We intuitively know that communication is vital to an effective project and a clean code base, yet it is annoyingly common to find ourselves in situations such as the following:

• We don't feel listened to
• We don't feel we've got our point across
• We feel confused as to a topic or plan
• We feel out of the loop or ignored

These difficulties come about because of cultures and practices of poor communication. This is not only an issue for morale and general fulfillment in our work but can also become a huge issue for the cleanliness of our code bases and the reliability of the technology we build. To foster a clean code base, we must focus on the underlying communication practices that we employ. A good set of communication strategies and practices are incredibly useful in ensuring a clean code base, specifically helping us with the following:

• Ensuring good feedback with colleagues
• Receiving correct bug reports
• Actioning improvements and fixes
• Receiving user requirements and wishes
• Announcing changes or issues
• Agreeing on conventions and standards
• Making decisions about libraries and frameworks

But how do we actually accomplish good communication? We are inherently biased toward our own socialized communication practices, so it can be difficult to change or even see that we have issues with our communication. For this reason, it is useful to identify a set of communication strategies and pitfalls that can re-bias us towards better and higher signal communication.