Ideally, upward, downward and lateral communication channels have people on both ends who are sensitive to issues created by timing. One of the roles of a leader in some organizations is to model desired behavior and develop productive habits throughout the team.<p>Since there are many more lateral communication channels within a team and there is an aspect of being a technical lead that is being a peer to the team&#x27;s members [and not &quot;the boss&quot;], there is more productivity to be gained when all team members communicate in ways that reflect awareness of the <i>state</i> of the communication channel from the other person&#x27;s perspective.<p>The problem with the internet text boxes is that complex human interactions get sketched and lose important details.