In Agile, No One Wins the "Telephone" Game One of the biggest challenges in Agile development is keeping communication clear and direct between customers (users), Product Owners, and developers. When there are too many layers between users and the people delivering value, it’s easy to misalign what’s built with what’s needed. Think of the childhood game of "Telephone," where a message whispered from kid to kid becomes hilariously distorted by the time it reaches the last person. In Agile, these distortions aren't so funny, because they lead to waste, frustration, and disappointment. PO-Proxies Make It Worse In consulting scenarios, a common practice exacerbates the problem. A "PO-proxy," maybe a BA or team lead, communicates with the PO, whose not directly engaged with the developers. The PO speaks with stakeholders, who relay information from users. With each handoff, the message gets increasingly distorted. The cycle starts when users describe their needs to stakeholders. Stakeholders pass their interpretation to the PO, who filters it to the PO-proxy (BA). The PO-proxy then translates the request into something developers can work on. When devs have questions, the process reverses. They ask the PO-proxy, who consults the PO, who goes back to stakeholders, who ask the users. Each round adds delays and rework. Why the Game Fails This chain of communication creates risks. As the message is passed along, it gets diluted and distorted. Critical details are lost, or the focus shifts based on each person’s understanding of priorities. The "game" also slows feedback loops. Agile depends on fast learning cycles, but when every clarification or adjustment takes multiple steps, teams can’t adapt quickly. Over time, developers lose their purpose, and customers grow dissatisfied when needs aren’t met. Trust erodes, and the team’s ability to deliver meaningful outcomes is compromised. Bridge the Gap The solution is to break down barriers and foster direct collaboration. When possible, eliminate proxies and encourage POs to work closely with the devs and users. POs who understand both the business context and technical challenges can guide teams more effectively. Daily access to users isn’t always feasible, but it’s essential to engage with them regularly. Sprint reviews are a great opportunity to invite users to see progress and provide feedback. If you’re practicing SAFe, include them in PI planning to hear their priorities firsthand. System demos are another good way to validate that the solution aligns with user needs. Ongoing engagement reduces misunderstandings, aligns priorities, and builds trust. Hang Up Success isn’t about releasing code; it’s about delivering outcomes that matter. Playing the "Telephone" game with users introduces risks, delays, and misunderstandings that undermine the goal. By engaging directly with users as often as possible, empowering POs, and facilitating fast feedback, teams can hang up and deliver value.

Ever feel like your team meetings are just a bunch of talking heads? You're not alone… But what if I told you the key to unlocking better collaboration, higher engagement, and stronger results lies in something often overlooked? Active listening is more than just keeping quiet while someone speaks… It's about truly paying attention, understanding the speaker's intent, showing the speaker you understand them, and responding thoughtfully I recently coached an David (an engineering manager) on this His team was brimming with talent, but constantly missing deadlines, struggling to collaborate, and fixing mistakes that were caused by misunderstandings David noticed frustration and a lack of engagement, and after digging a little deeper, we identified a core problem… Team members weren't actively listening to each other! Ideas were interrupted, and some felt their voices weren't valued, which created a culture of hesitation and hindered creative problem-solving But changing a team culture starts at the top… Through coaching, David honed his active listening skills and implemented these practices with his team: **Give Full Attention:** David learned to silence distractions, make eye contact, and truly focus on the speaker. This simple act communicated respect and encouraged open communication **Practice Reflection and Paraphrasing:** David began summarizing key points to ensure everyone was on the same page, which clarified understanding and fostered trust **Ask Clarifying Questions:** David encouraged questions to delve deeper into ideas and build upon each other's thoughts, which fostered a more collaborative environment **Embrace Silence:** David created space for thoughtful responses instead of jumping in to fill pauses, which allowed for deeper reflection and richer discussions **Active Listening for All:** David encouraged team members to practice active listening with each other, which fostered a culture of mutual respect and understanding These simple practices produced remarkable results! Communication improved dramatically, deadlines were met, innovation soared, and the team thrived on collaboration because everyone felt empowered to share ideas freely, knowing they would be heard Implement these active listening techniques in your next team meeting and see the difference! #Leadership #CivilEngineering #SoftwareEngineering

