TRUST

The ratio of conversations that happen in private vs the conversations that happen in public is largely an indication of your company’s level of trust with one another.

If the vast majority of conversations happen in direct/private messages… trust is low.

If the vast majority happen in private channels… trust is a little higher, but still likely low.

If the majority happen in public channels… trust is likely very high.

WHY?

You speak around those you feel comfortable speaking around. When you don’t feel comfortable, you often will speak less.

So the channel you are speaking the most in… is likely the channel with the people you trust the most.

What about personal / shit-posting?

I do my fair share of joking in a way I only want a few people to hear! This is normal and should be expected. It is actually a really good sign. However, I’m going to assume that most of the communication you do at work is about work things. A solid 80:20 rule can be used here. Personal things or jokes that are likely not appropriate for the masses should stay in private/direct messages.

What about the TEA!?!?!

When I see an organization with 80% or more of the conversations happening in DMs, I assume that it is not productive work related conversations. It also isn’t the innocent and fun shitposting. It also isn’t all person conversations. I assume it is either gossip or trust issues. If it is gossip (things you wouldn’t say to someone about someone), then you have an entirely different problem. This gossip will erode trust and keep the cycle of “everything in private”.

What do we do?

There isn’t a fix-all silver bullet. You build trust in drops and lose it in buckets. So, what I try to do is create private channels with small groups… and slowly add more to them once it is clear that trust is there.

Once you have a private channel with dozens of people, and the conversation is flowing and easy… you know you’ve reached an important milestone.

Every time someone shares something they would normally be scared to share… and it is treated with grace and respect. It builds trust. So we must create spaces for folks to do that (usually with management, but it could also be with peers).

So, first try to reduce the number of DMs by adding more private channels. Then expand the private channels as you see the conversations begin to flow.

I’m not sure there is an ideal ratio, but I shoot for:

• Private/Direct Messages = < 20%
• Public Channels = > 40%
• Private channels are the trust cheat code that can fluctuate… used well they are a good indicator of a high trust team.

Note: I’ve never worked at a company that didn’t have some sort of messaging platform. Yes there is always email, but the real work often happens in the tool where only your teammates can reach you. For this note, I’m going to assume Slack, but I’m sure it fits with any tool.