professional-communication
A curated collection of skills for AI coding agents. Skills are packaged instructions and scripts that extend agent capabilities across development, documentation, planning, and professional workflows.
npx skills add https://github.com/softaworks/agent-toolkit --skill professional-communicationSKILL.md
Professional Communication
Overview
This skill provides frameworks and guidance for effective professional communication in software development contexts. Whether you're writing an email to stakeholders, crafting a team chat message, or preparing meeting agendas, these principles help you communicate clearly and build professional credibility.
Core principle: Effective communication isn't about proving how much you know - it's about ensuring your message is received and understood.
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
- Writing emails to teammates, managers, or stakeholders
- Crafting team chat messages or async communications
- Preparing meeting agendas or summaries
- Translating technical concepts for non-technical audiences
- Structuring status updates or reports
- Improving clarity of written communication
Keywords: email, chat, teams, slack, discord, message, writing, communication, meeting, agenda, status update, report
Core Frameworks
The What-Why-How Structure
Use this universal framework to organize any professional message:
| Component | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| What | State the topic/request clearly | "We need to delay the release by one week" |
| Why | Explain the reasoning | "Critical bug found in payment processing" |
| How | Outline next steps/action items | "QA will retest by Thursday; I'll update stakeholders Friday" |
Apply to: Emails, status updates, meeting talking points, technical explanations
Three Golden Rules for Written Communication
- Start with a clear subject/purpose - Recipients should immediately grasp what your message is about
- Use bullets, headlines, and scannable formatting - Nobody wants a wall of text
- Key messages first - Busy people appreciate efficiency; state your main point upfront
Audience Calibration
Before communicating, ask yourself:
- Who are you writing to? (Technical peers, managers, stakeholders, customers)
- What level of detail do they need? (High-level overview vs implementation details)
- What's the value for them? (How does this affect their work/decisions?)
Email Best Practices
Subject Line Formula
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| "Project updates" | "Project X: Status Update and Next Steps" |
| "Question" | "Quick question: API rate limiting approach" |
| "FYI" | "FYI: Deployment scheduled for Tuesday 3pm" |
Email Structure Template
**Subject:** [Project/Topic]: [Specific Purpose]
Hi [Name],
[1-2 sentences stating the key point or request upfront]
**Context/Background:**
- [Bullet point 1]
- [Bullet point 2]
**What I need from you:**
- [Specific action or decision needed]
- [Timeline if applicable]
[Optional: Brief next steps or follow-up plan]
Best,
[Your name]
Common Email Types
| Type | Key Elements |
|---|---|
| Status Update | Progress summary, blockers, next steps, timeline |
| Request | Clear ask, context, deadline, why it matters |
| Escalation | Issue summary, impact, attempted solutions, needed decision |
| FYI/Announcement | What changed, who's affected, any required action |
For templates: See references/email-templates.md
Team Messaging Etiquette
Note: Examples use Slack terminology, but these principles apply equally to Microsoft Teams, Discord, or any team messaging platform.
When to Use Chat vs Email
| Use Chat | Use Email |
|---|---|
| Quick questions with short answers | Detailed documentation needing records |
| Real-time coordination | Formal communications to stakeholders |
| Informal team discussions | Messages requiring careful review |
| Time-sensitive updates | Complex explanations with multiple parts |
Team Messaging Best Practices
- Use threads - Keep main channels scannable; follow-ups go in threads
- @mention thoughtfully - Don't notify people unnecessarily
- Channel organization - Right channel for right topic
- Be direct - "Can you review my PR?" beats "Hey, are you busy?"
- Async-friendly - Write messages that don't require immediate response
The "No Hello" Principle
Instead of:
You: Hi
You: Are you there?
You: Can I ask you something?
[waiting...]
Try:
You: Hi Sarah - quick question about the deployment script.
Getting a permission error on line 42. Have you seen this before?
Here's the error: [paste error]
Technical vs Non-Technical Communication
When to Be Technical vs Accessible
| Audience | Approach |
|---|---|
| Engineering peers | Technical details, code examples, architecture specifics |
| Technical managers | Balance of detail and high-level impact |
| Non-technical stakeholders | Business impact, analogies, outcomes over implementation |
| Customers | Plain language, what it means for them, avoid jargon |
Three Strategies for Simplification
- Start with the big picture before details -
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