Informal Guidelines

Informal guidelines are unwritten or non-codified rules, best practices, and conventions that guide development work within a team or organization. They encompass coding standards, communication norms, workflow habits, and cultural expectations that evolve organically rather than through formal documentation. These guidelines help maintain consistency, improve collaboration, and streamline processes in software projects.

Also known as: Unwritten rules, Team conventions, Best practices, Cultural norms, Soft guidelines

Why learn Informal Guidelines?

Developers should learn and use informal guidelines to enhance team cohesion, reduce friction in collaborative environments, and adapt to project-specific contexts where formal rules may be too rigid. They are crucial in agile settings, open-source communities, or startups where flexibility and rapid iteration are prioritized, as they foster a shared understanding and efficient problem-solving without bureaucratic overhead.

Learning Resources

• book: The Unwritten Rules of Engineering
• docs: Effective Teamwork: Informal Guidelines in Software Development
• video: How to Establish Team Norms and Guidelines
• tutorial: Informal vs. Formal Guidelines in Agile Teams