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Team Dynamics Expectations

How we resolve conflict within the team.

1. Effective communication is key

  • Communicate clearly and directly
  • This includes checking-in frequently, and informing team members about important 
meetings/events/progress 

  • When asked a question, answer first (Yes or No); then provide detailed explanation
  • Unscheduled/unplanned status updates (i.e., while grabbing coffee): give one or two 
lines about what matters most to the company
  • Text, Slack, or call when following up on an high-priority issue

2. Pressure Test

  • Proactively ask hard questions in a team setting

3. Be prepared for ad hoc informal syncs


  • The team often has impromptu informal sync-ups across workstreams to ensure everyone is updated

4. Delegate, not assign

  • When providing direction, ask the responsible person to repeat back what he or she needs to do to ensure there is no misunderstanding
  • Manage deliverables to/from anyone and everyone to a specific deadline

5. Do not become the bottleneck of information

  • Communicate effectively and timely to leadership and to your team

6. Following up on a request

  • Just because you delivered information doesn’t mean the recipient is fully notified. You have to engage and confirm that they received and understood your message
  • Until you have received verbal or written feedback responding to your request, it is your responsibility to persistently follow up until you get an answer

7. Phone calls


  • Never decline a call from your mother (the woman who gave birth to you) or grandmother (the woman who spoils you the most) in a team meeting, but do tell them you are busy and will call them back; no one else is granted this exception

8. Aggressively integrate yourself into the team and other new joiners