Principle 1. Listen. Try to focus on the speaker’s words, rather than formulating your
response to those words. Ask for clarification if something is unclear, but avoid constant
interruptions. Never become contentious in your words or actions (e.g., rolling your eyes
or shaking your head) as a person is talking.
Principle 2. Prepare before you communicate. Spend the time to understand the
problem before you meet with others. If necessary, do some research to understand
business domain. If you have responsibility for conducting a meeting, prepare an agenda
in advance of the meeting.
Principle 3. Someone should facilitate the activity. Every communication meeting
should have a leader (a facilitator) to keep the conversation moving in a productive
direction, to mediate any conflict that does occur, and to ensure that other principles are
followed.
Principle 4. Face-to-face communication is best.
Face to face communication is always makes sense. It usually works better when some
other representation of the relevant information is present. For example, a participant
may create a drawing document that serves as a focus for discussion.
Principle 5. Take notes and document decisions. Things have a way of falling into the
cracks. Someone participating in the communication should serve as a “recorder” and
write down all important points and decisions.
Principle 6. Strive for collaboration.
Collaboration occurs when the collective knowledge of members of the team is used to
describe product or system functions or features. Each small collaboration serves to build
trust among team members and creates a common goal for the team.
Principle 7. Stay focused; modularize your discussion.
The more people involved in any communication, the more likely that discussion will
bounce from one topic to the next. The facilitator should keep the conversations modular;
leaving one topic only after it has been resolved
Principle 8. If something is unclear, draw a picture: Verbal communication goes only
so far. A sketch or drawing can often provide clarity when words fail to do the job.
Principle 9. (a) Once you agree to something, move on. (b) If you can’t agree to
something, move on. (c) If a feature or function is unclear and cannot be clarified at
the moment, move on. Communication, like any software engineering activity, takes
time. Rather than iterating endlessly, the people who participate should recognize that
many topics require discussion and that “moving on” is sometimes the best way to
achieve communication agility.
Principle 10. Negotiation is not a contest or a game. It works best when both parties
win. There are many instances in which you and other stakeholders must negotiate functions and features, priorities, and delivery dates. If the team has collaborated well, all
parties have a common goal. Still, negotiation will demand compromise from all parties.