Speaking Tech and Human: Why Every Team Needs a Communication Chameleon Ever been in a meeting where it feels like everyone's speaking a different language? Not in the literal sense, but in that "tech jargon vs. human speak" kind of way. It happens all the time, especially in cross-functional teams. Engineers, with our love of acronyms and complex terminology, can sometimes leave non-technical folks feeling lost in the weeds. I recently witnessed this firsthand. Picture a late-night meeting about an upcoming AI launch. The tension is high, the deadline is looming, and suddenly, someone asks a seemingly simple question: "So, what exactly is an IDE?" The engineer on the call launches into a detailed explanation, complete with references to command-line interfaces. It's like trying to explain astrophysics to someone who just learned the alphabet. This is where we TPMs (or anyone with a knack for both tech and "human speak") come in. We're the interpreters, the bridge-builders, ensuring everyone's on the same page. In that late-night meeting, I jumped in with a simple explanation: "An IDE is basically the tool where developers write and test their code. It's like a word processor for software." Problem solved! The question-asker got the gist, the engineer learned a valuable lesson about audience-focused communication, and we all got a little closer to hitting that launch button. Key takeaways for clearer tech communication: - Know your audience: Tailor your explanations to the listener's technical understanding. - Focus on the "why": Explain the impact and benefits, not just the technical details. - Keep it simple: Avoid jargon and acronyms whenever possible. - Use analogies (when appropriate): Relate complex concepts to everyday experiences. Effective communication isn't about showing off your technical expertise, it's about building a shared understanding and achieving goals together. And in a world where tech is increasingly intertwined with every aspect of our lives, the ability to translate "tech-speak" into "human-speak" is more important than ever. Have you ever witnessed a "lost in translation" moment in tech? Share your stories in the comments! 👇 #TPMlife #TechLeadership #Google #LifeAtGoogle

Most technical leaders get this wrong: They think clear communication equals alignment. It doesn’t. I’ve spent decades helping leaders close that gap and the problem isn’t communication. It’s translation. When your VP of Engineering says, “We can’t execute,” she’s talking about process and bandwidth. When your CEO says the same words, she means missed targets and risk. Same words. Completely different universe. Before your next all-hands meeting, stop obsessing over the slides. Focus on these three things instead 👇 1️⃣ Audit your language. Kill the insider code. Use plain talk that people can act on. 2️⃣ Name what everyone’s thinking. Say the quiet part out loud—fatigue, frustration, confusion. You’ll earn the right to lead them through it. 3️⃣ Anchor the why. Every message needs a single, sharp reason to care. If you can’t say it in one line, no one will remember it tomorrow. That’s what real leadership communication looks like. Not perfect phrasing, but shared perspective. Because if they can’t see what you see, they’ll never follow where you’re going.

Why Do Business and Engineering Teams Struggle to Align? One of the most common challenges I’ve seen—whether in early-stage startups or scaling companies—is the disconnect between business strategy and engineering execution. When this gap exists, things break down. Business leaders feel like engineering is moving too slowly. Engineers feel like priorities are constantly shifting. Product teams end up playing translator, and frustration builds on all sides. Deadlines slip, expectations aren’t met, and trust erodes. So what separates the companies that get this right? • Shared Language & Context – The best teams don’t just throw requirements over the wall. They make sure engineering understands business priorities, and business understands technical trade-offs. That requires constant communication, not just at the leadership level, but throughout the organization. • Clear Prioritization & Trade-offs – In high-functioning teams, new ideas don’t just become instant priorities. There’s a disciplined process for evaluating impact, stacking hands on what matters most, and making real trade-offs. • Strong Execution Culture – Business and engineering have to align not just on what to build, but how work gets done. That means clarity around milestones, iteration speed, and decision-making. • Trust & Accountability – When teams trust each other, they problem-solve together instead of pointing fingers. The best leaders create an environment where business and engineering are partners, not opposing forces. I’ve seen companies unlock massive value when they get this right—and the opposite when they don’t. Curious to hear from others: where have you seen this done well? #leadership #productmanagement #engineering #execution #businessstrategy

One of the biggest challenges in organisations: Communication It comes up as a pain point in almost every employee survey. And most organisations desperately want to fix it. So what do we do? We start: 📣 pushing more info updates. 📣 creating more teams channels 📣 holding more “status update” meetings We work so hard to communicate but 12 months later when we run the survey again there’s no improvement, despite all the ‘comms’. And here’s why: Communication isn’t one sided. It’s a dialogue, not a monologue. When teams say they want more communication they don’t want more status updates or teams channels. They want two way dialogue, with equal parts listening, speaking and understanding. Our people want conversation. They want to: 👉 Be heard 👉 Ask questions 👉Contribute to key decisions 👉 Understand the why behind the what. So if your team is struggling with communication, don’t default to pushing more info updates. Look for opportunities to create two way dialogue. Here’s how: 👉 Invite team members into conversation around key decisions and the strategy. 👉 replace info sharing meetings (that’s an email) with ‘Dialogue, Discussion, Debate’ meetings that facilitate two way communication and honest conversations about key issues. 👉Use your team meetings and one on ones to build shared understanding, ask questions like: “What areas are you lacking clarity at the moment? What’s confusing in our strategy right now? “What communication gaps do we have on our team at the moment and how can we solve them?” #leadership #communication #HR