Communication has TWO parts! Are you forgetting one?

Because great teams don’t happen by accident

Let’s start with a simple truth: Project and Program Managers have a lot of jobs but it boils down to two primary objectives—Change Management and Communication Management. If you get those two right, you’re already way ahead of the game.

Now let’s zoom in on communication for a second—because, especially on remote teams, it’s where things most often fall apart.

Communication Has Two Parts. (Yes, Two.)

If you remember just one thing from this post, let it be this:
- Communication is both giving AND receiving information.

Most people only think about the giving part—sharing updates, sending emails, writing in Slack, dropping a comment in Jira. But if your message isn’t being received, if the person on the other side didn’t hear it, understand it, or even know it was meant for them, was that successful communication?

That’s not communication. That’s just broadcasting.

And here’s the kicker:
In remote teams, where we don’t have hallway conversations or spontaneous desk drop-bys, we need to be even more intentional about both sides of the communication equation.

Your Responsibility Goes Both Ways

In a remote team, communication isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s core infrastructure. And everyone—PMs, engineers, designers, leadership—has responsibilities on both sides of the line:

When You’re Giving Information:
If it’s not received or understood, don’t just throw up your hands. It’s your job to try again, try differently, or try more clearly. Frustration is normal—but your work isn’t done until the message lands.

When You’re Receiving Information:
If you’re confused or out of the loop, it’s not just “someone else’s fault.” Check your side. Are you reading updates? Asking clarifying questions? Blocking your own intake by multitasking through every meeting?

So How Do You Get Better?

You remember your ABCs:

A – Acknowledge
Let people know you received their message. A simple “Got it,” 👍, or follow-up question goes a long way in remote settings. Silence reads as “ignored” or worse as implied confirmation. (But don't 👍if you didn't actually read it!)

B – Be Clear
Keep your messages focused. What’s the action item? Who owns it? What’s the deadline? No one has time to decode your 12-paragraph thought stream.

C – Contextualize
Explain the “why,” not just the “what.” People work better when they understand how their work fits into the bigger picture. Don’t hoard context—share it up top!

What’s the Real Problem?

Remote teams stumble when conversations happen mostly asynchronously (and people miss them.) We forget that different teammates have different communication styles and individuals learn and receive information differently. Everyone assumes someone else is handling the updates. It’s easy to become a logjam—where information comes in, but doesn’t flow back out. Is there information that you should be sharing to your team but is stopping with you? Is there information that your team has shared with you and you should share up to leadership or another team?

What Do We Do?

We start by being more intentional, more frequent, and more open. Communication isn’t about covering your ass—it’s about contributing to an ecosystem of shared information. The goal isn’t just "Did I send it?"—it’s "Did it land, and can the team act on it?"

Async communication and different ways of working are both things that make your team stronger. The answer IS NOT to make everyone work on the same schedule or the same way. Instead, lean into those differences and learn to leverage them. Be resourceful about using the tools you have to share information and asking your teammates how they best receive information. Hit multiple learning styles with your communications, use built in automations already available to you, and explicitly define async communication touchpoints for your team. This will immediately improve your communication landscape. Experiment with currently held communication sacred cows. Is every standing meeting in the company really making things run better? Is it worth the cost? Try pausing a few of them for two weeks and replacing it with an async update, slack channel, or shared document to learn what impact it has. 

Does your remote team struggle with communication?
Let’s fix that. I can help you build better habits, reduce the noise, and turn communication into your team’s superpower—not a stumbling block.