LogFAQs > #930009027

foolm0r0n posted...

The whole skill is identifying and eliminating the ambiguities

This helps but is not as easy as you are trying to claim here.

I do agree everyone should take some technical communication classes and such cause it's just useful, but some people just don't click with remote communication as well and it's not a complete overlap in skills either-- though I do agree knowing good technical communication will make you better at explaining things in person too.

But yeah it's part personalities and part it not being entirely plausible to hit every ambiguity for every person. You can say "it is, git gud" but it really isn't. Basically the best you can hope for is removing the most common misunderstandings. Often that will be enough, but when it isn't you lose a lot of productivity because it won't as immediately become clear that it isn't.

I think any good collaboration should start with a good remote friendly base like some good documentation or even just a group email laying out objectives or whatever, but yeah sometimes, especially once you've laid that groundwork, it just isn't the optimal way to work through things-- this is especially true as your teams shrink and it becomes plausible to work one on one with all relevant members of a team.

Also it doesn't help that most programmers are incredibly bad at technical communication fundamentals in my experience, particularly when communicating with non-programmers. You can say everyone should be trained in it but the reality is they simply aren't. Swiveling chairs may not always be optimal but it is better than the alternative of things straight up not getting done.

Anyway I'm just saying this topic is being dumbed down a lot. On both sides, really. Remote always better is solid theorycraft and works in a perfect world, but if you're seriously arguing it I feel that shows a lack of breadth in experience, being extremely lucky with who you've worked with, or a delusion on how well you're being understood across the board and not absorbing how many delays those misunderstandings are causing cause it's not directly through you. In person always better is probably closer to right imo, but it will depend on the cost of doing that and the teams you're working with, obviously.
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