Why we are doing this
Right now Nikita and Sveta get pulled in all day long: messengers, email, calls. Because of this, we have almost no time left for longer tasks that need focus. That is why we have set up the following rules for communicating with us.
We are not becoming less available. We are simply collecting communication into clear time slots, so that we can give you proper attention and still get our own work done.

Who this is for
This guide is for the in-house team and covers non-project work only: bidding, New Business, HR, PM processes, finance and general questions.

How it works
Instead of solving questions the moment they come up, we bring communication together into dedicated time:

• Weekly meetings on Mondays. Each team has its own weekly. Bring all your questions there, including small ones.
• Q&A slots on the other days. Every day except Monday, we have set hours when you can come with questions that cannot wait until your weekly. We handle them in short calls.
• Urgent issues in the moment. Only for questions that cannot wait for either a weekly or a slot.
• Online schedule table. The whole schedule (weeklies, Q&A slots, offline days, Zoom links) in one place.

Each point is explained in detail below.

The main rule: three questions to ask yourself
When you have a question for Sveta or Nikita:

1. Can it wait until my weekly? Yes → bring it to the weekly.
2. Can’t wait until the weekly, but can wait until the next Q&A slot? Yes → come to the slot.
3. Can’t even wait for the slot? Only then is it “urgent”, and you message us right away.

A simple test for point 2: if getting an answer in the next Q&A slot still lets you meet your deadline, the question is not urgent and belongs in category 2.
We trust you to tell urgent from non-urgent. But if a question comes in the moment and we have doubts that it is really burning, we may ask you: “Are you sure this can’t wait until the slot / weekly?”

If you are in the office
This rule is specifically for those who work with us in the same office.
The fact that we are physically sitting nearby does not mean we are available. Even on an offline day, if we are in the office and working, we are just as unavailable to you as if we were not there.
Please do not come up to us in the office with questions in the middle of our work. Every “can I have a second, just a tiny question” breaks our focus and keeps us from concentrating on longer tasks.
In the office, the same scheme applies as for everyone:

• can wait until the weekly → bring it to the weekly;
• no weekly of your own, or it can’t wait → Q&A slot;
• can’t even wait for the slot → WhatsApp, not in person.

We understand that many of you have been with us for a long time and are used to coming to us directly. Please treat this with respect and understanding. These rules are not a whim, they are a real necessity: without time for strategic work, the company cannot grow. That is why they apply with no exceptions, even if it feels unusual or inconvenient at first.

Weekly
All weeklies take place on Monday:

• Weekly Bidding Touch Point — every week
• Weekly HR — every week
• Weekly New Business — every week
• Weekly Finance — every week
• Weekly PM — every two weeks
• Weekly General — every two weeks

Bring all your questions to the weekly, including small ones. If the meeting is a group one and your question concerns only you, stay after the general part and we will discuss it in the same time slot.
A note on the Weekly Bidding Touch Point. Until now, at the bidding touch point we only discussed statuses and general questions, and questions about specific tenders were sent to us in private messages. From now on, the bidding touch point is not only a status meeting but also Q&A time for current tenders. After the general part, those without questions can leave, and the rest take turns asking their questions, including small ones about their tenders.
Why there are no Q&A slots on Monday. On Monday almost all of you have a weekly, which means your small questions will be covered there anyway. On top of that, our Mondays are packed with meetings from morning to evening by default, so there is simply no time for separate slots that day.
Some weeklies, however, happen every two weeks. For example, the Weekly PM is not held every Monday. If you have a question and your weekly is not on this Monday, follow the same three-question scheme: if the question cannot wait until the next weekly but can wait for a slot, it goes to the Q&A slot on Tuesday.

Q&A-slots
Q&A slots are available every day except Monday. Check the online table (see below) for the exact hours.
How it works:

• At the start of the slot, message us in WhatsApp: “Sveta / Nikita, I’m in the queue.”
• If we need to see something during the call (a file, a screenshot, a document), send it right away together with “I’m in the queue.” We will not go through it in chat, we will just have it in front of us when we call you.
• We call everyone one by one. Please stay available and able to talk for the whole slot.

