Develop a Communication Covenant

A communication covenant is a document delineating the ways people will communicate and their agreement to keep others informed. It typically includes:

  • Team members, their roles in the project and contact details (text, email, Github, etc.)
  • Meeting times for
    • Individual sub-teams
    • Project managers
    • All-hands meetings
  • Expectations on how individuals will share their work (Google Docs, Dropbox, Github, etc.)
  • Expectations on how individuals will handle edits to their work (e.g., in Google Docs:  Comments, Suggested Edits, Direct Edits)  Each level has a different level of trust and ownership associated with it.
  • Agreements about encouraging people to speak up if one doesn’t understand something (an acronym, concept shorthand, etc.)
  • Agreements about notifying others if something is interfering with your ability to fulfill an obligation

Olson, J. S. (2019) Communications Covenants.  Syllabus for Senior Projects Class in Informatics, University of California Irvine.