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W-02: Communication Standards

Field Value
Document W-02
Title Communication Standards
Status Draft
Owner CDO
Created 2026-04-05
Review Annually

Purpose

Define how Simpaisa communicates. Which channel for what purpose, when to escalate, how to write clearly across six time zones and multiple languages. Communication failures are the root cause of most operational issues in a distributed company.

Channel Selection

URGENCY vs FORMALITY MATRIX
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

                    INFORMAL              FORMAL
                    ──────────            ──────────
  URGENT            Slack DM / Call       Slack channel +
                    (response: minutes)   email to owner
                                          (response: hours)

  NORMAL            Slack channel         Email / Confluence
                    (response: same day)  (response: 1-2 days)

  ASYNC /           Slack thread          Confluence page /
  REFERENCE         (no response needed)  Architecture repo
                                          (permanent record)

When to Use Each Channel

Channel Use For Do NOT Use For
Slack message Quick questions, status updates, informal coordination, links to docs Decisions that need a permanent record, anything requiring sign-off
Slack thread Discussions on a topic. Always reply in thread, never in channel. Starting new topics (use a new message for new topics)
Email External communication, formal internal communication, anything requiring an audit trail, vendor/partner/regulator correspondence Quick questions between colleagues, technical discussions
Confluence Documentation, meeting notes, process descriptions, project pages Real-time communication, urgent matters
Jira Task tracking, bug reports, sprint work items General discussion (use Slack), documentation (use Confluence)
Video call Complex discussions requiring nuance, presentations, workshops, 1:1s Anything that could be a Slack message or email
Phone call P1 incidents, genuinely urgent matters where Slack is not being responded to Routine questions, non-urgent matters

Decision Rule

If in doubt: Slack first. If the conversation needs a permanent record, move it to Confluence or email. If the Slack thread exceeds 20 messages, it needs a Confluence page.

Slack Standards

Channel Naming Convention

Pattern Purpose Examples
#general Company-wide announcements (read-only for non-admins)
#team-{name} Team-specific channels #team-payin, #team-portal, #team-devops, #team-sqa
#dept-{name} Department-wide #dept-engineering, #dept-operations, #dept-finance
#project-{name} Time-bound project channels #project-phoenix, #project-kos, #project-crypto
#ops-{market} Country operations #ops-pk, #ops-bd, #ops-np, #ops-lk, #ops-iq
#incident-{id} Active incident coordination #incident-20260405-payin-down
#alert-{system} Automated alerts (monitoring, CI/CD) #alert-payin, #alert-infra, #alert-security
#ask-{topic} Cross-functional questions #ask-engineering, #ask-compliance, #ask-finance
#random Non-work chat, social

Slack Etiquette

  1. Always use threads. Never reply in the main channel. Threads keep conversations organised and reduce noise.
  2. @channel and @here sparingly. @channel is for everyone in the channel. @here is for online members only. Use for genuinely important announcements, not routine updates.
  3. Set your status. If you're in a meeting, on leave, or in a different time zone, set your Slack status so people know not to expect an immediate response.
  4. Response expectations: Same business day for messages in your team channels. Within 4 hours for direct messages during working hours. If it's genuinely urgent, call.
  5. Don't use Slack for approvals. Approvals happen in Jira (for work items), email (for formal requests), or the Leadership Forum (for initiatives).
  6. Pin important messages. Meeting notes, decisions, and reference links should be pinned in the relevant channel.
  7. Archive completed project channels. When a project completes, archive #project-{name}. Don't delete — archive for searchability.

Email Standards

When Email Is Required

  • Communication with external parties (merchants, partners, regulators, vendors)
  • Formal internal communication requiring an audit trail
  • Board and committee communications
  • Regulatory filings and correspondence
  • Contractual and legal matters
  • Anything the recipient needs to be able to forward externally

Email Conventions

  • Subject line: Clear, specific, actionable. "[ACTION REQUIRED]" prefix if response needed. "[FYI]" if informational only.
  • One topic per email. Don't combine unrelated items.
  • Response time: Within 1 business day for internal. Within 4 hours for external/merchant/regulatory.
  • CC judiciously. Only CC people who genuinely need visibility. Don't CC the CEO on routine matters.
  • Bottom-line up front. State the ask or the conclusion in the first sentence. Context below.

Time Zone Etiquette

Simpaisa operates across multiple time zones:

Location Time Zone UTC Offset
Dubai / UAE GST UTC+4
Pakistan PKT UTC+5
Nepal NPT UTC+5:45
Bangladesh BST UTC+6
Iraq AST UTC+3

Rules

  1. Core overlap: 10:00-14:00 Dubai time. All cross-market meetings in this window.
  2. No meetings before 09:00 or after 17:00 local time for any participant.
  3. Respect prayer times. Avoid scheduling during Zuhr prayer (~12:30-13:30, varies by season and location).
  4. Async by default. Don't schedule a meeting across time zones when a Slack message or Confluence page would work.
  5. Record important meetings. If a meeting crosses time zones and someone can't attend, record it or publish written notes within 24 hours.
  6. Put your time zone in your Slack profile. Example: "Daniel O'Reilly (Dubai, GMT+4)"

Escalation Protocol

LEVEL 1: Slack message to the responsible person/team
  ↓ No response within 4 hours (or 30 min for urgent)
LEVEL 2: Slack DM to the person's manager
  ↓ No response within 2 hours (or 15 min for urgent)
LEVEL 3: Phone call to the manager
  ↓ Unresolved
LEVEL 4: Escalate to department head at next Leadership Forum
  (or immediately for P1 incidents)

For P1 incidents: skip directly to phone call + #incident-{id} Slack channel. See Incident Response Playbook.

Meeting Standards

  1. Every meeting has an agenda. No agenda, no meeting.
  2. Every meeting has a purpose. If the purpose is just "update," cancel it and send a Slack message.
  3. Every meeting produces outputs. Decisions and actions documented within 24 hours.
  4. Start on time. End on time. If the organiser is absent for 5 minutes, the meeting is cancelled.
  5. Camera on for video calls. Builds trust across distributed teams. Exceptions: large all-hands, unstable connectivity.
  6. No laptops in in-person meetings unless actively presenting or note-taking.
  7. Default meeting length: 25 minutes (not 30) or 50 minutes (not 60). Leave buffer for bio breaks.

Language

  • Official business language: English. All documentation, Slack channels, Jira tickets, and Confluence pages in English.
  • Local operations: Country teams may communicate internally in local language (Urdu, Bengali, Nepali, Sinhala, Arabic) but all documentation and cross-market communication must be in English.
  • British English spelling. Colour, authorisation, behaviour, organisation. Per Architecture repo CLAUDE.md.