Why calls and not chat. Messaging back and forth with each person takes a long time, and there will be a queue of several people in each slot. So “I’m in the queue” is our signal to call you, and we solve everything on the call.
Come prepared. Have your list of questions written out and thought through in advance, and we go through it quickly. No “wait, let me check my notes.” There are other people in the queue after you.

Urgent issues
Message us in the moment, at any time, in WhatsApp. Only if the question cannot wait for either a weekly or a slot.

Email
Use email only for things that need a written format:

• big topics and issues that need to be raised or discussed;
• research results, documents, materials.

Small operational questions (including questions to us like “did you send that out?”, “have you sorted out this or that?”, etc.) and “done” reports should not go to email. Bring them to the weekly or the slot.

HR questions
Vacations, offline days, hours of unavailability, any questions about general HR documentation → to HR only, without copying Sveta and Nikita. HR decides on urgency using the same scheme: weekly → slot → urgent.

Meetings (other than weeklies)
Any other meetings with us (on individual, general or other matters) will be scheduled first and foremost in our meeting slots:

• Monday
• Tuesday 11:00–14:00

We will go outside these slots only if a meeting really does not fit and absolutely has to happen that week.
Keep your calendar open:

• Monday 11:00–19:00 (Tbilisi time)
• Tuesday 11:00–15:00 (Tbilisi time)

Unfortunately, we are not able to coordinate times individually with each of you, so by default we count on you being available during these hours. If you need to go to the gym, the doctor or anywhere else during working hours, please plan it outside of these hours. This way we can set up meetings without extra back-and-forth and save time.
If you are based in Europe: we will not schedule meetings with you before 12:00 Tbilisi time.

Offline days
Each of us, both Sveta and Nikita, will have a weekly offline day. On these days there are no meetings and no Q&A slots, so please keep this in mind.

• When Nikita is offline, Sveta covers his slots and urgent questions.
• When Sveta is offline, Nikita covers her slots and urgent questions.

All information about offline days will be in the table, so you can always see who to reach out to and when.

Online schedule table
The whole schedule is in one Google Sheet: link

• dates and times of all weeklies + Zoom links;
• Q&A slots for the week;
• Sveta’s and Nikita’s offline days.

All times in the table are Tbilisi time.
Zoom links. Whoever is responsible for the Zoom link for their weekly adds it straight to the table. There is no need to send the link to participants anymore: everyone takes it from the table.

• Weekly Bidding Touch Point — Grom
• Weekly New Business — Anton
• Weekly HR — Olya
• Weekly PM — Nastya / Toma, if one of us (Sveta or Nikita) is not physically in the office
• Weekly Finance — Nikita and Misha talk on WhatsApp. If screen sharing is needed, Misha adds a Zoom link to the table.

About the Weekly PM. Whether a Zoom link is needed depends on whether we are both physically in the office. Every week HR marks this in the Zoom link column: LINK NEEDED = a link is needed, Nastya / Toma add it to the table; NO NEED = everyone is there in person, no link needed. Please do not check with us whether a link is needed or whether we will be in the office: this information is always in the table.
Meeting confirmations. HR keeps the table and checks it with us every Friday. The schedule for the next week will be in the table after 20:00 on Friday, Tbilisi time. There will be no more separate emails confirming meetings.
At the top of the table you will see Last updated with the date and time of the latest update. If it shows this Friday’s date, the schedule for next week is final. If it still shows last Friday, the schedule has not been updated yet.
If something unexpected happens after the Friday check (things happen), HR will update the table and send you an email. No email from HR = everything goes as scheduled.
So there is no need to double-check with us whether a meeting is happening. Please do not message us “is the weekly still on?” or ask about rescheduling and Zoom links. If a meeting is in the table, is not marked CANCELLED and you have not received an email from HR, it is on. If a weekly is cancelled, the table will say CANCELLED instead of the time.

Pilot
We are introducing these rules in this form for November and the first one or two weeks of December. In the first half of December, Olya (HR) and I will meet to assess how effectively the scheme works and where it can be improved.
So during November, if you run into any discomfort, did not get the attention you needed from us in time, or have any other difficulties because of the new rules, please let HR know. We will go through every situation and see whether the scheme needs changes or whether these were one-off cases that cannot be avoided 100%.