How to communicate like a GitHub engineer: our principles, practices, and tools

GitHub Engineering, a remote-first company since its inception, has developed communication guidelines called "How we communicate" to effectively manage internal communications across its global teams. These guidelines, inspired by open source community practices, emphasize asynchronous communication, transparency, and collaboration, using GitHub's own tools to manage work and discussions. The guidelines were crafted with input from over 100 employees to foster consistency while allowing team autonomy. To address notification overload, GitHub created a system allowing engineers to opt into relevant updates, using magic labels and GitHub Actions to streamline information flow. Additionally, they leverage AI to enhance post summaries, ensuring important information is accessible without overwhelming staff. The guidance is publicly shared under a CC-BY-4.0 license to assist other organizations in developing their remote communication practices, and GitHub welcomes feedback and contributions to improve these practices further.