How to Avoid Microcontext Issues in a Team

I picked up the term "microcontext" from one awesome scrum master. I kind of understood what it meant, but when I googled it, I couldn't find any surface-level definition related to project teamwork. There is only an explanation of the word itself.

That same scrum master later told me that the term came up during professional talks at scrum events.

In project teams, the term "microcontext" refers to the existence of various contextual differences related to the project, scope, agreements, plans, and constraints. It is seen as an antipattern or just a problem. It is true that synchronization issues between people and teams are fairly common. So, let's take a look at some examples to see why it's so important to avoid microcontext as much as possible.

• Imagine a couple of managers in your project team having a quick call and making a decision but then not bothering to tell about it to the rest of the team. So what if they didn't? They'll do it later, right, or perhaps others will find out about the decision in some other way. However, the problem is that these managers already live in a world where the decision is made, so they see reality through the lens of this decision. (A similar term for distributed systems is called Split-brain (computing)). Meanwhile, the rest of the team is still living in the old world where the decision hasn't been made, and they see things through a different lens - the one conditioned by old agreements and decisions. Sooner or later, these two worlds are going to collide, and it's not going to be pretty. So now the managers don't get why everyone else is stuck in their old ways, and the rest of the team is confused because the expectations suddenly changed. Meanwhile, the devs are having a good laugh at meetings since they are once again left in the dark about project priority changes.
• The bigger the company, the bigger the problem with microcontext among the staff. And it's not just about the news not being communicated in time. The issue is that now different people see things differently, and this can lead to destructive consequences in achieving goals and producing results. It can cause frustration, make people nervous, and even lead to them quitting. That's why it's important for everyone in the organization to be on the same page and work together towards common goals.
• When teams are a mix of office and remote workers located in different time zones and with diverse backgrounds, the microcontext issue can be a major headache. It's even more frustrating when we're unaware of the microcontext problem and keep wondering why we're being ignored, misunderstood, or left out of the loop. We may not even realize we're making mistakes or missing key information, leading to even more confusion and frustration.

I'll tell you how to figure out if you create microcontexts yourself. Pay attention to how often you find yourself frustrated with colleagues, saying, "I already told you that!" If you've communicated something verbally but haven't written it down or shared it with the entire team, consider it never happened at all. When it comes to confabulation (creating false memories), it's obvious that one can't recall with absolute certainty what was said in the past.

Similarly, microcontext can come up in the following scenarios:

• When someone skips group meetings for planning, strategy, or retrospectives;
• When a part of the team takes smoke breaks, while others don't and are not present;
• When not everyone attends "team-building" events or similar get-togethers;
• During one-on-one sessions where team activities are discussed;
• And when managers or seniors talk with clients or team leadership about processes and forget or choose not to pass on this information to the rest of the team.

So how to deal with microcontext in your team?

How do you avoid getting into this trap? Unfortunately, it's quite challenging, especially in today's era of hybrid teams. You can't altogether avoid it since people may not always share all their knowledge or decisions with the larger group for various reasons. Sometimes we simply forget, while other times, we fall victim to the cognitive distortion of the "curse of knowledge" - assuming that others will figure things out on their own.

Here are some tips to help reduce the risk of microcontexts in your team or organization:

• Write down notes after each meeting and share them with the team or other interested parties in a place that's easy to access.
• Use communication channels like chats, emails, or newsletters to make sure everyone is aware of important decisions or information.
• If something is crucial for someone to understand completely, tag them in the document or send them a direct link to it.
• Remind the group from time to time about the new agreements or decisions that were made during joint sessions, meetings, or calls, and spend a few minutes discussing them.

Another important point to consider is that some team members may unknowingly create microcontext by pretending to understand everything. For instance, our couple of managers may discuss new goals, priorities, and a new work format. They ask at the end of the pitch, "Did everyone get that?" And sure enough, everyone says they did. However, we all know that understanding doesn't always come naturally, and sometimes we may hesitate to ask questions out of fear of appearing foolish or for some other internal reasons. We just nod in agreement, pretending to understand, and move on to the next task.

So pretending to be "smart" is another sure way your team can fall into microcontext. In the example above, the two managers assume that everyone has understood and accepted their new ideas since no one has asked any questions. They start living in a world where this is the reality. But those team members who pretended to understand everything are still living in the old reality, which will eventually cause microcontext issues and problems with aligning visions, rules, expectations, goals, and more.

For anyone reading this who doesn't want to come off as a know-it-all, the valid question is - why even bother with this microcontext business? We work with professionals here, not a bunch of morons, so why should we have to repeat ourselves multiple times?

Well, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Firstly, we feel like time is moving faster than ever before. There are many new distractions that can affect us (I admit I checked my Telegram a few times while working on this text). The information noise is now louder than ever. Someone may miss your message or skim over it quickly without really reading it. Or they forget about it entirely, since they were on the sub when they got it, and then the connection died. The point is that your information is now competing with all the other world, project, family, and personal info streams, and if you don't take care to push it through, it will just dissolve in this sea of data and never reach the intended destination.
2. Secondly, we now live in the world of hybrid teams, globalization, remote work, and other integrations with blurred cultural borders. So we must remember that each person interprets information based on their unique mental models shaped by their personal and cultural values.
3. Thirdly, people are all mentally distinct and perceive, process, and remember information differently. For example, some might have difficulty understanding subtle nuances in written text but will grasp it instantly during a video call.? One person might understand information by focusing on the "why," while another processes it through the "how."

So, to steer clear of microcontext in your team or organization, you need to:

• Avoid the temptation to pretend that you've understood everything.
• Document agreements, decisions, and knowledge.
• Take measures to enhance the likelihood of the documented information reaching and sticking in the minds of your colleagues.
• When communicating information to your team or group, try to gather feedback by asking questions. Ask people to describe what they heard in their own words or to tell you how they understood it.