🎒 Microlesson

🪞 Reflect

Your remote team is mid-project, and two people are working from different versions of the same file. One’s in an email attachment; the other’s in a shared folder. Deadlines slip, fixes get duplicated, and tempers flare.

This happens because no one’s sure which version is the real one—the one everyone should be working with.

If your team needed the most accurate, up-to-date information right now, would everyone know exactly where to find it?

💡 Concept

A commitment to documentation is one of the hallmarks of effective remote and hybrid teams. Consistent, clear documentation of decisions, work history, processes, and tasks enables teams to work and get answers to questions without having to rely on other people’s time and assistance. 

A Single Source of Truth (SSoT) is a document or database that houses all the information you need to know about a certain function. Having just one source of information eliminates duplicative content and makes updates and changes a breeze. Plus, there’s no need to remember where all the different bits of information live. 

For remote teams, an SSoT ensures that everyone—no matter their location or time zone—has access to the same facts, files, and decisions when they need them.

Without it, you get

• confusion over which version is current,

• wasted time due to relying on outdated information,

• unnecessary back-and-forth to confirm details.

With it, you get

• clarity on where to find information,

• faster onboarding and decision-making,

• fewer mistakes caused by version conflicts.

Just picking a management tool isn't enough. A successful SSoT requires agreeing as a team that this is the place where the “truth” lives—and keeping it updated.

🎬 Take Action

• Review examples of SSoTs. A great example of an SSoT is GitLab’s Handbook. 

• Audit your information flow. Pick one recurring project or process and trace where team members currently go for updates or files. Is there more than one answer? That’s a red flag.

• Choose the official home. Decide on one central place for that information (a tool, folder, or doc) and make it the only place to reference. (If you need a template you can get one with the Hybrid Team Success Toolkit!) 

• Announce it. Tell the team exactly where the Single Source of Truth lives, what it contains, and why it matters.

• Assign a keeper. Make sure someone is responsible for keeping it accurate and up-to-date.

• Reinforce it. In your next few meetings or updates, remind the team where all the information now lives and what might need to be added or changed each week.

🧠 Keep Learning

Get our SSoT and 7 other templates in the Hybrid Team Success Toolkit. 

✅ Check In

🎁 Learn with your team!

Refer our weekly microlessons to your team members to learn as a group! Just follow the instructions in the section below to get started.