Is your communication slowing everyone down?

This is how you avoid that

Communication is one of the most valuable skills for any software engineer.

It helps teams move faster, avoid confusion, and stay aligned. Most advice out there says: communicate more and that’s often true. But there’s a point where too much communication becomes a problem. Especially when it gets in the way of others doing their work.

There’s a difference between helping people stay informed and constantly interrupting them. To understand this better, let’s break it down using a simple idea from engineering: push vs. pull.

The push

Push communication means you’re sending out useful information:

• Project status updates

• Feature completion notifications

• Announcements about blockers or changes

This kind of communication is usually helpful. It keeps teams aligned and gives people the context they need to work confidently. Even if you overdo it a little, the worst outcome is usually a bit of noise. Most teams prefer too much clarity over not enough. I’d rather be annoyed by clarity, than to be annoyed by the lack of it.

If you’re not sure whether you’re pushing too much, assume it’s better to be slightly too proactive than to leave people guessing.

The pull

Pull communication is when you reach out to get information:

• Asking about requirements

• Requesting updates

• Needing clarification

• Needing assistance

This can be useful, but it should be handled carefully. Every time you pull, you’re taking someone else’s time and attention. If done too often or without doing your own due diligence, it becomes a distraction.

The idea that “there are no stupid questions” sounds nice, but it has limits. If you could have found the answer with a few minutes of searching, then asking someone else wasn’t the best move. Especially as you grow more senior, the expectation is that you’ll know how to navigate uncertainty and fill in gaps yourself before asking.

Operationalizing it

For push communication, be proactive. Share updates freely, even a bit more than seems necessary. It builds trust and keeps everyone aligned.

For pull communication, be deliberate. Do your research. Look for answers before asking others. Respect your teammates' time and focus.

One really useful habit is to turn pulls into pushes. Ask questions in public spaces like Slack channels, discussion threads, or shared documents. When you do this, your question and the answer become a shared resource. That single exchange might prevent five others from needing to ask the same thing later.

Public communication scales, private interruptions don’t.